The August 2022 memo from the White House Office of Science and TechnologyPolicy, which released guidance that any federally funded research must be madeopenly available immediately starting in 2026, signals a growing understanding in thebroader research community—that research should be freely available to the public.However, open access policies, funding, and procedures can prove difficult tounderstand, and authors may face ambiguous messages when navigating thepublishing process. Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte sought to bridge this gap bycreating an Open Access Author Toolkit, ultimately aiming to build a more robust openaccess culture and community on campus. The Open Access Author Toolkit is designed to support authors in understanding openaccess best practices, resources, and considerations for publishing research. Join us inexploring how universities can develop user-oriented resources around a complex andoften misunderstood topic to create a more engaged open access community. Presented at the 2023 65th NCLA Biennial Conference.