<i>Yes, it is different. It differs in efficiency. </i><p>Not an irrelevant difference.  A public library is funded and maintained by the same community that uses it.  The manual processes required to consume the material are a natural check in the process and the result is a mild shift in equilibrium.  Communities benefit and libraries are legitimate customers, so publishers are at least still getting paid.<p>File sharing&#x27;s equilibrium is nowhere near as balanced as the library.  And equilibrium matters.  It&#x27;s the difference between a healthy and stable ecosystem and a rodent plague (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;zWVw-j8eYSk" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;zWVw-j8eYSk</a>).