That’ll keep us entertained…
Just when you were beginning to count twiddling your thumbs as a hobby, more than 1.4 million books have become available online, and it couldn’t be more perfectly timed. Non-profit organisation Internet Archive launched the free library just this week, in the hopes of being able to support those who are currently unable to study and those unable to visit libraries because of the virus.
The mammoth collection is available for anybody to access and contains millions of titles from Open Library, including a number of educational texts, as well as popular books such as The Handmaid’s Tale and the Harry Potter series. Users can catch up on their reading bucket lists, or scrub up on their Shakespeare while they self-isolate at home.
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Announcing the news on their website, the organisation said:
“Internet Archive’s mission is to provide ‘Universal Access to All Knowledge.’ We believe this is an extraordinary moment in time that requires assistance at a scale that we are able to provide.
“Suspending waitlists will put books in the hands of people who need them, supporting emergency remote teaching, research activities, independent scholarship, and intellectual stimulation while universities, schools, training centers, and libraries are closed.”
The books can be accessed from anywhere in the world so long as you have an internet connection, with the service’s usual ‘waiting lists’ for titles removed during the pandemic so everyone can read whenever they choose to.
Find out more and sign up for your free account here.