Real vs digital books
The debate
There has for a long time now been a fierce debate on the move to digital books from physical copies. Each has its pros and cons but there are valid reasons for maintaining both to ensure that the knowledge we have gained over millennia is kept, shared and built upon for generations to come.
The libraries of the world and digital storage services hold a dizzying number of books just waiting to be read. Humanity has always needed to write down history, ideals and stories. We always will. In human history there have been vast libraries of antiquity that have been damaged, destroyed or lost . This is one of the main drivers for the digitisation of media to secure it for future generations and ensure access for all regardless of censorship, locality or social standing. This always was the ideology behind the Enlightenment and the Illuminati: to enable dissemination of knowledge to everyone, not just a select few and the elite.
The world’s famous Libraries
Here are some of the oldest libraries in the world that have survived (at least partially) or been continuously operating, ranked roughly by founding date or earliest evidence:
1. Library of Ashurbanipal (7th century BCE, ~668–627 BCE)
• Location: Nineveh (modern-day Mosul, Iraq)
• Founder: Assyrian king Ashurbanipal
• The world’s oldest known systematically organized library. Contained ~30,000 clay tablets in cuneiform (literature, science, medicine, history, mythology).
• Rediscovered in the 19th century by Austen Henry Layard; tens of thousands of tablets now in the British Museum.
2. Library of Pergamum (Pergamon) (~3rd–2nd century BCE)
• Location: Pergamum (modern Bergama, Turkey)
• Founded under the Attalid dynasty; at its peak reportedly held ~200,000 volumes (mostly papyrus scrolls).
• Famous rival of the Library of Alexandria. Mark Antony later gave its collections to Cleopatra (43 BCE).
3. Library of Alexandria (early 3rd century BCE, ~285 BCE under Ptolemy II)
• Location: Alexandria, Egypt
• The most famous ancient library; aimed to collect all knowledge of the world. Estimates of size range from 40,000 to 700,000 scrolls.
• Gradually declined; damaged multiple times (Caesar’s fire 48 BCE, later incidents), final fate debated.
4. Al-Qarawiyyin Library (859 CE) – Oldest continuously operating library
• Location: Fez, Morocco
• Founded by Fatima al-Fihri. Part of the University of Al-Qarawiyyin (world’s oldest continuously operating degree-granting institution).
• Recently restored (2016–2017); still open to scholars and the public by appointment.
5. Abbey Library of Saint Gall (8th–9th century CE, founded 719 CE; library ~820 CE)
• Location: St. Gallen, Switzerland
• Oldest library in continuous existence in its original building in Europe. UNESCO World Heritage site.
6. Monastic libraries in the Byzantine Empire and Middle East (4th–10th centuries)
• Examples:
• Library of the Monastery of Saint Catherine (Sinai, Egypt) – founded 548–565 CE, still active, holds the second-largest collection of early codices and manuscripts after the Vatican.
• Patriarchal Library of Constantinople (later Istanbul) – roots in 4th century.
7. House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) (8th–9th century CE, peak under al-Ma’mun ~813–833 CE)
• Location: Baghdad, Iraq
• Major translation and research center under the Abbasids; destroyed during the Mongol siege of 1258.
8. Admont Abbey Library (1074 CE)
• Location: Admont, Austria
• Largest monastic library in the world today; Baroque hall built 1776 but collections date back to 1074.
9. Merton College Library, Oxford (1276, continuously operating since ~1280s)
• Oldest continuously operating academic library in the world (still used by students).
Most tragic single losses in history (by volume & uniqueness)
1. Imperial Library of Constantinople (1204) – single worst destruction of ancient Greek texts.
2. House of Wisdom, Baghdad (1258) – catastrophic loss for medieval science and philosophy.
3. Nalanda (c. 1200) – near-total erasure of centuries of Indian/Buddhist scholarship.
4. Maya codices (1562) – 99%+ of an entire writing system deliberately destroyed.
Many of humanity’s greatest intellectual treasures vanished in just a few days of fire or looting.
Why Are Public Libraries Closing?
Public libraries worldwide are facing a “death by a thousand cuts,” as described by digital library pioneer Brewster Kahle, with closures driven by a mix of financial pressures, shifting usage patterns, political attacks, and lingering pandemic effects. While not all libraries are closing—many are adapting with digital services—trends show a troubling decline: in the US, library visits have halved over the past decade; in the UK, over 780 libraries have shut since 2010, with spending per capita dropping from £18 to about £12. Globally, poorer areas are hit hardest, with closures four times more likely in deprived UK neighborhoods than affluent ones. Below, I break down the key reasons, drawing on recent data from 2023–2025. Local and national governments are slashing library budgets amid austerity, inflation, and competing priorities like education or infrastructure. In the US, federal funding via the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) faces deep cuts under the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposals, potentially halting grants for tech access and interlibrary loans. UK councils, post-austerity and post-COVID recovery, have closed dozens of branches; Birmingham plans to reduce from 35 to 25 libraries after declaring bankruptcy in 2023.
Book bans, “groomer” accusations, and culture wars target libraries stocking diverse materials (e.g., LGBTQ+ or racial justice books).
This leads to funding retaliation and harassment. In 2024–2025, US Republican-led states like Missouri cut $4.5M in response to anti-ban lawsuits; Michigan libraries faced closure threats amid similar smears.
Digital Libraries Like the Internet Archive:
The Internet Archive (archive.org) is a nonprofit digital library founded in 1996, preserving over 866 billion web pages (via the Wayback Machine), 38 million books, 11 million audio files, 4 million videos, and more—making it a cornerstone for free access to cultural and historical artifacts. It’s often used for research, education, and nostalgia, but users seek alternatives for reasons like legal challenges (e.g., ongoing lawsuits over book lending), site downtime, or specialized needs. As of late 2025, alternatives range from open-access book repositories to web archiving tools, many emphasizing public domain or fair-use content. Below, I’ve compiled a top 10 list based on popularity, traffic (e.g., via Similarweb data), and user recommendations from sources like AlternativeTo and Reddit.
Here’s the same Top 10 digital libraries (like Internet Archive):-
1. Open Library – openlibrary.org
Borrowable e-books, part of Internet Archive, 3M+ titles.
2. Project Gutenberg – gutenberg.org
70,000+ public-domain classics, free downloads.
3. Library Genesis (LibGen) – libgen.is (mirrors)
Huge shadow library for books and papers, direct downloads.
4. Z-Library – z-lib.is (mirrors)
14M+ books and 84M+ articles, very popular but often blocked.
5. HathiTrust – hathitrust.org
17M+ digitized volumes from universities, strong on scholarly works.
6. Europeana – europeana.eu
58M+ cultural items (books, art, music) from European institutions.
7. Google Books – books.google.com
40M+ scanned books with previews and search.
8. Anna’s Archive – annas-archive.org
Aggregates LibGen, Z-Lib, Sci-Hub; open-source mirror site.
9. Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) – dp.la
50M+ items from U.S. libraries, great for American history.
10. ResearchGate – researchgate.net
160M+ academic papers and preprints, researcher network.
The Pros
Physical:
You actually own the book. You can read it whenever and wherever you like. You can lend it or sell it to someone else.
Some books can be great investments
A book shelf can look good in a room and be a talking point
Digital:
You have access to thousands of books, far more than you could ever afford or be able to store in physical form.
Digital books don’t get damaged, age or lost to fire or flood
You can store your digital library anywhere such as hard drives or the cloud for easy access.
Digital books can be read aloud for people with sight issues.
The Cons
Physical :
Risk of loss, damage or theft
Books get dusty , age and can become badly damaged by temperature, humidity etc.
Books take up space and can be large and heavy.
Translation of books not always available in your language in print
Digital:
Digital book files can become corrupted, deleted , inaccessible or locked out due to password loss, new paywalls or cloud storage issues
It’s easy to censor digital books and edit them
Where to get digital books for free:
The Occult Network holds hundreds of ebooks on topics from Alchemy to Witchcraft. We allow totally free downloads 24/7 from our cloud storage. Just ask us for free access.
Or try these:
The Internet Archive
Project Gutonberg
Check out our Links and resources page for more sites.
