US

Could You Own One Copy of Every Book Ever Published? This Guy Is Trying

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — Tucked away in a small warehouse on a dead-end street, an Internet pioneer is building a bunker to protect an endangered species: the printed word.

Brewster Kahle, 50, founded the nonprofit Internet Archive in 1996 to save a copy of every Web page ever posted. Now the MIT-trained computer scientist and entrepreneur is expanding his effort to safeguard and share knowledge by trying to preserve a physical copy of every book ever published.

“There is always going to be a role for books,” said Kahle as he perched on the edge of a shipping container soon to be tricked out as a climate-controlled storage unit. Each container can hold about 40,000 volumes, the size of a branch library. “We want to see books live forever.”

So far, Kahle has gathered about 500,000 books. He thinks the warehouse itself is large enough to hold about 1 million titles, each one given a barcode that identifies the cardboard box, pallet and shipping container in which it resides.

That‘s far fewer than the roughly 130 million different books Google engineers involved in that company’s book scanning project estimate to exist worldwide. But Kahle says the ease with which they’ve acquired the first half-million donated texts makes him optimistic about reaching what he sees as a realistic goal of 10 million, the equivalent of a major university library.

“The idea is to be able to collect one copy of every book ever published. We’re not going to get there, but that’s our goal,” he said.

Recently, workers in offices above the warehouse floor unpacked boxes of books and entered information on each title into a database. The books ranged from “Moby Dick” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame“ to ”The Complete Basic Book of Home Decorating“ and ”Costa Rica for Dummies.”

At this early stage in the book collection process, specific titles aren’t being sought out so much as large collections. Duplicate copies of books already in the archive are re-donated elsewhere. If someone does need to see an actual physical copy of a book, Kahle said it should take no more than an hour to fetch it from its dark, dry home.

“The dedicated idea is to have the physical safety for these physical materials for the long haul and then have the digital versions accessible to the world,” Kahle said.

Brewster Kahle Preserving Every Book Ever Published

Book enthusiast Brewster Kahle (Photo: AP).

Along with keeping books cool and dry, which Kahle plans to accomplish using the modified shipping containers, book preservation experts say he‘ll have to contend with vermin and about a century’s worth of books printed on wood pulp paper that decays over time because of its own acidity.

Peter Hanff, acting director of the Bancroft Library, the special collections and rare books library at the University of California, Berkeley, says that just keeping the books on the West Coast will save them from the climate fluctuations that are the norm in other parts of the country.

He praises digitization as a way to make books, manuscripts and other materials more accessible. But he too believes that the digital does not render the physical object obsolete.

People feel an “intimate connection” with artifacts, such as a letter written by Albert Einstein or a papyrus dating back millennia.

“Some people respond to that with just a strong emotional feeling,” Hanff said. “You are suddenly connected to something that is really old and takes you back in time.”

Since Kahle’s undergraduate years in the early 1980s, he has devoted his intellectual energy to figuring out how to create what he calls a digital version of ancient Egypt’s legendary Library of Alexandria. He currently leads an initiative called Open Library, which has scanned an estimated 3 million books now available for free on the Web.

Many of these books for scanning were borrowed from libraries. But Kahle said he began noticing that when the books were returned, the libraries were sometimes getting rid of them to make more room on their shelves. Once a book was digitized, the rationale went, the book itself was no longer needed.

Despite his life’s devotion to the promise of digital technology, Kahle found his faith in bits and bytes wasn’t strong enough to cast paper and ink aside. Even as an ardent believer in the promise of the Internet to make knowledge more accessible to more people than ever, he feared the rise of an overconfident digital utopianism about electronic books.

And he said he simply had a visceral reaction to the idea of books being thrown away.

“Knowledge lives in lots of different forms over time,” Kahle said. “First it was in people’s memories, then it was in manuscripts, then printed books, then microfilm, CD-ROMS, now on the digital Internet. Each one of these generations is very important.”

Each new format as it emerges tends to be hailed as the end-all way to package information. But Kahle points out that even digital books have a physical home on a hard drive somewhere. He sees saving the physical artifacts of information storage as a way to hedge against the uncertainty of the future. (Alongside the books, Kahle plans to store the Internet Archive’s old servers, which were replaced late last year.)

Kahle envisions the book archive less like another Library of Congress (33 million books, according to the library’s website) and more like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, an underground Arctic cavern built to shelter back-up copies of the world’s food-crop seeds. The books are not meant to be loaned out on a regular basis but protected as authoritative reference copies if the digital version somehow disappears into the cloud or a question ever arises about an e-book’s faithfulness to the original printed edition.

“The thing that I’m worried about is that people will think this is disrespectful to books. They think we’re just burying them all in the basement,” Kahle said. But he says it’s his commitment to the survival of books that drives this project. “These are the objects that are getting to live another day.”

—

Online:

The Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org

Open Library: http://www.openlibrary.org

Comments (38)

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  • steamer551
    Posted on August 2, 2011 at 12:24pm

    What a waste of time and money. First the books would have to be printed on acid free paper or they will crumble within 100 years. Second they would have to be shrink wrapped in plastic and irradiated to kill bugs that feed on paper and keep moisture from mold and mildew. Third the cost of storing all this in an enormous climate controlled warehouse, and the security to protect the building would be cost prohibited.

    Report Post »  
  • cosmic dogma
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:19pm

    If all books are eventually electronic, which is a near certainty, who is to stop the powers from eliminating or manipulating the content of any and every book ever written? Rewrite and eliminate history. So very easy to do.
    If we all collect the classics in hardcover, the firemen will at least have a job…

    Report Post »  
  • Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 5:40pm

    Now, how about preserving one copy of every book ever published in digital form in multiple secure locations around the world with lots of replication and web access.

    Report Post » Lesbian Packing Hollow Points  
  • Bernard
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 4:28pm

    Great job. Glad someone is doing this for the next generation. Calligraphy is almost dead. Long hand writing is going the same way. Now our schools may decide whether to keep writing in the English classes. There seems to be no way to stop them. and what this man is doing is exemplary.

    Report Post »  
  • yiska8
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 3:23pm

    If people only realized the war on paper that has been going on for decades. Everything has been digitized. Nothing is on paper anymore. If an EMP attack occurs and power is lost and the tech zombies lose their disconnected minds, there will be zero proof of anything. If you pay your bills online, your mortgage, you car note, anything via computer, I hope you keep a paper receipt. Depending upon how bad things become, the government will confiscate whatever you cannot prove as your own or paid up to date. We are weaker for so much computer reliance. Newspapers especially are always recycled for the good of the planet because they are digitized anyway.That info is gone without digital access or power. This guy doing the right thing. A fail safe. Just like the seed bank and film preservation. Paper books too need to be preserved. Anyone interested can read a book called “Double Fold” and see what I mean.

    Report Post » yiska8  
  • AB5r
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 2:55pm

    Don’t let Muslims know where that warehouse is.

    Report Post » AB5r  
    • Moonbat
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 3:23pm

      Kind of funny you should say that, because while Europeans were letting books rot in the Dark Ages, Muslim scholars were preserving the Greek and Roman Classics. Ever read Aristotle? Nah, didn’t think so. If you had, though, you could thank a Muslim.

      Report Post »  
    • LambdaCore
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 4:04pm

      You’re thinking of the Library at Alexandria, aren’t you?

      Report Post » LambdaCore  
    • Moonbat
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 4:51pm

      @ Lambdacore

      Um, no. The Library of Alexandria was founded by Greeks, and was destroyed before what we think of as the Dark Ages (an admittedly imprecise term which I probably shouldn’t have used.)

      When I mentioned Aristotle, I was thinking specifically of Avicenna, but a number of Islamic scholars studied Aristotle and worked to preserve his words. More generally, I think it’s fair to say that while Western culture more or less stagnated for a thousand years before the Renaissance, Islam was making advances in philosophy, astronomy and mathematics, many of which we’re deeply indebted to today.

      Every wonder why we call it al-gebra? Or why we use Arabic numerals?

      Report Post »  
    • Moonbat
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 4:54pm

      @ Lambdacore

      Yay Half-Life, though.

      Report Post »  
    • muzikant
      Posted on August 2, 2011 at 1:52am

      Muslims have evolved. They went from terrorists to TERRORISTS.

      Report Post » muzikant  
  • 1NCPatriot
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 1:43pm

    When all of the print books are downloadable, then the plug will be pulled for your access…thanks to our “dear leaders” agenda. Mr. Kahle is thinking out of the box!

    Report Post » 1NCPatriot  
    • Susan Harkins
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 1:57pm

      And when the Liberal Progressives (primarily in California) get their way, in our Gov’t Institutions and Regulatory Agencies, Brewster Kahle, of Richmond CA, will have fueled the biggest book bonfire in the country, as the New U.S. Progressive Communist Regime decrees national book-banning/burning in order to “save the populous from divisive and mentally unhealthy printed propaganda information”.

      Report Post » Susan Harkins  
  • TheSitRep
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 12:52pm

    Ever heard of a kindle?
    I have over 100 novels on my BlackBerry.

    Report Post » TheSitRep  
    • Multiple Arms
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 1:14pm

      I would like a Kindle for when I travel. But if there were a major disaster and electricity was knocked out for years and we were stuck living in a post-Apocalyptic world without technology, then you would want to have books. I have a few books around here that are well over a century old. I don’t have any electronics over a decade old.

      Report Post »  
  • Hefsmaster
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 12:51pm

    Noble cause indeed and i applaud that, despite the obvious impossibility. For i love to read and agree that the written word is sacred. That being said, you only need a couple hundred books to keep mankind on it’s feet. Start by collecting any book ever banned. Most “literature” is fluff. Stick to meat and potatoes.

    Report Post » Hefsmaster  
  • ThomasBombadillo
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:17am

    If you‘re building a bunker to protect the world’s collection of literature, wouldn‘t you rather put it somewhere that isn’t likely to be demolished by an earthquake or drowned by a tsunami? Across the bay from San Francisco seems like a poor location.

    Report Post »  
    • Pavelina
      Posted on August 2, 2011 at 11:18am

      I absolutely agree. It should be in Nevada, but anyway, away from large cities.

      Report Post »  
  • anotherGlen
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:31am

    I’m glad there are people out there with the resources to do a project like this. Physical books are so important. The problem with all this digital storage is it could be gone in a blink of an eye, or changed immediately to fit someone’s whim or goals. Tyrants start by burning books. That is because they hold ideas and information.
    Another reason is no one knows what books I possess or read, unless I tell them. If you download a book on the internet, just about everyone in the world knows what you’re reading. They might think you are reading something you shouldn’t.
    Kahle is doing this himself, the way it should be done. We spend millions on “public” libraries each year, including the library of congress. Maybe it’s time to privatize all of these. This is what our founders envisioned, not the monster government that exists today.

    Report Post » anotherGlen  
  • cntrlfrk
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:24am

    -

    This guy has too much time and/or money on his hands.

    Books are so easy to publish any more, from all of the romance garbage to political books, to fantasy ‘novels’ it would be nearly impossible to get them all, and unnecessary.

    .

    Report Post » cntrlfrk  
  • brknhrt
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:08am

    Shouldn’t these be kept in some sort of fireproof building or containers instead of a warehouse in cardboard boxes?

    Report Post » brknhrt  
  • briten821
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:48am

    It’s a nice idea to our generation who still loves the feel of a paper book. But a century from now when everything is paperless and everyone reads with a Kindle or other digital reader, people will consider such an preservation nothing more than a curiosity and it will be seen as far too expensive to maintain. Who will spend an hour to find a paper copy of Moby Dick when you can be reading a digital copy in seconds? Don’t get me wrong, I love books and my digital reader is not the same thing. But I grew up with paper. The generations of the future won’t, so they will have far less of an attachment to such things. He’d be better off collecting all of the most rare books he can (while they are still around) and opening a museum based on them rather than a warehouse dedicated to ordinary books.

    Report Post »  
  • Glenn is Right
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:39am

    That is one big Kindle.

    Report Post » Glenn is Right  
  • Belle1959
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:34am

    If we can have a seed bank, why can’t someone start a book bank? It’s just what my Mercury One start-up group, Like Minds, has in mind. We don’t plan to collect every book ever published, but we do plan to concentrate mainly on history and politics. Kindle is great – I have a tablet. It means I can read Obama’s books without having to pay for them! But with the tentacles of our government reaching out ever farther and people favoring e-books, it’s only a matter of time before the public libraries close. You can take books out of your college library – if you’re alumnus and happen to live nearby. I’m still working on the details of our first meeting, hopefully at the Emanuel Einstein Library in Pompton Lakes. I’ve also increased my personal library and I have list of library sales where book keepers can buy books from libraries at very cheap prices. Sometimes people toss out books at garage sales as well. Someone tossed out a volume of Milton (literature is important, too).

    Report Post »  
  • mrgriff757
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:30am

    Now that is a passion for books. Make sure you get a copy of my recently published book: Prepare for the Worst and Pray for the Best…You can purchase on amazon, barnes and noble, powell’s, or my website at http://www.thechiefsbooks.com for a signed copy. Thanks

     
  • loudandproud
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:19am

    Can anyone say “The Book Of Eli”? Perhaps he should memorize them all word for word.

    Report Post »  
    • Midwest Blonde
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 3:38pm

      Ever read or seen the movie “Farenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury??? Worth the read (or watch)

      Report Post » Midwest Blonde  
  • Carol Ingian
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:11am

    I am all for preserving books and information for future generations.

    Report Post »  
  • jillcooks
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:56am

    “on a very special episode of Hoarders”(cue sensitive music)….

    Report Post »  
    • biohazard23
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:06am

      His family will find him underneath a tower of Harlequin romance books that toppled over when they don’t hear from him in a over a week…… Just sayin’……

      Report Post » biohazard23  
  • Wyatt's Torch
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:49am

    How can you be a “non-profit“internet entrepreneur and have funding to ”archive every web page ever posted”, and then begin scanning collecting and hoarding (in a climate controlled location) every book ever published?… while it is a noble and worthwhile venture, there seems to be a few pieces of this puzzle missing.

    Report Post » Wyatt's Torch  
  • Striker
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:44am

    I think this is cool. If I had the time and resources I would consider this. My liberary (about 560 books) consists of just the book my family reads. I wonder where he will the Gutenburg Bible ?

    Report Post »  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:37am

    .
    Why save a book, the kids can’t read them any way. WTG NEA…….

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • bry
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:34am

    That’s fine and dandy, until your eye glasses break.

    Report Post » bry  
  • ares338
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:30am

    Sure you can….get a Kindle!

    Report Post » ares338  
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