Digital Libraries: Not Just for Quarantine Days

As our world becomes increasingly digital, even books are being replaced by their screen-based counterparts. At least 75% of textbooks that I have rented or purchased for college over the last three years have been ebooks. Nevertheless, brick-and-mortar libraries have prevailed...Until the current pandemic struck, anyway.

With the mandatory (albeit temporary) closing of libraries, the popularity of online libraries skyrocketed. This left me thinking about how digital collections of books may become the new norm, at least regarding education, even once this pandemic passes. And it could be wildly beneficial! When English teachers find a new story for their students to read, they will no longer have to purchase enough copies for the whole class. When history teachers want their students to research a certain era using books as resources, students will not have to rush to the library after school and hope there are enough books left on that topic. If the rise of digital libraries continues, educators could easily increase the reading materials they include in their lesson plans by simply providing their students with the title of a work and a link to an online library. 

Today, I would like to explore the Internet Archive Open Library, which I am most familiar with as I have used it several times for school. This website offers virtually any title you could find at your local library, all available to read by simply making a free account. Once you select a book, you can choose to "borrow" (gain access to) it for one hour, and borrow unlimited other books for the same duration, or borrow it for 14 days. If you decide to borrow it for 14 days, there is a 10-book cap on how many you can have for that long, which, I am sure most would agree, is very reasonable. 

The books, themselves, are not traditional ebooks, but rather scanned copies of actual books, which I feel gives them more character. If there are multiple editions or versions available of a book, you can easily preview and decide which one you would like to borrow. Additionally, most titles offer a "read to me" option that will have an autogenerated voice read the text, with a choice of reading speeds. 

Overall, I predict that online books will only become more popular. As they do I am hoping that digital libraries will be utilized more often in classrooms. I feel that they provide more convenience for educators and students alike, and could allow teachers to freely work more literature into their curriculum.