My first impulse was to lash back and defend libraries because of my incurable fondness for them and for paper books. But on some reflection I realise that this

My first impulse was to lash back and defend libraries because of my incurable fondness for them and for paper books. But on some reflection I realise that this is like a spoken language going extinct - theres not much that can be done except translate the wisdom into the current lingua franca. So it might be nice to examine the things that libraries great and try to replicate them in future digital offerings. My list includes - universal access, a release valve from copyright where the people can access copyrighted works, availability of a friendly guide, different repositories that are curated for specialised subjects (like a tech library, arts library etc), good discoverability of books you dont know about, books classified by subject. Lastly libraries seem to be a great example of how infringement does not destroy industries so people building digital systems might do well to create some gaps through which knowledge can flow freely.