1,426,434 Million Books: The Internet Archive Launches the “National Emergency Library to Provide Digitized Books to Students and the Public”

UPDATES
Last Update April 27, 2020

May 20, 2020

Forging a Cooperative Path Forward: University Presses & the National Emergency Library (via Internet Archive)

April 23

Authors Guild: “Sign Our Open Letter to Internet Archive to Shut Down the So-Called ‘National Emergency Library'”

April 20

April 15

Duke U. Press and UNC Press Announce a Statement of Cooperation with National Emergency Library ||| See Also (4/16): UNC Press, Duke Reach Cooperation Agreement with National Emergency Library (via PW)

April 14, 2020

Internet Archive Responds to Senator’s Concern Over National Emergency Library (via PW)

Full Text of Letter From Brewster Kahle to Sen. Tom Tillis (via Twitter; Page 1) ||| Page 2

Internet Archive Defends Massive Online ‘Emergency Library’ (via Bloomberg Law)

“Teachers & the National Emergency Library: Stories from the Frontlines of Online Schooling (via IA Blog)

April 10, 2020

The Internet Archive’s New “National Emergency Library” Generates A Range of Strong Reactions (via Berkman Klein Center/Medium)

April 8, 2020

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis Questions the Internet Archive’s ‘National Emergency Library’ (by Andrew Albanese, PW)

April 7, 2020

Brewster Kahle: “The National Emergency Library – Who Needs It? Who Reads It? Lessons from the First Two Weeks” (via Internet Archive)

From the Update

• Even with a preview function where readers can see the first few pages of a book, most people who go through the check out process are looking at the book for less than 30 minutes, with no more interactions until it is automatically returned two weeks later.
• 90% of the books borrowed were published more than 10 years ago, two-thirds were published during the 20th century
• We suspect that fewer than 10% of books borrowed are actually opened again after the first day (but we have more work to do to confirm this).

April 6, 2020

The Pandemic is Not an Excuse to Exploit Writers (NY Times Op/Ed by  Douglas Preston, President of The Authors Guild)

April 1, 2020

Why a National Emergency Library Would Have Been Unnecessary (by Jonathan Band; via Project Disco)

March 31, 2020

Publishers And Authors Misguided Freakout Over Internet Archive’s Decision To Enable More Digital Book Checkouts During A Pandemic (via TechDirt)

March 30, 2020

‘Emergency’ Online Library Draws Ire of Some Authors (via The NY Times)

Authors, Publishers Condemn The ‘National Emergency Library’ as ‘Piracy’ (via NPR)

Authors Guild, AAP Outraged by IA’s ‘National Emergency Library’ (via PW)

Internet Archive on “Why We Released the National Emergency Library” (via Internet Archive Blog)

Statement from the Author’s Guild: “Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library Harms Authors”

Statement from National Writers Union: ” Internet Archive Removes Controls on “Lending” Of Bootleg E-Books”

Comment From AAP President and CEO Maria Pallante on The Internet Archive’s “National Emergency Library”

Statement From Copyright Alliance: “The Emergence of Copyright Looting”

UPDATE March 28, 2020

Internet Archive Offers 1.4 Million Copyrighted Books For Free Online (via ars technica)

UPDATE March 26, 2020

Authors who have books available via the National Emergency Library can chose to opt-out. Instructions are found in the participation section of the FAQ.

Kudos to Brewster, Chris and the entire IA team for providing this service. The National Emergency Library is available globally.

From an Internet Archive Blog Post by Chris Freeland:

To address our unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research materials, as of today, March 24, 2020, the Internet Archive will suspend waitlists for the 1.4 million (and growing) books in our lending library by creating a National Emergency Library to serve the nation’s displaced learners. This suspension will run through June 30, 2020, or the end of the US national emergency, whichever is later.

During the waitlist suspension, users will be able to borrow books from the National Emergency Library without joining a waitlist, ensuring that students will have access to assigned readings and library materials that the Internet Archive has digitized for the remainder of the US academic calendar, and that people who cannot physically access their local libraries because of closure or self-quarantine can continue to read and thrive during this time of crisis, keeping themselves and others safe.

This library brings together all the books from Phillips Academy Andover and Marygrove College, and much of Trent University’s collections, along with over a million other books donated from other libraries to readers worldwide that are locked out of their libraries.

[Clip]

We understand that we’re not going to be able to meet everyone’s needs; our collection, at 1.4 million modern books, is a fraction of the size of a large metropolitan library system or a great academic library. The books that we’ve digitized have been acquired with a focus on materials published during the 20th century, the vast majority of which do not have a commercially available ebook.  [Our emphasis] This means that while readers and students are able to access latest best sellers and popular titles through services like OverDrive and Hoopla, they don’t have access to the books that only exist in paper, sitting inaccessible on their library shelves. That’s where our collection fits in—we offer digital access to books, many of which are otherwise unavailable to the public while our schools and libraries are closed. In addition to the National Emergency Library, the Internet Archive also offers free public access to 2.5 million fully downloadable public domain books, which do not require waitlists to view.

[Clip]

A final note on calling this a “National Emergency” Library.  We lend to the world, including these books. We chose that language deliberately because we are pegging the suspension of the waitlists to the duration of the US national emergency.  Users all over the world have equal access to the books now available, regardless of their location.

From the FAQ

Is this controlled digital lending?
No. It is close to controlled digital lending but is significantly different while waitlists are suspended. This library is being mobilized in response to a global pandemic and US national emergency. It shares aspects of controlled digital lending by controlling the physical book that was scanned and the redistribution of files through digital rights management software, but differs by having no waitlists for users borrowing books.  Once the US national emergency is over and waitlists are back to their normal capacity, the service will return to full controlled digital lending.  

Direct to Complete Blog Post

Direct to National Emergency Library

Direct to National Emergency Library FAQ

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Journal Articles, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Patrons and Users