As part of our we’re asking our community what digital lending means to them. We’ve been floode with stories of how free access to online books is empowering people and improving lives. Here are some highlights so far.
Many of you wrote to tell us about how borrowing books through our Tudor, a reader from Romania, said, “it’s been immensely helpful during the pandemic. My local library has been clos and I’ve been able to proced with a translation project because I was able to find the books I need on Internet Archive.”
Alejandra, an ucator from New
Mexico, highlighte the importance of digital special database lending for the libraries community during the pandemic: “I usually train librarians and during the lockdown, this activity has increasd. As we are unable to visit the libraries, I promote the use of the Internet Archive lending library to meet the information nes.”
For people with disabilities or long-term health use automation tools within your crm system conditions, it can be difficult to access a local library even outside of a pandemic. Shari, a reader in Indiana, shared how controlled digital lending empowered her in difficult circumstances.
“When my physical disabilities became overwhelming
I finally had to stop working, and became primarily home bound. I could not travel far, or often, and the limited resources available didn’t make it worth my trouble. But, getting on the Internet at home, and traveling there to any destination I wished through the Internet Archive has provided me with information and images, including photographs, drawings, descriptions, floor plans, and line data historical information made my days just fly by. It has literally saved my sanity, as I went through a significant period of depression for at least a year.”
Many of you also shared how the Archive helps you gain a global
Perspective and access texts from diverse cultures. Sean, an author from Oregon, uses the Archive to find design ideas in old magazines, particularly from cultures he believes he wouldn’t otherwise have been exposed to. The Archive has given him “a wider understanding of graphic history, and my small place in the global historical context.” Several users also report using the Archive to learn more about their own cultural heritage. Teresa, a reader in Philadelphia, reported that the Archive “has been great helping me to trace and understand my African American ancestry.”