2019 Charleston Library Conference

In our current era of disinformation, ready access to trustworthy sources is critical. “Fake news,” sophisticated disinformation campaigns, and propaganda distort the common reality, polarize communities, and threaten open democratic systems. What citizens, journalists, and policymakers need is a canonical source of trusted information. For millions, that trusted source resides in the books and journals housed in libraries, curated and vetted by librarians. Yet today, as we turn inevitably to our screens for information, if a book isn’t digital, it is as if it doesn’t exist.

To address this gap, the Internet Archive is actively working with the world’s great libraries to digitize their collections and to make them available to users via controlled digital lending, a process whereby libraries can loan digital copies of the print books on their shelves. By bringing millions of missing books and academic literature online, libraries can empower journalists, researchers, and Wikipedia editors to cite the best sources directly in their work, grounding readers in the vetted, published record, and extending the investment that libraries have made in their print collections.