Sponsor a book at the Open Library

I recently sent a message to the staff at the Internet Archive and received details about Open Library’s new book sponsorship program which lets readers pay to digitize missing titles and add them into the library’s lending program. 

For those who haven’t heard of it, Open Library is a non-profit website run by the Internet Archive, with more than 3 million books that can be read or borrowed for free online. As I describe in a previous post, the Internet Archive makes accommodations for visually impaired readers who are dependent on there being electronic versions of books, by allowing direct download in protected Daisy format. Open Library also has a catalog of 20 million books that aren’t yet available through the library. The book sponsorship program makes it possible for tens of thousands of these books to be funded by readers and made available through the library’s lending program.

Why is it so exciting to me? As a person with a print disability, I am limited to the books I can read electronically. This means I am not able to access the same books as everyone else. Open Library’s book sponsorship program is a way for me to buy books I can actually read. By donating the funds to the Internet Archive, they will get the book, scan it and add an electronic version to their lending program which anybody with an account can borrow for two weeks.

Details of the sponsorship program are listed on the website along with a carousel of a few books which are eligible for sponsorship. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to browse all sponsorable books on the website yet, but if you search for a book by its ISBN (e.g. https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9780143127741), you can check if it qualifies for sponsorship. On the right side of the book page, instead of a “Read’ or “Borrow” button, qualifying books will have a “Sponsor eBook” button with price information. Once sponsored, most books become available within a month. Besides a sponsor recognition, you can be the first person who can borrow the book once it’s available.

The Internet Archive also accepts book donations, though it may take more than a month to process it. If there is a book you would like to sponsor and it isn’t on the list, contact the Open Library for sponsorship arrangements.

While all kinds of books are eligible for the book sponsorship program, I am especially excited for more numismatic books to become available to a broader audience, both for readers with print disabilities, as well as readers who may have difficulty acquiring a physical copy of rare books.

I would encourage you to find a book to sponsor and contribute to the great work of the Open Library.

I would like to thank Open Library’s Mek Karpeles for providing me with all the information I needed to write this post.