Free Agents: Libraries have a place in a gift economy

Although we commonly think of the Internet as being free, that simple term doesn’t do justice to the complex economic models that have developed in response to our neverending desire to acquire content without cost.

As Wired editor Chris Anderson explained in his recent book Free, the Internet has expanded beyond the advertising-supported notion of free to include a fascinating mix of options. Many Web 2.0 tools, for example, embrace the idea of “freenium,” where there’s a free option with reduced features available alongside a paid premium level with additional services.

Then there’s the notion of a gift economy, which delivers goods or services with no expectation of compensation. Of course, reciprocal gifting keeps the economy moving, since on the Web, storing and transmitting digital data essentially costs nothing. Furthermore, Creative Commons has established a handy set of legal parameters, an alternative to traditional copyright, which guarantees that free content remains free.

Freecycle.org, an exemplar of the gift economy concept, provides a network for giving away household items. While in this case, reducing the amount of landfill waste, connecting donors and recipients online can also encourage a sense of community.

On DonorsChoose.org, for instance, teachers and school librarians seek contributions to fund classroom projects. Since donors and recipients may not be in close proximity, site users share photos and comments, reinforcing a connection to each other and the concept of giving.

Another take on gift economies: Cory Doctorow’s new book Makers. The book’s available for free download under a Creative Commons license, but Doctorow makes use of a temporary gift economy to enrich this offering. Instead of taking cash donations for the free downloads, Doctorow has created a forum, which lets grateful readers donate copies of Makers to libraries and schools.

Though we should not mistake libraries themselves as being free—the cost of which is deferred as taxes—we can still create our own gift economies. Some school libraries in my system, for example, hold book swaps at year’s end, where students bring in books to exchange with each other for new summer reading material. By similarly hosting toy or game swaps, libraries and patrons can participate in a gift economy of sharing that will have an immediate and beneficial impact on their communities.

Libraries may not be free, but we can certainly be in the business of free—and these days, that’s not a bad business to be in.