---
title: ""A decade ago most of humanity’s scientific knowledge sat locked…"
date: 2021-01-12
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# "A decade ago most of humanity’s scientific knowledge sat locked…

*January 12, 2021 · Facebook*

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[http://freeread.org/](http://freeread.org/){target="_blank"}
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\"A decade ago most of humanity's scientific knowledge sat locked behind paywalls inside subscription databases, inaccessible to the world. If a scientist didn\'t have the right subscription access they were charged \$45 to read just one paper: equal to more than half a week's salary in many countries. Many scientists couldn\'t pay, so they couldn\'t read.\
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Free knowledge\
And so free libraries were born. Free libraries offer portals to bypass paywalls, download re-shared and scanned books from private libraries. The shadow libraries Library Genesis and Sci-Hub collectively offer over 5 million books and 80 million scientific articles for free to the world. Democratizing science to bring knowledge to all people means protecting these free libraries and fighting for their survival.\"\
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[http://freeread.org/](http://freeread.org/){target="_blank"}
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