I've wondered for a while if the issue of being unable to buy a book you would love to read (and can't get for free through a library or something similar for whatever reason) could be remedied at least somewhat by some sort of "borrowing chain" through the internet. I mean, I have various ways to find the books I want to read, and one of them is looking through recommendations of internet friends or look what people on lj have read and liked, and maybe you could have groups of people who sort of buy stashes together for others who can't afford to buy a copy by themselves? It would require a lot of organisation, obviously. Maybe someone has already thought of something like this (I'm sure someone did)? I know that this is likely only a bandaid...