Bookyards

Bookyards is a free online library and education portal based in Montreal, Canada. It was created in 2002 to freely spread non-copyright information and resources on the internet. Bookyards' collection includes over 15,000 e-books, links to hundreds of online libraries, numerous historical documents, news and blog directories with a news and blog aggregator.

History
The idea for Bookyards was first originated by Pierre Lefebvre in the Fall of 2001. His intent was to develop a commercial site that would sell for a nominal fee various types of e-books. When he brought this idea to his business colleague, Victor Lamparski, the idea quickly changed to actually providing a library that is free and available to all. Bookyards slowly started to build its own library beinning with readily available works on the internet.

In 2004 the decision was made to expand and incorporate all the features that one could find in a physical library to one that can then be found on the web. With this change of direction, Bookyards started to include additional features such as blog directories, news and information sites, links to music, video and education sites.

Bookyards is now significantly adding to its collection of e-books, links to other education and library sites, and expanding its directory of external links. Bookyards is also now experimenting with various business models that would help support the site in maintaining its no-fee policy.

Purpose, Goals, And Ideals
The original purpose for Bookyards was to develop a business model that would make it feasible to distribute ebooks to the general public. This goal has now changed to be a portal and provider of free ebooks, be a news and information aggregator, as well as providing educational resources.

Copyright Issues
Bookyards is a Canadian based website. It is careful to follow Canadian copyright rules and regulations. However, for its American users the vast majority of its works are in the Public Domain for the United States.

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