> If only there was a ... global digital library of ebooks.

There are several, if the various shadow libraries (Library Genesis, Z-Library, Anna's Archive...) count.

Do you not have interloan?

> Unfortunately, that doesn't work if your library doesn't have the book you want.

Really? What library are you using? Virtually all of them will arrange to have the book you want sent from a partner library.

Well, my library does not have any "partner libraries", and in fact, I pay for a library card to a library in a neighboring city, because my city doesn't have its own library.

But I've lived places that had inter-library book loans before, and there were still cases where none of the libraries in the system had a book.

If there’s something you really want/need to get, I would strongly encourage asking a librarian for help (assuming you haven’t already).

I had assumed this would be an imposition and I could handle searching myself. However, good librarians can work magic, whether it’s finding the same material in another format, arranging a loan, or even buying it outright.

The ones I know also assure me this is one of the fun parts of their jobs!