What if the future of reading isn’t about technology at all, but about who gets included? In a recent piece for 51st News, Martin Austermuhle explores how D.C.’s library system is grappling with the high cost of e-books—and who gets left out when budgets tighten.
This story isn’t just about library funding or e-book pricing. It’s about access: who gets to learn, grow, and dream—who gets to belong. In yoga, sangha means community, and ahimsa calls us to collective care. What would it mean to design our systems so the doors stay open for everyone, not just those with means?
📚 Digital Divides, Real Consequences
It’s tempting to treat e-books as a great equalizer: downloadable, never late, always a click away. But the story under the surface is more complicated. E-books are more expensive for libraries, licenses expire, and demand is highest in wealthier neighborhoods. The risk isn’t just long waitlists—it’s that entire communities lose access if libraries can’t afford to keep up.
When systems privilege those with money, exclusive access creeps in. The very people libraries were designed to serve—the ones without other options—find themselves on the outside. If subscription models become the norm, and only the affluent can afford them, we risk deepening the very divides public libraries have long bridged.
🤝 Abundance, Generosity, and the Commons
Yoga asks us to practice aparigraha (non-hoarding, trusting abundance) and asteya (non-stealing, generosity). What does this look like in the world of digital books? Folks can’t get their hands on Heated Rively! Can we imagine a model where knowledge isn’t locked behind paywalls, but shared and sustained as a public good?
Legislation is one attempt—banding together for bargaining power. But deeper than policy is a question of values: Do we see books as luxury commodities, or as tools of liberation and community well-being? Our answer shapes not just library budgets, but the fabric of opportunity itself.
🌍 Systems with Heart: Designing for Equity
Systemic inequity can be subtle, built into rules that seem neutral but have real consequences. Systems thinking in yoga—and in life—invites us to look for these hidden patterns and ask who benefits, and who is left out. Equity isn’t automatic; it’s a choice. It calls us to widen the circle, to advocate for policies, platforms, and cultures where access is the default, not the exception.
As digital access becomes ever more central to education and civic life, we have a responsibility to ensure that change moves us forward together. Sangha reminds us: Collective liberation is possible, but only if we center those most at risk of being left behind.
Libraries are more than storehouses—they are living, breathing commons. May we tend them with abundance, generosity, and a fierce commitment to equity, so the stories inside remain open to all.
— MJH
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