For immediate release:
February 10, 2009

For more information, contact:
Prue Adler
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
prue@arl.org

ARL Executive Director Charles B. Lowry Proposes Digitization of Cultural Collections to Spur Economy

Washington DC—Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Executive Director Charles B. Lowry recently published an opinion piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education urging President Obama and Congress to finance a large-scale project to digitize the nation’s library and other cultural collections and put them on the Web.

Lowry states that “Investing in an open, universal digital commons will help ease the current economic crisis by creating jobs, equipping workers with 21st-century skills, and laying a foundation for innovation and national competitiveness in business and research.”

He observes the growing bipartisan support for “shovel ready” public-works projects to heal the economy but argues, “that phrase belies the reality of our infrastructure.... Roads and bridges are essential, of course, but we should also build our digital infrastructure and equip workers with skills they can use in the years ahead—skills for the information age.”

Such a project would bring historical, scientific, and cultural materials to everyone with Internet access. “But,” as Lowry notes, “a digital library for the new millennium should reach beyond books. Consider the value of giving every member of the public free access to course materials, including nonprint media, developed throughout the nation.”

This project is “shovel ready.” With immediate funding, up to 10,000 people could quickly be trained and employed scanning public-domain library materials. Lowry estimates that creating a universal digital library of 10 million books would cost $300 million, a modest price tag compared with many public-works projects.

The opinion piece, “Let's Spur Recovery by Investing in Information,” appeared in the February 6, 2009, issue of the Chronicle, in the Chronicle Review, page B4, http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i22/22b00401.htm (login required).

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.