> It was literally a free library, open to every member of the public It is (or was?) possible for libraries to build reasonably durable collections of physica

> It was literally a free library, open to every member of the public It is (or was?) possible for libraries to build reasonably durable collections of physical books that they can manage as they choose, shelf space permitting (and if not, books can be sold to make space). But as publishing shifts from physical to digital there is no first sale doctrine for ebooks, so they are controlled by license agreements from publishers.