As of March 24 the Internet Archive suspended wait lists for its collection of books by creating a National Emergency Library.
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.
Check It Out: Internet Archive Releases National Emergency Library With 1.4 Million Books
Over the past decades we have seen the creation of astonishing digital libraries (such as Google’s book scanning project) that are unprecedented in the history of humanity – and then seen them locked up because of copyright restrictions and business interests.
Although it won’t last long (and they’ll likely be sued for copyright infringement) it’s interesting to see the Internet Archive making their collection available without restrictions. Who knows, perhaps the public interest will be considered fair use, or perhaps we will see a rebalancing of copyright law based on multiple stakeholders.