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LibriVox
About
LibriVox is a hope, an experiment, and a question: can the net harness a bunch of volunteers to help bring books in the public domain to life through podcasting?
LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, and then we release the audio files back onto the net. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.
Policies
- LibriVox and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Forum Policies
- Recording & Text Policies
- Language Policy
- Music & Sound Effects Rules
- Community service / volunteering for credit
Copyright
- Copyright and Public Domain
- Why Public Domain and not a Creative Commons license?
- LibriVox and Ebay Resellers
Listen
Listening to the files
See also: How To Get LibriVox Audio Files
Finding Audiobooks
Recommendations
Searching
Lists & Indexes
- 52 Books
- Great Books of the Western World
- Recordings of Books on the Ambleside List
- Recordings of Books on the Ambleside List 2
- Penguin's Great Ideas Series
- Boy Scout Novels
Other resources for listeners
- LibriVox Community Podcasts
- Thank a Reader
- Beginner's Guide to Cutting Audio
- How To Split With Mp3Splt
- Slowing Down a Recording
Volunteer
LibriVox volunteers narrate, proof listen, and upload chapters of books and other textual works in the public domain. These projects are then made available on the Internet for everyone to enjoy, for free.
There are many, many things you can do to help, so please feel free to jump into the Forum and ask what you can do to help!
See also: How LibriVox Works
Where to Start
Most of what you need to know about LibriVox can be found on the LibriVox Forum and the FAQ. LibriVox volunteers are helpful and friendly, and if you post a question anywhere on the forum you are likely to get an answer from someone, somewhere within an hour or so. So don't be shy! Many of our volunteers have never recorded anything before LibriVox.
The roles involved in making a LibriVox recording
Types of Projects
We have three main types of projects:
- Collaborative projects: Many volunteers contribute by reading individual chapters of a longer text.
- We recommend contributing to collaborative projects before venturing out to solo projects.
- Dramatic Readings and Plays: contributors voice the individual characters. When complete, the editor compiles them into a single recording
- Solo projects: One experienced volunteer contributes all chapters of the project.
Proof Listener (PL)
Not all volunteers read for LibriVox. If you would prefer not to lend your voice to LibriVox, you could lend us your ears. Proof listeners catch mistakes we may have missed during the initial recording and editing process.
- Guide for Proof-listeners
- Prooflistening FAQ
- Proof Listeners or Editors Wanted
- An Introduction to Proof-listening a Dramatic Work
Reader (Narrator)
Readers record themselves reading a section of a book, edit the recording, and upload it to the LibriVox Management Tool.
For an outline of the LibriVox audiobook production process, please see The LibriVox recording process.
One Minute Test
We require new readers to submit a sample recording so that we can make sure that your set up works and that you understand how to export files meeting our technical standards. We do not want you to waste precious hours reading whole chapters only to discover that your recording is unusable due to a preventable technical glitch.
Record
Recording Resources: Non-Technical
- LibriVox disclaimer in many languages
- English Pronunciation Guides
- Foreign Words Pronunciation
- Voice Character Performance
- Storyteller's Recording Guide
Recording Resources: Technical
- Recording Troubleshooter
- Improve Your Recording
- Make a Portable Vocal Booth
- Improving Computer Performance
- Setting Recording Input Level
- What is ID3
- Podcasting and Streaming Audio
Dramatic Readings and Plays
- An Introduction to Dramatic Readings and Plays for New Readers
- How to Edit a Dramatic Work
- How to Create a Dramatic Reading Script
- An Introduction to Proof-listening a Dramatic Work
- Dramatic Work Resources
Book Coordinator (BC)
A book coordinator (commonly abbreviated BC in the forum) is a volunteer who manages all the other volunteers who will record chapters for a LibriVox recording.
Metadata Coordinator (MC)
Metadata coordinators (MCs), help and advise Book Coordinators, and take over the files with the completed recordings (soloists are also Book Coordinators in this sense, as they prepare their own files for the Meta coordinators). The files are then prepared and uploaded to the LibriVox catalogue, in a lengthy and cumbersome process.
More info:
Graphic Artist
Volunteer graphic artists create the album cover art images shown in the catalog.
Resources and Miscellaneous
Resources
- LibriVox in the News
- Promotional Material
- Banners and Buttons
- Book Resources
- Poetry FAQ
- Misc Q&As
- Glossary
- Archives
How to Edit the Librivox Wiki
NOTE: Anyone may read this Wiki, but if you wish to edit the pages, please log in, as this Wiki has been locked to avoid spam. Apologies for the inconvenience.
- If you need to edit the Wiki, please request a user account, with a private mail (PM) to one of the admins: dlolso21, triciag, or knotyouraveragejo.
- You will be given a username (same as your forum name) and a temporary password. Please include your email address in your PM.
