The Coming Enshittification of Public Libraries
karawynn.substack.com
The Coming Enshittification of Public Libraries
Global investment vampires have positioned themselves to suck our libraries dry
Nine Lives has moved away from Substack. At its new home, you will find:
the full archives, including this post, The Coming Enshittification of Public Libraries;
my explanation for the move (and the other move, sigh);
new subscription options.
I wish you were able to access HooplaDigital (maybe by finding a branch of NYPL nearby to the one where you're registered and seeing if you can log into it?) In my experience I've found it to be better and more convenient than Overdrive. Per Wikipedia, the content is paid for by participating library systems. (There is a bit of negative buzz about them, though, on the Wikipedia page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoopla_(digital_media_service)#:~:text=Hoopla%20(stylized%20as%20hoopla)%20is,its%20collection%20of%20digital%20media.&text=Hoopla%20Digital%20is%20a%20division%20of%20Midwest%20Tape )
This is an excellent takedown of KKR and Overdrive. I've just shared it to a couple of progressive and corporate accountability listservs.