I think there are possible solutions here for a library, off the top of my head, taking a picture of your face when dropping off the codes, so that when you come back and ask for your codes, the librarian can ID you against the picture they have. Basically what is done when verifying your ID card/passport when you travel/go to the bank etc...
It wouldn't be a librarian doing someone a favour, but rather a service that libraries provide.
This could be a great evolution for libraries. They are already a distributed, public system, that people in general trust, but their role in society has changed with the rise of the internet and online services, and this could be a really useful role they could fill.
Yes this is sort of what I was envisioning. Not as much one trusted librarian doing a favour, but a librarian team having a filing cabinet full of backup codes and an ID process that they trust and that is appropriate for their community.
This is the sort of thing that I think Google could support explicitly with more access control around it, but I don't think that's entirely necessary to get the benefits.
It wouldn't be a librarian doing someone a favour, but rather a service that libraries provide.
This could be a great evolution for libraries. They are already a distributed, public system, that people in general trust, but their role in society has changed with the rise of the internet and online services, and this could be a really useful role they could fill.