Google's plan (known as Google Print) to digitize entire libraries in the U.K. and the U.S. continues to draw European reaction, reports the E-Commerce Times. Apparently, librarians across Europe are rallying around the French in a spirit of continental fraternity, calling on the European Union to invest millions to build a digital library of European-focused literature. They want to ensure that a comprehensive online catalog of important literature includes representation from every European nation.

Search expert John Battelle told the E-Commerce Times that Google's move is as much about monetizing and categorizing content as it is about its initial intent of ranking what was already available online. "With Google Print, it moved from organizer of the Web to one of its builders," Battelle is quoted as saying.

He also noted that France has been at the leading edge of document-digitization efforts and likely has more books of national importance online than many of the countries working with Google.