LibriVox - Wikipedia
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Public domain audiobook project
LibriVox
Location
Worldwide (U.S. based)
Established
August 2005
Collection
Size
20,000 (17 December 2024
[update]
Access and use
Members
Worldwide volunteers
Other information
Budget
US$5,000 per annum (as of 2010
[update]
Director
N/A (community-shared)
Website
librivox
.org
Sample
The first chapter of
A Study in Scarlet
, the first novel about
Sherlock Holmes
, by
Arthur Conan Doyle
read by LibriVox volunteer David Clarke.
Problems playing this file? See
media help
LibriVox
is a group of worldwide volunteers who read and record
public domain
texts, creating free public domain
audiobooks
for download from their website and other
digital library
hosting sites on the internet. It was founded in 2005 by Hugh McGuire with the objective to "make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet."
On 6 August 2016, the completed projects numbered 10,000; on 14 February 2021 there were 15,000, and on 17 December 2024 the catalog reached 20,000 recordings.
Most releases are in the English language, but many non-English works are also available. There are multiple affiliated projects that are providing additional content. LibriVox is associated with
Project Gutenberg
from where the project gets some of its texts, and the
Internet Archive
that hosts digital recordings.
History
edit
Hugh McGuire, founder of LibriVox
Can the net harness a bunch of volunteers to help bring books in the public domain to life through
podcasting
— Hugh McGuire
LibriVox was started in August 2005 by
Montreal
-based writer Hugh McGuire, who set up a
blog
, and posed the question.
The first recorded book was
The Secret Agent
by
Joseph Conrad
Etymology of LibriVox
edit
LibriVox
is an invented word inspired by
Latin
words
liber
(book) in its
genitive
form
libri
and
vox
(voice), giving the meaning
BookVoice
(or
voice of the book
). The word was also coined because of other connotations:
liber
also means
child
and
free, independent, unrestricted
. As the LibriVox forum says: "We like to think LibriVox might be interpreted as 'child of the voice', and 'free voice'. Finally, the other link we like is 'library' so you could imagine it to mean Library of Voice".
There has been no decision or consensus by LibriVox founders or the community of volunteers for a single pronunciation of LibriVox. It is accepted that any pronunciation is accurate.
Organization and funding
edit
LibriVox is a volunteer-run, free content, public domain project. It has no budget or
legal personality
. The development of projects is managed through an
Internet forum
, supported by an
admin
team, who also maintain a searchable catalogue
database
of completed works.
10
In early 2010, LibriVox ran a fundraising drive to raise $20,000 to cover hosting costs for the website of about $5,000/year and improve front- and backend usability.
11
The target was reached in 13 days, and so the fundraising ended and LibriVox suggested that supporters consider making donations to its affiliates and partners,
Project Gutenberg
12
and the
Internet Archive
13
Production process
edit
Volunteers can choose new projects to start, either recording on their own or inviting others to join them, or they can contribute to projects that have been started by others. Once a volunteer has recorded their contribution, it is uploaded to the site, and proof-listened by members of the LibriVox community.
10
Finished audiobooks are available from the LibriVox website, and
MP3
files are hosted separately by the
Internet Archive
. Recordings are also available through other means, such as
and
iTunes
, and, being free of copyright, they are frequently distributed independently of LibriVox on the Internet and otherwise.
10
Content
edit
LibriVox recorded hours by year 2005–2021
LibriVox only records material that is in the
public domain
in the United States, and all LibriVox books are released with a public domain dedication.
14
Because of copyright restrictions, LibriVox produces recordings of only a limited number of contemporary books. These have included, for example, the
9/11 Commission Report
, which as a work of the US Federal Government is in the public domain.
15
The LibriVox catalogue is varied. It contains popular and classic fiction, but it also includes difficult texts such as
Immanuel Kant
's
Critique of Pure Reason
, and a recording of the first 500 digits of
pi
. The collection also features poetry, plays, religious texts (for example, English versions of the
Koran
and books from various translations of the
Bible
) and non-fiction of various interests. In January 2009, the catalogue contained approximately 55 percent fiction and drama, 25 percent non-fiction and 20 percent poetry (calculated by numbers of recordings). By the end of 2023, the most viewed item (22.7M) was a reading of
The Art of War
attributed to
Sun Tzu
and read in 2006 by Moira Fogarty, followed by a 2006 collective reading of
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
with 22.4M views.
Around 90 percent of the catalogue is recorded in English, but recordings exist in more than 90 languages (as of 2019
[update]
).
10
Reputation
edit
LibriVox has garnered significant interest, in particular from those interested in the promotion of volunteer-led content and alternative approaches to
ownership on the Internet.
10
It has received support from the
Internet Archive
and
Project Gutenberg
. Intellectual freedom and commons proponent
Mike Linksvayer
described it in 2008 as "perhaps the most interesting collaborative culture project this side of
Wikipedia
".
16
The project has also been featured in press around the world and has been recommended by the BBC's
Click
, MSNBC's
The Today Show
Reason
17
Wired
18
the US
PC Magazine
and the UK
Metro
and
Sunday Times
19
newspapers.
Quality
edit
A frequent concern of listeners is the site's policy of allowing any recording to be published as long as it is understandable and faithful to the source text.
20
This means that some recordings are of lower audio fidelity; some feature background noises, non-native accents or other perceived imperfections in comparison to professionally recorded audiobooks.
21
22
While some listeners may object to those books with chapters read by multiple readers,
23
others find this to be a non-issue or even a feature,
24
25
26
though many books are narrated by a single reader.
The narrations have been called
outsider art
27
John Adamian, writing in
Wired
, noted:
Sometimes while listening I feel like I'm eavesdropping on a strange over-wrought audition, where an aspiring actor tries on and abandons accents, tweaks their voice in pitch too much, or hyperextends vowels in an effort to feel their way into the voice of a fictional New England sea captain, or a crude Yorkshire industrialist, or a displaced German Jew in London. Some readings are wooden, but with a kind of affectlessness that starts to seem like its own interesting artistic choice once you've settled into the performance.
27
See also
edit
Virtual volunteering
Voice acting
References
edit
The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection
", The
Internet Archive
. Retrieved 31 December 2023. (The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection, 18,900 "audio" items)
McGuire, Hugh.
"Objective LibriVox"
LibriVox
. Retrieved
2025-05-02
Chesley, Amelia (2016–2017).
"A Brief History of Crowdsourced Digital Publishing at LibriVox.org"
(PDF)
Computers and Writing Proceedings
"Another LibriVox Milestone: 10,000 projects!"
. Retrieved
2025-05-04
"LibriVox Celebrates 15,000 Audiobooks!"
LibriVox.org
. February 14, 2021
. Retrieved
February 14,
2021
McGuire, Hugh (9 August 2005).
"Welcome to LibriVox"
. LibriVox
. Retrieved
20 August
2010
McGuire, Hugh (February 12, 2007).
"from TextoSolvo: Clarity (Why It Worked #1)"
. HughMcGuire.net
. Retrieved
2009-01-09
hugh.
"General Information - What does LibriVox mean?"
LibriVox forum
. Retrieved
29 September
2013
English Pronunciation Guides - Pronunciation of "LibriVox"
", LibriVox wiki. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
Chesley, Amelia (2019).
"The In/Visible, In/Audible Labor of Digitizing the Public Domain"
Digital Humanities Quarterly
13
(2).
Archived
from the original on Jun 14, 2025.
This data current as of February 1, 2019. Out of 12,535 total LibriVox audiobooks, 1,617 (12.9%) are in languages other than English, including Hindi, Hungarian, Korean, Kurdish, Sudanese, Swedish, and even Esperanto.
LibriVox Needs Your Help
", LibriVox, 24 February 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
Gutenberg:Partners, Affiliates and Resources
", Gutenberg, retrieved 19 April 2015.
Archive.org partners
", Archive.org, Retrieved 19 April 2015.
dead link
"Public Domain"
LibriVox
. Retrieved
11 November
2018
Hill, Alli (February 19, 2025).
"100 Best Free Audiobooks"
LifeHack
. Retrieved
2025-05-02
Linksvayer, Mike (June 2, 2008).
"LibriVox: 1500 public domain audio books"
. Archived from
the original
on Sep 30, 2009
. Retrieved
2009-01-09
Erard, Michael (May 2007).
"The Wealth of LibriVox"
Reason Magazine
. Retrieved
19 April
2015
Farivar, Cyrus (Dec 16, 2005).
"The Web Will Read You a Story"
Wired
. Archived from
the original
on November 7, 2008
. Retrieved
19 April
2015
Silverman, Craig (25 August 2006).
"Public Domain Books, Ready for Your iPod"
The New York Times
. Retrieved
19 April
2015
Quality of Delivery?
", Librivox forums. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
The Return of the Native Audiobook (Librivox)
Archived
2012-04-25 at the
Wayback Machine
", Review. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
On the absence of ratings at LibriVox
", Review 2 May 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
Librivox – free audio books
", Review. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
Librivox (free audio books)
", Review January 09, 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
Librivox
", Review October 1, 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
My Favorite LibriVox Readers
", Review 12 March 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
Adamian, John (October 5, 2015).
"The Weird, Obsessive World of DIY Audiobooks"
Wired
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-10-07
. Retrieved
2023-12-05
External links
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
LibriVox
Wikidata
has the property:
LibriVox author ID (P1899)
(see
uses
Wikinews has related news:
Interview with LibriVox founder Hugh McGuire
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