Q. I need a copy of the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin.

While it is true that you can find lots of great literature online full text for free, this is generally only if it is out of copyright or the author or publisher choose to make it free. Ursula K. Le Guin is still living as of this question and all her works still copyright protected, so you will only find the full text in books or eBooks from libraries are have to purchase them. You're best bet ion that case is to look in the library catalog using the title of the story as your search.

The good news is that we do have a copy in print of that story in The art of the short story, call number PN 6120.2 .A73 2006.

Short stories are usual collected with other short stories, frequently by multiple authors. Poems can cause the same problem. You can get tips on how to find them from our Workng with Literature guide (link below) on the Get Full Text Literature page.This brief explanation of length of copyright & publications can help you determine if an author's work might be available for free, full text online:

Works Published After 1978
Life of the author + 70 years.

Works Published 1923-1978
95 years from date of publication.

Works Published Before 1923
All in the public domain.