“Free for All.” Those are the words inscribed above the Boston Public Library. From the beginning, libraries have opened their doors to everyone. So inclusion and community engagement are deeply held values in our library DNA.
That’s why the Internet Archive is working hand-in-hand with authors, publishers, and librarians who share these values. It is the only way we’ll all succeed.
Our 100&Change vision includes collaborating with Digital Library Federation librarians on the Inclusive Curation Project to select four million books to scan. Our goal is to design a community-responsive, transparent form of book selection that can ultimately serve as a model for creating more diverse and democratized digital collections everywhere.
Next, we’ll be working with the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom to bring the works of diverse authors and independent publishers into our national lending system. As James Larue, project leader of “Our Voices, Chicago” explains, “All library patrons should be able to find content in their local libraries that reflect their own lives.”
We’re also excited to be partnering with MIT Press to bring readers acclaimed titles in science, technology, and architecture that aren’t currently available digitally. MIT Press Director, Amy Brand says, “One of my top ambitions is to ensure that our entire legacy of publications is digitized, accessible, searchable, and discoverable, now and in perpetuity. Partnering with Internet Archive to achieve this objective is a dream come true, not only for me, but also for many of our authors whose earlier works are now completely unavailable.”
And finally, at the center of our project are people—people who want to share the titles they love. Thank you to the BookMooch members who are already sending us books to scan and lend.
Inclusion. Engagement. Sharing knowledge. We believe those are core values we can put into practice that will transform the world.
Providing libraries and learners free digital access to four million books
Learn more about the Internet Archive ›
