We are delighted to count our friends at Internet Archive’s Open Libraries project among the allies and resources for the National Agenda for Ebooks! The Open Libraries Project seeks to “bring four million books online, through purchase or digitization, while honoring the rights of creators and expanding their online reach. Working with US libraries and organizations serving people with print disabilities, Open Libraries can build the online equivalent of a great, modern public library, providing millions of free digital books to billions of people.”
What You Can Do
The library community is seeking support from libraries, library consortia and others for the position statement in support of Controlled Digital Lending.
The Open Libraries project seeks new library participants who are willing to contribute to their growing collection. They are particularly looking for 20th Century books that are not readily available in digital form. (This directly addresses the Content Deserts area of the National Agenda for Ebooks!)
Upcoming Presentations
Chris Freeland, Director of Open Libraries, will present at DPLAfest this coming Wednesday alongside colleagues at a program entitled Unlocking 20th Century Literature: Controlled Digital Lending for In-Copyright Material.
In addition, you can join Chris for upcoming webinars on April 23 and May 22 where you can learn about this exciting project.