Brewster Kahle, Open letter to Sen. Thom Tillis re National Emergency Library

"The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a library recognized by the State of California. Our doors have been open for nearly twenty-five years, and we have been making digitized versions of books available to those with print disabilities and lending them out in a “one reader at a time” manner for almost a decade. Our digital books are protected using the same technical protections that publishers use to ensure that readers only have access to a book for the two-week period of their loan, and further copies cannot be made. The National Emergency Library was developed to address a temporary and significant need in our communities—for the first time in our nation’s history, the entire physical library system is offline and unavailable. Your constituents have paid for millions of books they currently cannot access. According to National Public Library survey data from 2018-2019, North Carolina’s public libraries house more than fifteen million print book volumes in three-hundred twenty-three branches across the State. Because those branches are now closed and their books are 1 unavailable, the massive public investment paid for by tax-paying citizens is unavailable to the very people who funded it. This also goes for public school libraries and academic libraries at community colleges, public colleges and universities as well. The National Emergency Library was envisioned to meet this challenge of providing digital access to print materials, helping teachers, students and communities gain access to books while their schools and libraries are closed...."