So I know there are ways to get copies of some of the most-read EA books for free via ImpactBooks. I'm wondering if there are programs to a) get PDFs and eBook versions of these books to people, and b) ways to get free copies of books/ebooks/online courses that aren't as 'core' as the ones listed, but are still pretty EA-aligned and/or would be helpful for someone's learning goals. 

For example: the books listed under Charity Entrepeneurship's list of recommended resources look like really great learning resources. Poor Economics was a worldview-changer for me. These books might be broadly beneficial reads for a lot of EAs who are figuring out how to manage a team, how to make decisions, et cetera. But reading a lot of books gets really expensive really fast (don't ask me how I know). 

I'm not going to incriminate myself, but certain book websites, eg those with names that rhyme with PieClub or GlibHen, aren't always a success (and there's the ethics around using these, uh, services to consider, too).  The (pretty good) public library near me only seems to have celebrity autobiographies and cookbooks available to check out as ebooks, so that's not a robust option.

It would be cool if there was a way to request free copies of certain books that aren't strictly EA, but are broadly helpful to one's work as an EA. This might look like an extension to impactbooks, some kind of microgrant program, or a Google Form where you submit a bibliography of books that you'd like to read in order to learn <insert subject here>. 

It would also be great if the impactbooks books were available as a PDF/ebook instead of just a hard copy (couldn't find this option anywhere on their website, please correct me if I'm wrong). ~$20 per book (mailed hard-copy) could instead be ~$10/book (ebook version) and available instantly!

This might also look like someone spending the time/money to negotiate/buy the right to publish free HTML versions of certain books. I'm thinking of pages like the Goodfellow/Bengio/Courville Deep Learning book. From the website, an HTML version of a book: 

is a sort of weak DRM required by our contract with MIT Press. It's intended to discourage unauthorized copying/editing of the book.

HTML book rights might be cheap to obtain, and I can imagine there are a lot of other books (outside of the 'typical' EA books) that would be widely beneficial as a free-to-read version. I don't know what the research suggests, but I'd guess perhaps medical textbooks, maybe especially those with a focus on 'tropical medicine'? Books/papers related to animal intelligence? Kids' books like The Way Things Work?

Maybe this also looks like subsidizing or otherwise financially supporting free high-quality online educational materials. Crash Course, a YouTube channel that makes educational video series (that are sort of like 101 textbooks), recently estimated that their videos cost ~$0.05 per 'learner' (no idea where this number comes from or what counts as a 'learner'). They have about 13.5 million subscribers, and the content is quite enjoyable (dare I say, entertaining?) and seems pretty legit (or at least it seems that way to me).