Whose Books Are Online?: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Online Text Collections

Online text collections, such as Google Books, Open Library, Project Gutenberg, Wikisource, and others, have greatly expanded access to public domain books. These four projects in particular represent the four largest general collections and are free to use for anyone with an internet connection. These same services also have the potential to play a significant role in rectifying issues of exclusion by providing free, easily accessible texts that cover a more diverse range of authors and experiences through “liberation” from the constraints of the physical library.¹ While lesser-known and less frequently read books—such as noncanonical works, especially those written