Do you know that song from the Arthur cartoon? Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card! Or something along the lines… Well, today I finally managed to get back on Libby and it only took a few hours of intense research and 50 dollars. It really is that easy! Or not?
I remember years ago having a conversation in the comment section of some YouTube video about how it is so easy to access books via a library system. And I had to explain to the person that… no, actually, it really depends on your location. You see, libraries are cherished for providing books for free. And for a long time that was the case in my local community. But at some point my local libraries decided to start charging a fee for taking out books… in case people fail to return them at a later time. No, not a late fee, but a fee to take out the book in the first place. And depending on the book, they would decide on the price, sometimes racking up a pretty penny. I remember the first time I got hit with the question “Wait, didn’t you have to pay a fee for this book? It looks new.” And I didn’t have much to say because to me the book wasn’t of much literary value, to my dismay! And it was at least a decade old, so paying full market price for a library book seemed a little strange. And you might say that “This is just a ‘holding’ fee and you’ll get you money back when you return the book!” I tried doing that and immediately felt bad for the librarian, who was trying to find cash to give back to me. Of course, the money has already been spent on something else. So the entire premise turned out to be a lie. And don’t get me started on government funding! I could write a whole new blog post on why that is an issue locally. It’s a very complicated topic. At this point I’m starting to believe that the entire publisher-government-library pipeline is designed to destroy the industry. I wouldn’t go as far as to claim that I ahve solid proof, but I do have a strong feeling and too many observations to prove my point.
So trying to acquire books via local libraries is looking more and more like a scam. At some point, I stopped trying and turned to international libraries. I managed to get ahold of a library card and use Libby for about a year. But it was around the time when these how-to guides were promoted all over the internet, and I guess too many people abused the system. I also came across a few opinions that it was somehow connected to the Covid lockdowns and cuts in funding. So, libraries started reducing the services for non-residents and even international customers.
Ever since I lost access to Libby, I’ve been trying to get it back. I looked through dozens of discussion forums, library websites, and agregate blog posts. And finally, this morning I signed up at a library that shall not be named, got my account information in an email, and just a minute later I had the joy and privilege of browsing the wast library collection and taking out an audiobook that I’m currently listening to.
I love Libby! Not only for the easy access to books and audiobooks. I like flipping through their digital magazine catalogue and also using the extra resources. Like the Hoopla website that is like the Netflix of libraries.
At the same time, I have to acknowledge that my country is a cesspool of digital piracy. In the most recent news, a popular book catalogue announced that they are stopping all operations. This has sparked discussions on the importnace of said website due to it being the place of last resort for many obscure scientific works which the last few generations of academics have used for their research. Then again, all those resources were not licensed, so even the existence of that website was highly unethical in today’s standards.
This got me thinking (as someone who’s been wrecking my brain trying to figure out how to get more Ukrainian classics onto project Gutenberg), if those books were really that precious, surely academics had an interest in legalizing and preserving them. Why wasn’t anything done? Was there even a discussion? Not today, when the website is already as good as gone. But back when all these students and professors were downloading illegally obtained materials for their personal use and gain. Why did they never stop to think that maybe what they were doing was wrong and would harm their own community in the long run?
So many questions, and no one bothered enough to answer them.
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