The carelessness, greediness, and the thoughtless tunnel-vision that these 4 publishers, including authors such as Sandra Cisneros – Miss “House on Mango Street” herself – had by removing these thousands of books – including banned ones – from the digital library was a HUGE disservice to me and to the people all over the world.
It was such an overwhelming enjoyment to read these books – including the very expensive and hard to find hardcover first editions – that I normally would not have access to because physical libraries do not carry them, and it would be an extreme hassle to order it just to send it to my local library so I can borrow it (in the end, I would not be able to order them because those books would not be available, and they would be too expensive to ship).
Gaining knowledge from the unlimited access to these kinds of books from “Internet Archive” to this magnitude has been so empowering in so many ways. It is like lifting weights and getting into the greatest shape of my life from machines that no other common and limited gyms could provide.
It has helped to improve my English and grammar so much better, it has helped to improve my diction so much more when I read out loud, and it has helped to give me very needed inspiration – through the education of these books – for the sake of self-improvement. Whether it’s improving my knowledge of the world or improving my self-esteem.
For a 2.0 grade point average student who never went – and will never go – to college, these books are the tools to help me improve myself enough for the journey in my life that would help me to become a better contribution for this world in the chosen profession that I would love to do that no other source in the poor living disposition that I am in would help me to achieve.
There has been a very vast difference between when we had access to these thousands of books to now having no access. The limitations have been highly noticed, and the obstruction to knowledge and self-improvement personally has been very unavoidable. Not including how extremely sad and disheartening it was when these publishers and authors took these books away. It put me to tears and made me very despondent.
It would’ve been wonderful to read the Autobiographies of Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King (including other books of his), Margaret Thatcher, Michael Jackson, and Benazir Bhutto for starters.
It would’ve been wonderful to read the highly acclaimed books from author Randy Shilts who wrote the best biographies on Harvey Milk (“The Life and Times of Harvey Milk”) and the AIDS Epidemic (“And the Band Played On”) that have ever been written.
I found the most accurate and the most thoroughly researched telling of the history of the “Ottoman Empire” that I really wanted to read (“Osman’s Dream”).
I can go on and on and on. But in the end, what all of these mentioned books now have in common is that because of these publishers, and because of these narrow-minded and ignorant authors, they are now all gone and I will never get to read them.
I want to thank them all for taking away my access to knowledge to this extent, along with taking away one of life’s many enjoyments amidst this very sad and unmotivating world,
which are these thousands of books.
I am so proud of you, Internet Archive, for continuing to fight to not only restore those thousands of removed books that were unjustly taken away, but to defend digital libraries – and the concept of digital libraries – all over the world for me and for the people who are in so much worse positions in life than I am in who want to improve themselves.
That is one of the many reasons why I love you guys so much.
I am also proud of the people who have protested against the removal of these thousands of books, along with other forms of media such as rare movies and music.
Had I known that these protesters were in front of San Francisco City Hall protesting, I would’ve joined them.
I continue to keep you in my prayers and I also hope that these publishers and authors would get their head out of the sands of greed, and thinking that this is about theft – which it isn’t – and see this for what it really is, and see the ramifications of what they are doing – besides what they have done so far – since the removal of these thousands of books.
