By Horace Okoth

On October 21-24, the Library led the university community in celebrating the 2025 International Open Access Week under the theme “Who Owns our Knowledge.” Bringing together students, faculty, and staff, this event showcased the university’s commitment to openness, cooperation, and equal access to knowledge.

The event began with open access myth busters that were in the form of interactive quiz rounds aimed at helping students assess their open access knowledge. This session was followed by the open access champion’s wall and “I own my knowledge” campaign, which invited participants to share their ideas in the form of their own quotes, which revolved around the theme on colorful sticky notes. This showcased a bright representation of the campus community’s excitement for open knowledge on the wall; statements like “Knowledge grows when shared” and “I publish to empower” filled it.

Additionally, on October 23, Dr. Everlyn Anduvare, Librarian at Karatina University, delivered an inspiring guest lecture on open knowledge, access equity, and the evolving scholarly communication landscape. The message urged the audience to see themselves as contributors in a global network of shared ideas rather than mere consumers of information.

The event also recognized Open Access publishing spearheaded by the university. During the academic year 2024 / 2025, faculty from the various schools published a total of 129 publications, 93 of which were Open Access, representing 72.1%. Fourteen faculty members from the various schools were recognized for their exemplary research and dedication to open scholarship.

The sessions culminated with a visit to Kipepeo Safe Space, a neighborhood library giving free reading areas for students in Ongata Rongai. As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility activities, the library staff committed themselves to providing mentorship and donations in support of the project.

As Open Access Week 2025 came to an end, the message that stood out was that USIU-Africa does not just own knowledge, but it opens it to the world.