The Copperbelt University participated in the Open Access celebrations for the first time in 2013. The event came at a time when both lecturers and students at the Copperbelt University were either coming out from their early sessional examinations or were preparing for missed examinations. However, the Library had prepared for the celebrations and proceeded with the programme of activities as planned.

The Open Access week was successfully launched by the Copperbelt University Vice-Chancellor on 21 October 2013. The launch was then followed by a training of trainers “ToT” on OA and “Effective access to electronic resources.” Throughout the week, the Library distributed Open Access brochures to a wider Copperbelt University community. Fliers for faculty and Administrators were also distributed for advocacy and publicity purposes.

According to the initial programme, the Library planned to hold workshops for four days from 22 to 25 October 2013 targeting more than 200 participants. Apparently, the sessions were reduced to three days as 24 October was a gazetted Independence Day public holiday. Workshop sessions were held at the Main and the School of Medicine campuses.

The workshops were conducted successfully, though the optimal target number of workshop participants was not achieved during the OA Week. Apparently, there has been an overwhelming feedback for the need to hold similar workshops for both lecturers and students. The pronounced outcome from the events is that those who participated in the workshops have become Open Access advocacy champions and will continue publicizing the OA Movement activities in collaboration with the CBU Library staff