Securing Digital Rights for Libraries: Towards an Affirmative Policy Agenda for a Better Internet
Authors: Bailey Lila , Menna Michael 
Published: December 2022

This paper is the result of a series of surveys, research, and two workshops facilitated by the Internet Archive. The first workshop, called Libraries and the Digital Information Ecosystem: Towards an Affirmative Policy Agenda for a Better Internet, was held in person on June 23, 2022 at Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C. The second was held virtually on July 21, 2022, and included a mix of new and previous attendees. Between the two workshops, approximately 50 leading experts from libraries, academia, and civil society discussed the various challenges facing today’s libraries, as well as what policies would be necessary to maintain their critical function of providing equitable access to trustworthy information. The discussions took place under the Chatham House Rule to encourage free and open exchange of ideas and information; to that end, specific views are not attributed to any particular person or organization throughout this report.The prevailing theme throughout our discussion was that an increasingly digital society needs libraries that meet people where they are—online. Many of our participants noted that digital technologies hold the promise of more robust and more convenient access for underserved communities and people. They imagined a world where digital technologies and content would allow libraries to better serve everyone—from residents in rural areas and tribal lands far away from urban or suburban library resources; to vulnerable youth seeking health information without fear of stigma; to incarcerated people educating themselves while they serve their time; to aspiring entrepreneurs researching new business ideas; to single parents in desperate need of an affordable way to entertain their kids. Unfortunately, although libraries have been able to expand their digital services and offerings to meet some communities’ needs, the digital landscape they operate in today has in many ways failed to live up to its promise.This report is intended as a guide for meaningful policy discussions among librarians, public interest advocates, and lawmakers. It proceeds in four parts. Section I provides some necessary background on the traditional role libraries have played in society, and discusses some of the challenges libraries have faced as they work to expand access to digital materials and resources. Section II summarizes the results of our pre-workshop survey and the discussions from the workshops. It is not an exhaustive summary of every item discussed, but rather a synthesized collection of the challenges, opportunities, and policy ideas that shared some degree of consensus among participants. Section III distills the key takeaway from our consultation process: The rights that libraries have offline must also be protected online. As such, that section proposes a set of four digital rights for libraries, based on the core libraryfunctions of preserving and providing access to information, knowledge, and culture. Specifically, if libraries are to continue ensuring meaningful participation in society for everyone, they must have the rights to:● Collect digital materials, including those made available only via streaming and other restricted means, through purchase on the open market or any other legal means, no matter the underlying file format;● Preserve those materials, and where necessary repair or reformat them, to ensure their long-term existence and availability;● Lend digital materials, at least in the same “one person at a time” manner as is traditional with physical materials;● Cooperate with other libraries, by sharing or transferring digital collections, so as to provide more equitable access for communities in remote and less well- funded areas.Finally, the last section concludes by providing some potential next steps for the community and for policymakers.