The Internet Archive’s New “National Emergency Library” Generates A Range of Strong Reactions

Adam Holland, Project Manager of the Lumen Database, gives an overview of the recent debate over the Internet Archive's “National Emergency Library”

“It’s not completely clear to me, though, how the NEL is any different from a normal lending library other than the scale at which it operates — in terms of the number of lendable copies,” writes Holland. “If it truly isn’t the same, as many critics contend, that’s one thing. But if it is, or at least similar, then it is not self-evident why the same arguments made in favor of “real” libraries — especially that they introduce readers to, and convince them to buy, books, don’t apply to the NEL as well.”

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