Website- LibriVox at www.librivox.org

Bibliographic information:

LibriVox: Acoustical Liberation of Books in the Public Domain (n.d.) Retrieved from www.librivox.org.

Site Summary:

            Librivox.org has public domain titles in audio book format in a number of languages.  The site relies on the use of public domain books which do not require anything to be paid to a publisher or author.  Volunteers read these books and record them, later uploading them to the LibriVox database.  Users are able to search the site and see a short description of the title and then download the audio file.  No one makes any money off of the operation of LibriVox and the site aims at being able to convert most public domain books of interest to audio format.  The site currently contains nearly 3,500itles and new titles are added daily.  LibriVox provides the software and contact information for anyone who would like to volunteer their time in reading these.  Some of the audio books are read by a single volunteer and some are many volunteers reading single chapters of larger works.

Critical Evaluation:

            The website itself is easy to use and one can use the search feature in order to retrieve audio books or look at the catalog.  The actual audio books vary in quality depending on the volunteer, even though there is an editing process.  Some of them are quite good and I have listened to over 150 of the titles since I have been introduced to the site.  The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham was my favorite production of those I have come across on LibriVox.  One cannot argue with the price and the sheer number of people involved in this endeavor with nothing but the greater good at heart.  Teens might find some of the titles of interest and might be interested in the opportunities to volunteer their voices.  

Viewers Annotation:

LibriVox is a great way to get public domain audio books for free from home, click here to start..

Genre:

Website/Database

Curriculum Ties:

Many which can be found through these public domain audio books.

Reading Level/Interest Age:

All

Challenge Issues:

N/A

Why did you include this website? :

LibriVox has some of the greatest titles in audio book format for free; this expands a library and a user’s access.  Some of the titles might be helpful to teens with school or for enjoyment.

Website:

www.librivox.org