By law, every book, movie, music recording and publication is required to be deposited in the Library of Congress. This material should be made available online, for lending, to anyone who wants access.
Today, publishers have intimidated libraries into tightly restricting the distribution of electronic versions of their holdings. The Library of Congress would be in a position to resist any demands for restricted access, because it has a legal mandate to make its holdings available. In fact, giving the public easy access to borrow and research is what the Framers of the Constitution intended.
Costs could be recouped by charging a nominal fee for every download. Copyrights can be protected in the same way that libraries do currently, using digital rights management.