Announced today? Phillips Academy has received the Hero Sharing the Award from the Internet Archive for its leadership in adopting controlled digital lending for school libraries. The Hero Award is presented annually to an organization that exhibits leadership in making its holdings available to digital learners all over the world? and when Phillips Academy was renovating its Oliver Wendell Holmes Library? librarian Michael Barker wanted to update more than the physical space. This was also an opportunity to bring the private preparatory high school up to speed digitally – and in the process? share its vast book collection with others.
Barker Director of Academy Research Sharing the
Information and Library Services? has embraced Controlled Digital Lending (CDL)? where a library digitizes a book it owns and lends out one secured digital version to one user at a time. In this case? the Andover? Massachusetts school owns 80?000 books.
“With the closure of so many high school libraries? this whatsapp lead allows us to share the collection we’ve built up over 100 years with all other high schools?” Barker said. “I can’t think of any better way the library could contribute its private resources for a public purpose.”
Phillips? which has roughly 1?100 students in with a digital version there is no grades 9-12? has been active in the Digital Public Library of America. It has already digitized about 4?000 of its titles published prior to 1923.
There would never be a
With all the books already boxed up for aero leads the renovation? the school’s decision to expand its CDL project was clear: “ better time than now?” Barker said. This summer it shipped most of the remaining volumes to be digitized by Internet Archive at its scanning facility in the Philippines.
Shipping with Internet Archive was critical to the digitization process happening? said Barker. The books are expected back early in 2020 and will be placed back on library shelves over spring break.