Brookens Library is a governing member of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) and CARLI is a member of the Open Education Network (OEN), itself a consortium of colleges and universities working to advance open textbook initiatives. 
In 2021, using federal funds, CARLI created the Illinois SCOERS (Support for Creation of Open Educational Resources) project to develop, improve, and expand open educational resources in Illinois. OER publications from SCOERS can be found in the Open Illinois repository, which provides materials helpful to academic and research institutions in developing OER and advocating for adoption of OER on their campuses to reduce students costs.
Dr. Diana Zaleski, UIS Psychology Department, applied and was awarded a SCOERS grant. They wrote and published The Psychology of Exceptional Children.
In 2023 the Illinois State Legislature made available $3 million dedicated to funding OER creation at Illinois academic institutions. The application process and distribution of funds were administered by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, and the OER program is overseen by CARLI, based on their experience with Illinois SCOERS. Three UIS faculty were awarded grants to create and publish ancillary materials for their courses in Public Administration, Mathematics and Public Health.
Are you looking for assistance in choosing or implementing OER? Interested in creating your own OER? More information is available from the Center for Online Learning, Research and Services (COLRS).