Leaving Read & Publish Agreements to Preserve Academic Freedom and Access to Knowledge

In the context of an uncertain financial environment and rising costs of electronic resources provided by major publishers, academic libraries must rethink their strategies to ensure a sustainable access to scholarly knowledge. At the Bibliothèque Cantonale et Universitaire de Lausanne (BCUL) in Switzerland, Read & Publish agreements now represent 61% of the library’s electronic resource budget, absorbing a growing share of the budget at the expense of specialized databases, thematic ebooks, and smaller publishers. This concentration threatens bibliodiversity, strengthens the oligopolistic dominance of large publishing groups, and limits the library’s ability to support a diverse publishing ecosystem. To address these challenges, the University of Lausanne and the BCUL prepare for a gradual transition away from the Read & Publish model by developing a fund to support Open Access publishing in hybrid journals while retaining only a targeted set of subscriptions. This approach increases cost transparency, provides strategic flexibility, and enables a more balanced allocation of resources. It also strengthens academic freedom by ensuring researchers' choices are not constrained by the presence or absence of transformative agreements. This presentation will outline the analysis that revealed the growing dependence on Read and Publish agreements, the tools and indicators used to continue delivering services, and the anticipated impacts on costs, content access, and the university's Open Access strategy. In a period of uncertainty, this shift helps libraries regain autonomy over spending decisions, protect editorial diversity, and reaffirm equitable access to knowledge as a fundamental mission.