Wiley will restore students’ access to more than 1,000 free e-books after the publishing company removed the titles from the Gelman Library’s open-access materials in August.

The company will restore access to 1,380 e-books from the ProQuest Academic Complete collection “as soon as possible” after removing the titles in August, according to a release issued Wednesday. The release states the e-books, which at least 300 students used as course materials, will be in the collection until June 2023, but the e-books will not be available after the extension date.

Wiley spokesperson Matt Leavy said in June 2020 the publishing company gave ProQuest a two-year advance notice of the removal of 1,380 e-books from the Academic Complete collection to ensure appropriate time for subscribers to accommodate for the lost materials, but customers were “caught off guard” by the titles’ removal.

“We sincerely apologize for any disruption this may have caused students, instructors and libraries,” Leavy said in the release. “We are reviewing the process of updating collections to avoid similar situations in the future.”

Officials said the removal of older titles from the Academic Complete collection is routine, but Wiley did not provide GW Libraries alternative options to purchase the removed titles for students.

Faculty who used the e-books as course materials said they reorganized their syllabus and ordered physical copies of older editions of the e-book they used to accommodate for the removal.