From David Rothman: “We need a good alternative to the ugly status quo. The DPLA has the names and foundation connections to help create one if it will clarify its purposes and goals, respect public and school libraries, improve diversity, and otherwise shape up and reinvent itself.”

“The project’s ambitious mission, recently described in a four-page memorandum, is to ‘make the cultural and scientific heritage of humanity available, free of charge, to all.”

“With the recent rejection of the Google Books settlement and the building of momentum behind the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) initiative, in incubation just across the Charles at Harvard’s Berkman Center.”

From Lucy Bernholz: “One line in this jumped out at me – ‘Meanwhile, others are chipping away at the millions of orphans [books], trying to find rights holders and to determine which books have fallen into the public domain.'”

“Library Renewal is committed to advocate for solutions with legislators, with users, with the media, with colleagues, and with the private sector, to find a way to renew the value of the library.”

“Perhaps a National Digital Library of America could serve the public in general and a Scholarly Digital Library of America could enrich the campus community. Both ‘civilians’ and academics could use each other’s library systems for free, at least when copyright and licensing agreement allowed; and the two could pick up the other system’s exportable content and share a common infrastructure and standards.”

From Disruptive Library Technology Jester: “It is another e-books issue of DLTJ Thursday Threads with updates on three significant efforts: HarperCollins, Google Book Search Settlement, Digital Public Library of America. And, just for fun and to keep this from turning into purely a legal and blue-sky policy blog, we have a video of juggling robots.”

From David Rothman: “I commend DPLA for having a scholar-friendly vision, a ‘must.’ But that is not the same as a true public system with a wide range of content and services, and with K-12 and workforce education and training among the main priorities.”

“Although establishing digital libraries depends on server space, real tug-of-war over how many knowledge works (books, recordings, other documents) will end up accessible online happens between librarians and lawyers.”

From David Rothman: “As we keep saying, the DPLA either needs to drop the ‘Public’ from its name and focus on scholarly content and other highbrow materials; or else it needs to team up with an institution like the Library of Congress on a genuine full-service public system with appropriate public and private funding sources, governance, and priorities, including tight integration with local libraries and schools in Newport Beach and elsewhere.”

From Tom Peters: “I agree with most of the opinions Darnton expresses, such as his call for a noncommercial effort that is passionate about serving the public good. His vision for the DPLA, however, seems to be lacking some key components of a true national digital public library for the U.S.”

From David Rothman: “The Digital Public Library of America is out with a new ‘concept note,’ and, alas, our DPLA friends still don’t grasp the franchise and branding issues of genuine public libraries—cash-strapped and already having their roles chipped away by Amazon, Google, and others.”

“The topic stemmed from a report by AADL director Josie Parker, who described her experience at a recent working group meeting for the Digital Public Library of America. At that invitation-only event, Parker framed the discussion among industry leaders regarding the future of public access to information, from the perspective of public libraries.”

“The first workshop, which considered the material to be included in the DPLA and how it should conform to the needs of users, took place at Harvard on March 1. That is when public librarians began to set a new tone to the general debate.”

From David Rothman: “An excellent first step would be to drop ‘Public’ from its name—at the very next Steering Committee Meeting, ideally—so the DPLA does not unwittingly weaken the franchise and branding of existing public libraries.”

From David Rothman: “‘So,’ in effect argue some supporters of the Digital Public Library of America, the promising library initiative hosted by Harvard’s Berkman Center, ‘why can’t the DPLA actually be the public library system online? We’ll never get a good one otherwise.’ I disagree.”

In the two videos embedded here Darnton also considers what this proposed library would mean for scholars in the humanities and history in particular.

“Last December, the Sloan Foundation funded an initiative to study this proposal in earnest, and the Digital Public Library of America committee began meeting at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.”

Robert Darnton has championed the concept of a national digital public library through a series of galvanizing essays in The New York Review of Books.

“On December 13, 2010, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society announced that the Center is hosting an initiative for a Digital Public Library of America involving a large and diverse group of stakeholders to define the scope, architecture, costs and administration for a proposed Digital Public Library of America.”