The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the academy and on scientific research. As universities, libraries, and researchers respond to this worldwide crisis, the inequities in access to critical scientific information have become even more obvious. Many publishers have responded to the pandemic by providing free access to information both to support research about COVID-19, as well as for general support of online teaching and learning as institutions move their curricula to an online environment. While this access is a welcome and important development, it also highlights the need for a global solution to the problem of providing more equitable access to information. Libraries have been leaders in the Open Access (OA) movement. Their activities in support of OA take a variety of forms, including managing institutional repositories, funding article processing charges (APCs), and advocating for OA initiatives within their home institutions. Libraries can also promote OA by addressing this issue in the licenses and contracts they negotiate with publishers. Licensing terms can include stipulations for retention of authors' rights, deposit in institutional and disciplinary repositories, reformatting content for accessibility, and other requirements that promote wider and more equitable access to research. While many institutions already address some of these issues in their contracts, a strategic and united approach to this issue could have a positive global impact on access to critical research. This paper will present a model for libraries to develop a standard set of licensing terms to promote OA and more equitable access to research. As a case study, it will examine the licensing efforts of the University of Maryland, a major public land grant research institution. The University of Maryland Libraries have partnered with the University Senate and the Office of the Provost to create the Publishing, Access, Contract Terms Working Group (UMD PACT). With membership including librarians, teaching and research faculty, students, and administrators, UMD PACT has an ongoing charge to investigate this issue and recommend a new framework for licensing of scholarly content promote more equitable access to scholarly publishing. Using both UMD PACT's efforts and the international response to the pandemic as starting points, this paper will address crucial topics such as accessibility, authors' rights, repository deposit, reformatting, and other licensing provisions. It will present a global survey of licensing frameworks and contract requirements from a variety of institutions, including libraries, universities, research centers, consortia, and publishers. It will also include a comprehensive suite of resources related to OA, accessibility, and the legal and statutory requirements to consider when licensing access to public research, as well as resources to promote the use of grey literature and other content produced outside the formal publishing process. The end result will be a model that will empower libraries to develop their own licensing frameworks to promote more equitable access to scientific and scholarly information and to support global research, teaching, and learning.