We listen to a lot of stories here on the podcast each week and more than just a few come from Librivox.Org. But what is it? -and- What do they do? This article attempts to explain and document this amazing free service.

What is Librivox.org?

LibriVox is a group of worldwide volunteers who read and record public domain texts creating free public domain audiobooks for download from their website. It was founded in 2005 by Hugh McGuire to provide “Acoustical liberation of books in the public domain.” As of April 2015 it had 8,664 items in its collection. Most releases are in the English language, but many non-English works are also available. LibriVox is closely affiliated with Project Gutenberg, and the Internet Archive who hosts their offerings. We have talked about the Internet Archive many times on the show. They provide the mass majority of what you hear on the RAS.

Where does term Librivox.org come from?

LibriVox is an invented word inspired by the two Latin terms liber (book) and vox (voice). The word was also coined because liber means; child and free, independent and unrestricted. Here is what their founders had to say about it.

“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.” – LibriVox forum

So there you have the LibriVox.org story. I highly recommend their site and encourage you to visit. You will be amazed at sheer volume of materials they have. Everything from famous speeches to Aesop’s fables.

-Ron

This Week’s Podcast:

We have an amazing show this week. Two aliens walk into a city and two aliens escape, or do they? Also, A professor is contacted by aliens, has this first contact doomed the earth? And finally, a one legged man is murdered and you must solve the crime. You can listen to this podcast this Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on TuneIn Radio or listen on your radio Friday night at 8pm Eastern time. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.