Newsletter: The recent Second Circuit decision in Hachette v. Internet Archive is only the latest battle in the war on libraries and the freedom to read.
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My beliefs are simple, and hardly radical: Libraries are critical infrastructure. Access to information is a human right. When you buy a book you should truly own it. When a library buys a book, they should be able to lend it. Readers should be able to read without any third parties spying over their shoulders, or preventing them from accessing the materials they have legally obtained.
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Mitch Effendi (ميتش أفندي)replied to Molly White last edited by
@molly0xfff I did some volunteer work building a library in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, and I learned from that experience that most Americans have this impression that a library is simply where the free books live — but in reality, they serve so much beyond books. For entire cohorts, their only desktop Internet is at the library. We checked out tools, vacuums, and auto repair equipment. We ran classes for older women to learn how the stock market works.
Like you said, critical.
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Brandon L. Lockereplied to Mitch Effendi (ميتش أفندي) last edited by
@mitch @molly0xfff The Allegheny County library system is one of the best in the country. In many ways, it is a great example of what libraries should be. Having said that they are being deeply affected by the kind of behavior described above. The rent-seeking in libraries is ridiculous.
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Alien software, human hardwarereplied to Molly White last edited by
@molly0xfff you know you live in interesting times when your beliefs are slowly becoming more radical, without even changing.
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Frank Zappa once said something to the effect that if you want your kid to have a decent education, take him to the library.
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@tuban_muzuru @molly0xfff Oh it's even better than that, as I've heard it "If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library."
(but like any good librarian I will tell you that the source of that quote, which is pre-internet, is a little hazy even though it's oft-repeated)
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@tuban_muzuru @molly0xfff This was BUGGING ME and at least I found it attributed to his wife as something "he always said"
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@jessamyn @tuban_muzuru spotted the librarian
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Another great newsletter.
I am however left with the desire for a national emergency librarian. A button you press and a hologram appears telling people nearby to be quiet, or suggest a good book to read.
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AndyWreplied to Mitch Effendi (ميتش أفندي) last edited by
@mitch @molly0xfff I love that my library has seeds to “check out”. They repurposed a card catalog to store them.
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Ludovic Archivist Lagouardettereplied to Brandon L. Locke last edited by
@brandonllocke @mitch @molly0xfff I live in southern France, in a town of 9000 people. The library is extremely important to the place, it is where job seekers go to look for postings on the internet, where kids hang out after school, and where a free access to education and culture is available for everyone. You can read and borrow books, music, movies, you can play video games, you can use the internet, you can even borrow musical instruments. The library here is part of a network of around 20 other libraries, books and other lendables being available from any one of them into any other.
Anyone can go there watch small conferences about anything from the excavations of Egyptian pharaoh to the influence of video-games on modern storytelling. And it is amazing
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@molly0xfff it’s a great article but I have one correction: copyright as a concept was in fact invented to better control what was published and censor it more effectively.
From Wikipedia: “The origin of copyright law in most European countries lies in efforts by the church and governments to regulate and control the output of printers”
Although even the Wikipedia page seems to have been “influenced” by publishers and this info is buried halfway through. -
@molly0xfff I agree 110%. Just to be certain, did the Internet Archive buy the books in question, or just host them without paying?
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@negativeprimes they bought them (or they were donated by people who bought them)
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@illogical_me I'm referring to the United States
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@molly0xfff @ehud These are my beliefs, too. I don’t know any author who would disagree with one word. Please don’t fall for the ridiculous calumny that authors are somehow enemies of libraries. No one loves (or NEEDS) libraries more than authors do.
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@molly0xfff Agree libraries are essential. Ours provides daytime shelter, restrooms, drinking water, computer access and books, videos, music. I buy paper books rather than ebooks so I actually own the book, not just a license, that I can share as I wish.
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Natasha Nox 🇺🇦🇵🇸replied to Alien software last edited by
@mavu @molly0xfff I'd prefer less "interesting" times though.