That knowledge was readily available through numerous other legal channels. Libraries do virtual lending.
What the IA did in that instance was a reckless gesture that did not change actual ability to access. That's worse than nothing, it's a net negative.
You seem to somehow conflate this instance with everything else the IA does. I'm not debating that their overall purpose is good and necessary. I'm saying this particular action was a spectacularly bad idea.
The IA resisted nothing, achieved nothing, made nobody's life better, and created an opportunity for bad precedent.
It was an utterly boneheaded move. (It has also nothing to do with "exhaustive preservation")