LibriVox Needs Your Help
UPDATE: We’ve reached our objective. Thank you everybody! More info here.
Dearest LibriVox listeners, volunteers, & supporters:
For four-and-a-half years, LibriVox volunteers have been making audiobooks for the world to enjoy, and giving them away for free. We’ve made thousands of free audiobooks that have been downloaded by millions of people; our site gets 400,000 visitors every month. To date, all our costs have been borne by a few individuals, with some generous donations from partners. However, these costs have become too big.
See below to FIND OUT HOW TO DONATE (Or, keep reading!).
LibriVox needs your help.
We’re asking for donations for the following:
- to cover hosting costs for our website (about $5,000/year)*, which includes:
- the site you are reading now;
- the forum;
- the wiki;
- the catalog;
- a whole lot of back-end software to host and process audio before it goes to the Internet Archive
- but does NOT include hosting audio files which is done by Archive.org
- to redesign the site and improve its accessibility
- to make the LibriVox catalog easier for listeners to use
- to make the management software easier for admins to use
We expect this fund-raising drive to sustain us for three years at least.
Your donation will support the work of our volunteers.
Our fundraising goal is $20,000. After we reach it, we’ll shut down our fundraising campaign. And we hope we can make it another 4.5 years without having to bother you again!
HOW TO DONATE:
*NOTE: From our great sysadmin Dan, regarding server costs:
For a variety of reasons, we require a full dedicated server, or at least a very high-end VM with several hundred GB of storage. Though we don’t host the files for end-user download, we do provide an uploading service which book contributors use to share individual chapters and other similar things.
Combine that with lots of wordpress/phpBB modifications, and pretty high wordpress/phpBB traffic, and we fill up a server pretty fast.
In short: Hundreds of GB storage + ~1800 gigabytes Internet transfer per month + heavy MySQL usage adds up to a pretty expensive server or high-end VM. Note that none of this includes projected growth, we will need more resources soon, and that’s also a factor in the dollar amount Hugh mentioned.
I’d also like to point out that the figure does not cover sysadmin support. I work for free. And my job is a lot harder when I have to deal with an intermediary sysadmin, which some hosting companies force upon you. Where we are right now, I myself am root.
**NOTE: From the Internet Archive (who is kindly administering this campaign for us): Please reassure your donors that we do not sell our mailing list nor send unsolicited mail out.
LibriVox Feeds
February 24th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Just donated, because you have brought me so much over the years, keep up the good work
February 24th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
If you have a Twitter account, TWEET THIS! If you have a Facebook account, ADD THIS TO YOUR UPDATES! Find chickichicki on Twitter and RETWEET! We can do this!!!!!!
February 24th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I was on the Paypal screen to make a small donation when I realized that there is no assurance anywhere in your explanatory screens that promises that you will not sell or give my email address to any other organization. Since this practice is so wide-spread, I canceled my donation. My upstairs neighbor receives literally thousands of mailings a year based on a small number of donations. I can’t bear that in my inbox.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Jan Baker makes an excellent point. I used to help several charities until I read “the fine print” and discovered they assumed they had the right to share my contact information with other charities because I participated with their fund raising efforts. I have been inundated with requests, both telephone and direct mail from many, many charities and it has lasted for several years. Librivox needs to raise this money, but we must ensure the privacy needs of the contributors. Hugh?
February 24th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I gave just because I love recording so very much and I want the site to be even better than it is. Thanks for asking for help!
February 24th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
@y2k @janbaker: I will confirm with Internet Archive, who is managing this for us, but I am certain they do not sell email addresses; nor solicit.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I’ll cerainly donate but I just wonder is there any way UK librivoxers can arrange for LV to take advantage of the charity tax rebate?
February 24th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
@andy, i doubt it highly : (
February 24th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
My wife and I thoroughly enjoy librivox, and have downloaded dozens of titles. Eventually both of us will be volunteering to read. I support your efforts and want to see this sustain.
However, I want to know what the $20,000.00 will go toward. If librivox has been self-supporting thus far, what is the need for funding.
Not trying to be cynical, but certainly want to know where my money will be going.
Thank you very much.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
@Derick:
We’re asking for donations for the following:
* to cover hosting costs for our website, including: the site you are reading now; the forum; the wiki; the catalog; but NOT including the audio files which are hosted by Archive.org
* to redesign the site and improve its accessibility
* to make the LibriVox catalog easier for listeners to use
* to make the management software easier for admins to use
To date, all our costs have been borne by a few individuals, with some generous donations from partners. However, these costs have become too big.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Also note, the 20k is to take us 3-4 years out.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Donated! I’m glad to be able to help – looking forward to the next 3-4 years!
February 24th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I have sent donation via Paypal. Just want to remind everyone to be sure to write the “Donation for Librivox” when you donate. Very easily overlooked but very important!!!
February 24th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
To help broaden the funding base, let’s negotiate a trade with NPR and put a famous actor and actress on a 60sec PSA driving the public to the librivox donation page.
If my local NPR station can raise $200k in a one-day begathon, I bet one spot a day in the ten top markets for a week will take care of this in a snap.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Hugh,
I have just written a check for 100$ and sending it to Internet archives, endorsed
for Librivox.
Also,shortly, I am planning to resume recording, which I have found profoundly
satisfying, not in the leas beceause of the contact with your wonderful staff.
regards, éva
February 24th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Hugh,
I have just written a check for 100$ and sent it to Internet archives endorsed
for Librivox.
Shortly I will resume recording, which I have found immensely rewarding, not in the
least because of your wonderful staff.
Regards, Éva
February 24th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
wow! i love librivox, and although the site interface has improved lots over the past few years, i’d love to see it even more accessible. thank you to the people who keep this site going, it’s a brilliant thing to get to listen to all theses books for free. it’s definitely a worthwhile donation.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
For those worried about privacy and not getting inundated with emails from charities–I have donated through Just Give before, and had no problems with this.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
As an occasional reader and long-time listener (running through the excellent recording of Moby Dick right now) I must say I appreciate the frankness and simplicity of your asking for donations – I can only spare a little, but this service means a lot to me. I’ve shared the message with friends, too. Thanks for all you do!
February 24th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Why not just ask for volunteers to help redesign the web site? Instead of 20K make it community…
February 24th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
@roger the 20k is mostly for the $5k/year hosting cost, and will keep the lights on for 3 years, leaving $5k for other bits and pieces of work we’d like done, that have been difficult to achieve just with volunteers.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
This is to confirm that your e-mail address and other personal information is not sold by Internet Archive nor it is used for our own purposes. Should you have any question please contact me directly at: jacques@archive.org. Internet Archive is managing the receipt of the funds on behalf of LibriVox. Please visit our site http://www.archive.org and see the link for LibriVox in our audio collection.
Jacques Cressaty, Dir. of Admin. Internet Archive
February 24th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I’ve been wondering when a fundraiser would be needed. AMAZING you’ve been able to hold off so long!
I’m gladly contributing and you might suggest to all the “eBay” and Amazon sellers of LV works, that they chip in a bit too!!
I’m routinely asking those who re-package my Twain works to contribute to http://www.sudanmedicalrelief.org
February 24th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I would love to donate. Are donations tax deductible? I’ll give something either way.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
I’ll be happy to make a contribution after payday. But I was curious about the hosting costs–5K per year seems kind of steep in today’s VM environment (I’m a web sysadmin who specializes in host management, WordPress, SMF, Ubuntu, etc.)
If that figure includes dedicated IT support, that’s more than reasonable… but if it’s just hosting, seems a bit high.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Another option for people concerned about email privacy – use a service like http://spamgourmet.com
I have used them for years and highly recommend them. Once set up, it lets you create new email addresses on-the-fly.
By default, after receiving 5 emails using the email address, all further emails get deleted. It’s highly configurable, though.
There are many similar services.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I wrote to you some time ago asking exactly what is required in order tto read for librivox. I have been reading in a studio in New Haven, CT. called RFB&D…Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic. The organization has decided to close this studio due to cost cutting measures, and there are many of us who would still like to contribute to this cause. The problem is that the closet studios are now in New York and Boston. Since I have been volunteering for this organization, I thought that your audiobooks would be a smooth transition. All I need is some direction on how to proceed with this venture.
Thank you for your kind attention,
Sincerely,
Molly Dinneen
February 24th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
I agree, the hosting costs sound exorbitantly high. Your bandwidth requirements should be relatively low, considering that your audio files are hosted elsewhere. I would think you could get some of the hosting costs donated anyway. Do you have any reports showing what the load on the site is actually like?
And there are plenty of people who would rather donate time to helping redesign the site or develop the management software. You might want to post it on http://volunteermatch.org so that people can be made aware of your needs and volunteer to help.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Hi Molly, all is explained here:
http://librivox.org/volunteer-for-librivox/
February 24th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
@tony: yes, tax deductible in the usa.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
5000/y for forum, wiki and blog? These are not pure hosting costs, are they?
February 24th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
I made a small donation! Recording audio is my favorite hobby!
February 24th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
@Greeley @qubodup: we get about 400,000 visits a month, most of which do some heavy querying of our somewhat hacked-together, and probably-not-optimized catalog database.
And there is a whole bunch of back-end software for uploading and processing of audio *before* we ship it finally to Internet Archive for public consumption.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
When I went to donate, I’m sure I DID see a notice saying that my information would not be used for any other purpose. I used PayPal. I don’t remember the precise wording, but I do remember reading it.
Anyway, Hugh, glad to help out. I’m sure I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth from LibriVox over the years.
Will you be posting a chart showing how much we’ve raised so far?
February 24th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
400k visitors? Couldn’t ad placement help offset costs?
February 24th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
@cat, see:
http://librivox.org/about-librivox/
February 24th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Oh no. Please do not put ads on the site. I would much rather contribute money every few years than to have this site cluttered up with ads of any kind. That’s my 2 cents worth of opinion, anyway. :)
February 24th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Happy to donate. This is a wonderful thing you do.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
I agree with the other posters that $5k in hosting costs is pretty expensive given how competitive virtualized hosting has become. For example, you can get a VPS server from slicehost that can easily handle that kind of traffic for $100/month. Also, there’s always “the cloud”, which charges by bandwidth and CPU cycle. I would recommend rackspacecloud for cloud hosting. I’ve personally used both of those hosting services, and I highly recommend both.
As someone else mentioned, it’s very likely that you can get hosting donated. I’ve seen several non-profit organizations that get hosting donated by a hosting company.
Hmm, I was looking to see if SharkSpace (your current hosting provider) ever donates hosting services, and I found an article that said sharkspace donates the hosting services for librivox.org. Perhaps that has since changed? I also did a little more research and there are at least 6 other websites that share your ip address, so it’s definitely a shared hosting plan. A shared hosting plan really should be pretty inexpensive. Are the additional costs due to paying an administrator? Perhaps there are volunteer administrators out there.
Also, I agree with roger that the community may be able to volunteer with the redesign as well. As a software developer, I would be happy to volunteer some time.
February 24th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I love Librivox and am happy to contribute. LV has given me so much, both listening to and creating audiobooks are amazing things to do. And I consider the work LV does to be so amazingly valuable.
(And I used the work I do with LV as an example of meeting goals in a job interview today, so I owe them for that as well.)
£100 pounds (that’s $154) in the pot.
And I agree, no ads!
February 24th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Donated $40. Give us a running total, folks, so we can cheer it on! :)
February 24th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
I can’t give much but will give what I can. Librivox is a wonderful site that has made my life more beautiful. Thankyou.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
I have proclaimed your site far and wide! What a wonderful place to get books to listen to while I travel from job to job I spend a lot of time behind the wheel thank you! thank you! thank you! Donation forthcoming.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
I just donated some money to Librivox, and I’m so glad I did!!!! I can’t thank you enough for the countless hours of listening pleasure I get from this incredible site!
February 24th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Just made my donation, in tribute to Librivox & more particularly to Cori Samuel/Ravenotation, whose fine reading of Stein’s “Tender Buttons” first led me to Librivox.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of Librivox recordings (and recorded a few myself). Thank you to Hugh and the all the volunteers for this incredible resource! Donating, and spreading the word…
February 24th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
LibriVox is an endeavor much worth supporting with treasure as well as time.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
PS: I love the idea of adding a tribute to readers. I made my donation already, but if I’d remembered, I’d have given a call out to Karen Savage, and her reading of Rilla of Ingleside.
February 24th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
I have a question and some comments.
I love the idea of donating to LibriVox, and I probably will. However, it does seem that the current expenses in one or more areas could be cut some.
How much money is being paid out for the forum? You could really get one/some just as nice, if not a lot better, for free. Anyway, I would highly recommend looking into the following website’s services:
http://www.nabble.com/
I’ve used this place for years now. They don’t have ads. You can backup your forums in XML files (so this is insurance against any worries you have about Nabble going under—I seriously doubt if it will, though). You can embed forums in other sites. You can customize them. There are lots of different views. Nabble listens to suggestions from users. You can have sub-forums, private forums, categories, etc. Forums also double as emailing lists for users that want to use them that way (i.e. you can post and reply through email, as well as get posts through email). Forums have RSS feeds. Nabble doesn’t spam you—I could probably count the emails I’ve gotten from them, aside from subscriptions to forums and stuff like that on one hand. Nabble doesn’t have restrictions on how many forums you can have or anything like that. The site is fast, too—so you don’t have to worry about lag, except on very rare occasions. Users can have avatars. Anyway, it’s one of the best free services online, I think. You might even be able to work out a deal where the current forum posts could be imported, although I’m not 100% sure about that (you’d have to talk to them on the support forum, probably, and it probably depends on whether you can export the current one in XML format).
Nabble doesn’t have polls yet, but I’m sure they would add them if a few more people suggested the idea.
I would at least recommend seriously looking into it. It really is an excellent service, and it could save money.
I might also recommend calling for volunteer programmers and such for the work ahead. It might seem implied now, but people are sometimes afraid to be unsolicited volunteers. Just say who/what you need, and I bet someone will respond.
February 24th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
If we write checks for donations, do we put “Donation for LibriVox” in the memo, or where?
February 24th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
I have used Librivox for a couple of years. Mostly I enjoy the readings though there are a couple of readers whose voices I find so distracting that I no longer download titles I know they have read.
Having said that, I know I probably need to step up and make my own recording. From what I’ve read, the process is complicated and time consuming.
I do not use PayPal for various other reasons.
Where can I mail a check? Make it payable to Librivox.org?
(Please email the address to me as I do not check this message board often)
Steve
February 24th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Ignore my previous request for instructions for sending a check. I found it all at “Make a Donation”
February 24th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Just Donated! Thank you for years of enjoyment, LibriVox!
February 24th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Made a munificent donation. Wish it could be more. Believe me, I know EXACTLY what Librivox is going through.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Jacques, thanks for the clarification. Donation made through PayPal. While I do record, I have had many wonderful hours listening to other volunteers and appreciate the time and effort they put into their recordings.
Let’s go LV’ers.
We can easily make this $20K limit if everyone that has ever listened to an LV recording only donates $10. The price of a commercially produced audio book is considerably more than that.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
@Greeley,
I’m the Librivox sysadmin. For a variety of reasons, we require a full dedicated server, or at least a very high-end VM with several hundred GB of storage. Though we don’t host the files for end-user download, we do provide an uploading service which book contributors use to share individual chapters and other similar things.
Combine that with lots of wordpress/phpBB modifications, and pretty high wordpress/phpBB traffic, and we fill up a server pretty fast.
In short: Hundreds of GB storage + ~1800 gigabytes Internet transfer per month + heavy MySQL usage adds up to a pretty expensive server or high-end VM. Note that none of this includes projected growth, we will need more resources soon, and that’s also a factor in the dollar amount Hugh mentioned.
I’d also like to point out that the figure does not cover sysadmin support. I work for free. And my job is a lot harder when I have to deal with an intermediary sysadmin, which some hosting companies force upon you. Where we are right now, I myself am root.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Hugh, some of we LV’ers have websites. Can we put the Donate to Librivox button on our website? If so, let us know how.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Just donated, would have been a lot more if I had hit the Megamillions jackpot last night. Oh well, maybe Friday. :) Thanks to everyone for making these last years on the road more enjoyable and mentally stimulating…I have enjoyed many, many audiobooks immensely! I only wish I had discovered Librivox sooner. Thanks again to everyone here!
February 24th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I recently completed my degree in database management and would LOVE to help optimize the database!
February 24th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
For the autonomy of an individual and so with the democracy, getting knowledge is of the essence of those two basic values of our civilisation. And where do the individual gets his sources of learning? Thru reading with the eyes ( the Gutemberg era ) and now-a-days with the ears.
LibriVox enables each person worldwide to make his or her own choice of free reading material in total independance and even in sole secrecy.
But what matters the most to me is that the LibriVox’s outset is the result of pure generosity of hundreds of persons who devote their time voice and talent for unknown beneficiaries to them, truly for mankind.
LibriVox is a souding jewel in this world. I donate $ 100.
Jean Lambert, Montreal, Canada
February 25th, 2010 at 12:06 am
I am glad to help. My thanks to the readers who made Jane Austen not only tolerable, but even enjoyable. I may listen to Little Women one day, too. And I hope to record for you at some point. As for costs, sure you could get it cheaper, but in the long run, you really do get what you pay for.
Agreeing with others, I’d like to see a record of progress, even if its only text saying how much has been donated so far.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Hi,
I can’t give you any money, but I think I can help you to get what you want, if you like to talk with me. I now that I can do lot good things for you.
If you want write for me.
Pia
February 25th, 2010 at 1:10 am
I’ve just donated $ 50.00. It’s not a big amount but it weighs pretty heavy on my scanty budget.
But I’ve made the effort immediately without hesitation because I consider LibriVox such an extraordinarily important initiative.
I wish LibriVox donation appeal a great success!
Sergio
February 25th, 2010 at 3:41 am
Is there anywhere we can keep track of progress as donations roll in?
February 25th, 2010 at 4:49 am
I have a few points I’d like to make, but first, I’d like
to thank Librivox for all their hard work and the countless
hours of joy they have brought into my life.
I made a small donation, as I am on a “fixed income”. But I
would like to have it a reoccurring donation. If the person in charge of
setting the PayPal options might make that available, it would be
greatly appreciated.
I’ve read through most of the other comments here, and am
puzzled by how many, are, not just concerned, but, alarmed,
by the amount of $20,000.
I have over 16 GB’s of Librivox files on my computer that I
need to back up. I can’t imagine the enormity Librivox has
to contend with.
To switch around from one Host to another when one has been
satisfied where they’re at, without any problems, or known issues,
is time consuming, risky, and there’s the headache of learning
another providers quirks.
ugh.
I also read the suggestion of a volunteer Administer/Administration.
$20,000 for 4 to 5 yrs, pretty much is. Bless the soul of the person who has
been doing it for anything less ( divided by four, and minus the cost of Web Hosting etc. ).
Saints … Angels sent from Heaven.
I have never had a problem with the site. Not a broken link, missing file …
nor have the downloads taken very long. I usually download three or
more books at a time.
I wouldn’t want to jeopardize such a smooth running ship, on the chance of a cheaper “boat”, that might be slower and sink.
As for “Ad’s” … I agree with everyone who abhors them.
John Greenman’s brought up a great point regarding the selling of Librivox
recordings on Ebay and Amazon ( which I was unaware of ).
I have a question ( or two ) and then a couple of suggestions/ideas.
First the questions, out of pure ignorance … why are people permitted to record for sale and profit, Librivox recordings? I know the printed works are no longer copywrite protected, but what of the voice recordings?
If this is something that Librivox feels important to continue, is it possible to put a stop to it for … say two or three months? Or however long it takes to reach their goal of $20,000?
Okay … almost to the end, I apologize for being so long winded … I tend to be :o/
I’m an Artist … but due to Lupus am now house bound, which is why Librivox has been a blessing to me. Thank you again … truly, thank you :0)
Well, I thought during Christmas how nice it would have been, had I not been sick, to have illustrated one of the books, then given to friends in a nice neat little gift set.
That didn’t happen, I’m still knitting hats :o/
BUT … it got me to thinking … why doesn’t Librivox have a “Gift Shop” on their website? I’m not sure how it would work. If they’re a 501c3 or not? I’m certain there are crafty listeners out there who can make things while listening to the Librivox books. I do chores, my dreadful therapy, Knit, Sculpt and paint.
That’s one thing … the other is of course … the little illustrated books. If volunteers who are Artists can draw, or paint, volunteer to illustrate say one page for a Chapter, if it’s a large book, like by Charles Dickens :o) Then offer CD’s w/ MP’s or Wav’s ( in sets) and the printed books.
No need to make a lot at first … there are sites where a few can be printed … try it and test them. See if they sell.
The Children’s books could be printed on cloth and sewn.
Does Librivox have a “Cafepress” website? If not, then catchy unique phrases, graphics depicting some tie with books/words to audio … the Librivox logo. Bumper stickers … hats … cups … whatever all is on there. I donated designs for Chihuahua Rescue.
http://www.cafepress.com/crtstuff.2910218
Little bit of profits from there will add to the pot. But the exposure is great.
Or if you have your own connections within your readers/listeners, supply
your own.
If I only knew what state you were located in … I know the regulations
vary for fundraising. As long as you aren’t located in Texas … :oP
Raffles are great too … maybe raffle off a collection of “Listeners Favorites”, in CD format. Makes a nice gift for those who do not have MP3 players ( like my Aunt). Maybe w/ a T-Shirt or Illustrated Booklet … or combo gift package, as an introductory to a Christmas special. :o)
You might also hold back a few Holiday recordings until the last moment,
or offer one or two in a set only, for fundraising purposes.
One last word, I promise :o)
How I found Librivox was by purchasing a CD from Ebay … and the seller
actually put a copywrite warning on the CD with her seller name. Unbelievable.
Thank you again Librivox … sorry again about the length of this post, but if
any of it can be of help, then perhaps I will be paying you back a smidgen
of what you’ve given me.
PS
If I can help with any of the above ^^^ am able ( not sick ) , I’d like to :o)
February 25th, 2010 at 5:50 am
Hugh – can we look into some of these questions regarding whether the host donates services and whether their service might be too expensive?
I’d like to donate as well, but I don’t want to throw money into too-expensive hosting. I know NOTHING about it except that it is cheap for me, but also, what the others have said above.
February 25th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Donation made. It’s not much (£20) but every penny will count towards the final total. Oh to win the lottery!
My thanks to Mark, for your comment earlier. I’m glad I helped bring at least one person to this wonderful project.
It’s not just literature, it’s the preservation of human thought through the ages. All LibriVox volunteers are contributing to, what amounts to, an archaeology of the written word and our combined cultural heritage and history – and the majority of the audiobooks are better than you might find in any store, which is a fabulous bonus. Why wouldn’t you want to support this great resource!
I’m also going to “borrow” the above post for my blog (with full credit to Hugh obviously). Perhaps I can help spread the word a little.
ttfn,
raven.
February 25th, 2010 at 6:43 am
@sibella: see dan’s post above:
http://librivox.org/2010/02/24/librivox-needs-your-help/#comment-284698
@tanya: the answer basically is this: we don’t want to manage money, or sell tshirts or anything esle; we just want to make audiobooks. Our hope is that this fundraiser will mean we won’t have to worry about money for another few years. In short, this is the least disruptive way to cover costs for a few years. If it seems to be insufficient, we’ll do something else.
February 25th, 2010 at 6:58 am
@Dan Parsons
Thanks a lot for giving these numbers – I agree with all conclusions of you and the team (root access and quality hosting needed, no ads at the moment). Externalising services to sponsors might sound a good idea to save costs at first, but can soon turn into a nightmare – staying in control of your own data and the software is essential. However, there are a few non-profit places which share your philosophy and might take away *some* of your load (but not your control). http://www.ibiblio.org comes to mind. I have a (much smaller) project there and am very happy with them. But I’m confident you did already know and think about such options :-)
February 25th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Thank you all!!:
@liz, @paige, @JessicaLouise, @JanieNo.5, @Barry, @Eva, @Emily, @Robin, @JohnGreenman, @Tony, @alana, @DebraLynn, @Trabb’s Boy, @Lucy_k_p, @Vandermast, @Holly, @Joey, @Seena, @Mark, @Bethany, @bj, @lushnam (thanks! & just make sure LibriVox is clearly marked on whatever donation method you use), @Steve, @ Ren, @Mister Ron, @Y2K (if everyone who listened to a LV recording donated $10, we’d be multimillionaires), @Leyinglo, @Jean, @Debbie Lords, @Sergio Baldelli, @Tanya, @ravenation
February 25th, 2010 at 7:04 am
Hi guys, I have an iphone app that is based on you ebook The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
I’ll donate half of the sales of March.
I have already send you something. More later
Keep up the good work and thank you.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Planning to donate – agree no ads – thanks for all you do!
February 25th, 2010 at 10:03 am
I will donate soon and I put a link to this page in a tweet.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:12 am
re: hugh Says:
“Our hope is that this fundraiser will mean we won’t have to worry about money for another few years. In short, this is the least disruptive way to cover costs for a few years. If it seems to be insufficient, we’ll do something else.”
I can see this … why take on more.
Will cross fingers all goals are met! Should they not be, then perhaps the Listeners might take it upon themselves to do some fundraising and then just send in the money.
???
I keep seeing a little creature … like a Lemur for some reason … hanging from two trees, two branches … with headphones on … and saying something about not having time to read …
Or a Possum upside down, headphones on & listening to a Mystery … her back covered with tiny possum babies, all with little headphones, listening to children’s stories. The busy Mom …
on and on … anyway … until I fell asleep :o) ha ha
February 25th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I don’t see a reason to support this site. A year ago I stopped visiting because I realized you had no standards of quality in an audiobook. I’ve heard some of the absolute worst reading I could imagine, including people with accents so thick you could barely understand them. You clearly value quantity over quality. For all I care, librivox can disappear and the world will have lost nothing.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Hi all, here is an update from the Internet Archive about our efforts to date:
“I have received about 110 donation per day yesterday and today with a gross amount of about $4k per day. So if this continues you should reach your goal in about a week’s time.”
@gerald, the beautiful thing is, you needn’t donate, nor listen to any of our audio, nor ever visit our site again! the internet is very big, and there are all sorts of wonderful things on it that aren’t LibriVox. But for the record, I’ve listened many great LV recordings, perhaps you just need to find a reader that suits you.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
For Canadian contributors, you may be able to claim the contribution on your Canadian income tax return.
From the Canada Revenue Agency web site :
“Generally, if you have U.S. income, you can claim any gifts to U.S. charities that would be allowed on a U.S. return. You can claim the eligible amount of your U.S.. gifts up to 75% of the net U.S. income you report on your Canadian return. ”
Many Canadians will have US source investment or rental income. That income would qualify for the purposes of claiming the donation.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
… and by donating, we acknowledge the unsung work of the admins by allowing them to do what they enjoy doing and not have to hustle for server space etc.
Sometimes it’s better to pay for a service than to spend one’s mental energy working out how it can be got for free.
Hugh asks and the world responds.
February 25th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
how much do you have so far
February 25th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Of course I’m delighted to donate. How could I not do so? Librivox volunteers (and Gutenberg and Internet Archive’s OTR folks) have made my last few years so enjoyable. I look forward to my approaching retirement and long walks, hikes and other travel diversions with a pocketful of extra earbuds and batteries. I enjoy the old low-grade science fiction stories (thanks Greg M. et al) and the mysteries. Some voices are more pleasant than others but I’m honored that you all cared enough to share your time for the benefit of the rest of us. [And of course Cori, a lovely voice straight out of Harry Potter, I don't know if you're a 17 year-old with spiked hair and tattoos or a 71 year-old with arthritis and dentures. You have a gift, so keep the magic coming. ] Thanks again to all of you.
February 26th, 2010 at 6:28 am
I just gave, since I do enjoy listening to spoken word audio; in fact, most of the hard drive space on my iPod is being used by audiobooks and podcasts.
Keep up the good work.
February 26th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Just donated — only wish I could have given more. LibriVox helps keep me sane at work. :)
February 26th, 2010 at 8:10 am
I am one of those awful readers. Here is $20.00 as penance.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Librivox has given me so much more than I have given it! I am delighted to donate. Thanks to all the lovely people and lovely voices.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:58 am
Happy to donate. Was thrilled to find free audiobooks on the web. I am using the site to listen to classics that were missed along the way. The readers I have experienced in the last year have been of professional quality for the most part and, at times, charming. I enjoy when the reader identifies him/herself and gives location and date of recording. It helps identify the bits of accent that do exist and gives me a feeling of contact with book lovers far and wide. Dear readers, thank you all for giving your time to such a worthy cause. LV keep up the good work.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Shortly after finding Librivox in 2007, I dumped my audible.com subscription. That was about $15/month (or $180/year). I don’t imagine we’d have kept that up more than 6-12 months, which would have left me scrounging the library for audio books that were worthwhile reads. And finding a decent book to listen to was getting hard!
Thanks to you, the entire family can listen to audio books most days of the week at an affordable cost (zero!) with a fabulous selection of books. Our commute time is Librivox time. :)
You are well worth the donation we’ve made. Thanks so much!
February 26th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I have only been a contributing member (and adoring fan) of Librivox for six months but can barely remembered how I survived without it! I’ve managed to plough through my reading lists and get my English Lit A Level work done in half the time thanks to librivox’s invaluable resources as well as give something back and indulge my passion for reading aloud in such a welcoming community.
I can understand why the costs are so high now and am reassured by the questions raised by previous posters and the responses given. I find it heartwarming the suggestions people are putting foward to save librivox – we must not let it have abominable ads or on the other hand fall off the face of the earth! I agree that I would personally rather invest time than money in librivox; in my opinion it shows the passion and essence of literature and the good-natured community we have here. My time is worth so much more to me than my money and I would hope it would be view the same by librivox.
If we can do anything other than fiscal donation to help than do let us know! :)
February 26th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
@ Gerald
How many teeth are in the horse’s mouth?
February 26th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
I will be contributing. Librivox is a blessing for me as I cannot sit for more than a few minutes at a time. That makes holding a book difficult (try laying on your back and holding a heavy book over your head for hours!). I agree that some readers are hard to listen to, but many are better than commercial books I’ve heard.
Keep it simple!
Please no ads!
This is the real value of the internet!
Keep up the good work.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Gladly contributed! I record for LV and listen to those of other members. My ‘to listen’ and ‘to record’ lists are so long, I’ll never catch up — but I love it.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
@ Lawrence
My sentiments exactly!
February 27th, 2010 at 2:24 am
I threw my $20 into the pot. I don’t have much money, as a starving student, but I’m calculating this against future savings from not having to pay for cable because I’ve found a more enjoyable hobby.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I’m posting on my blog about this fundraiser, since a lot of my blog posts include reviews of Librivox books, and I get a whole lot from this site. Thanks for everything!
Could you put a single post about this in the RSS feed of new works? I never check the homepage these days, and wouldn’t have found out about the fundraiser if it hadn’t been mentioned on a blog I listen to. That’s why I’m posting about it.
Now off to work out how much I can afford to contribute…
February 27th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Have only recently found this site, but absolutely love it. When I consider what I pay for my Audible subscription would happily subscribe on a regular basis!! Have paypalled to be going on with
Far too ignorant to comment on what the costs should be but
……..no ads please if at all possible
………..it would be nice to see how the total is going
with many thanks to those who make it possible
February 27th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
When I think of the dozen or so books I have downloaded and the hours of free enjoyment, my paltry donation is minimal. Thank you to each of you who contribute your time and money to keep this going for all of us.
February 27th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
i just made a contribution and i wish to thank all the volunteers i hope your aware of how many people appreciate what you all do it truly is a gift
February 27th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
I’ve just made a small donation to help out a little. I’ve enjoyed many hours of listening to LibriVox books for several years. I appreciate all the work that everyone does. I have a feeling the $20,000 goal will be met fairly soon.
February 28th, 2010 at 5:49 am
@ Kate
Added an audio version of the blog post to the RSS feed.
February 28th, 2010 at 10:31 am
I’m delighted to help. Librivox is a full of delightful dedicated readers who make life more fun for many people. One of the wonderful parts of librivox is that people are free to record if they enjoy it, others are free to re-record if they want it done differently and listeners are free to listen to only those things they want to listen to. (One person’s “thick accent” is another person’s comfortable voice). This donation is a thank you to all the readers, proof listeners, admins and any other librivox helpers that I haven’t named. A special thank you to Andy Minter and Miss Stav among others who helped me get started.
February 28th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
i know it’s kinda lame, but i recently made a donation to SETI@home, a berkeley project that harnesses the power of personal computers to comb through radio signals received from radio telescopes as a way to identify intelligent life outside of earth.
what i wanted to mention was that their donation process has the neat feature of being able to create a “Donor Badge” (looks like an app box) on a person’s facebook profile page saying, “I support SETI@home, click here for more information”, and also the option to add a small personal dedication. i think it’s a great way to get the word out, because, while i am going to donate to LibriVox, and change my status to mention the website, a “Donor Badge” is more permanent. and i would love to have something more permanent on my facebook, not only to promote donation, but to spread the word about LibriVox in general.
since this donation is 3rd party, you might not be able to alter the process that much, but it seems there are a lot of programmers, and tech minded people responding to this issue, and i was wondering if anybody knew how to add this type of feature as a way to support this wonderful website/service.
February 28th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Errm… I was just on Facebook. No mention of fundraising on the LV page. Please ’splain to me why that hasn’t been done. I have some LOVELY friends that will donate to anything that friends/family promote on Facebook. :)
Oh, yeah…. just saw Robert’s note above while writing this.
What he said.
sf
March 1st, 2010 at 3:30 am
@robert: if someone would like to make up a Donate to LibriVox badge, with associated code to point to this page, that would be great.
@SFalcon: I don’t even know who runs the Facebook page! This is the thing about LibriVox a) it’s very decentralized, so people are encouraged to help out however they can, including making badges & facebooky things!
b) our focus is making the volunteer audiobook recording/publishing process as smooth as possible, everything else (including external communications) is secondary. We’ve never really had to promote ourselves, or ask for money before….so …
March 1st, 2010 at 9:30 am
@Dan Parsons
Sounds like the bandwidth for data transfer (not storage)—and the reliability of the said bandwidth—is what most of the money goes toward. Correct me if I’m wrong. That’s reasonable—bandwidth can be very expensive when the site has many gigabytes worth of downloads and uploads every month. I wouldn’t think the rest should be much of a problem, though, as long as the work is volunteer. $20,000 sounds about right. I hope some day bandwidth won’t be an issue—that would help progression considerably, methinks. Pray for faster Internet connections, maybe, and that companies won’t extort money from us just because they can.
Anyway, I’m still wondering if we’re supposed to put “Donation for LibriVox” in the memo of the check or what. Anyone know? I’m not sure what archive.org’s policy is there, or if it matters. I could use PayPal, I guess, but I figure I could avoid the transaction fee on LibriVox’s side with a check (my checks are free, and free to mail).
March 1st, 2010 at 9:35 am
@Lushnam: yes, please put “Donation for LibriVox” somewhere on the check, or attached to it somehow, or in the envelope. It should get to us one way or another.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Hugh and Dan, thanks for the backend info on the server, and yes, I can see the cost, with those kinds of services and storage.
Anyway, keep up the good work. :)
March 1st, 2010 at 3:18 pm
I might mail a check if you specified how to make it out and where to send it. I don’t want to use PayPal, supply my credit card number, or get on another mailing list.
March 1st, 2010 at 3:32 pm
If a check is mailed to some other organization, I have no assurance that it will be credited to LibriVox, whatever is written on the check.
March 1st, 2010 at 4:13 pm
@charles, The information about how to send to us in described in the post above. Regarding “another org”: Internet Archive is eminently trustable, and they are long-time friends and supporters of LibriVox. In fact we could not exist without them, since they provide the hosting for all our work, and in fact have taken owneership of our domain name.
Further, they are keeping a close accounting of all donations, keeping us up to date, to the dollar, and are printing out all the receipts, which they will send to us at the end of the process.
In short, I have full confidence in the Internet Archive to manage this for us, which means that we can avoid doing all sorts of things we don’t want to do – setting up a foundation, and incurring lots of administration costs.
Given all that, of course, your decision about what to do is your own, but I can assure you that if you don’t donate, we have a 0% chance of receiving your support. If you do donate, it’s much closer to 100%.
March 1st, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Am just learning to record for you, don’t listen to others, and have to be frugal. But I want you to continue, and certainly you have many dedicated volunteers. My check, sent to the Internet Archive, was very small. But drops do make oceans.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:23 am
I so much want to donate to this fine effort, but I read the evil words “website redesign” among the efforts to be funded. To me, this generally means “break all existing links from the rest of the ‘web’ [no more!], and make the site more difficult to use and compatible with fewer browsers than before”. I’m torn about whether to support such a plan, and wish that I could specify where my donation would get used.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:30 am
@ABR: The majority of the funds will go to server costs over the next few years, and I promise we’ll use your donation for that purpose.
Regarding website redesign, we’ll be built on the same wordpress structure, so there will be no significant changes to links etc, just the skin on the site.
We’ll also be implementing much better catalog browsing, so that you’ll be able to more easily browse by: author/title/genre/language/reader … right now making your way through our catalog is not particularly user-friendly.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:43 am
Just donated, hopefully the LV-community will grow and this great idea will stay with us!
All the best to readers and listeners
Wolfgang
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:08 am
A few months ago feeling somewhat beneficent, and perhaps experiencing a twinge of conscience after looking over the multi-gig collection of audio books I had downloaded, I decided I would make a contribution to my favorite and most visited website.
I was stunned when I discovered that Librivox had no mechanism for receiving donations, nor did it solicit them. Signing off and feeling unfulfilled (after all, no one likes their pure unselfish impulses thwarted), I considered how unusual was this organization in a culture where even the best of causes, upon exhibiting popular acceptance, hire professional fundraisers to espouse and expand their efforts.
I hope that after Librivox’s modest goals are met (and no doubt exceeded by several orders of magnitude) that smart money men, sniffing out a great opportunity, don’t gain an inroad and change the nature of this fine volunteer-based resource.
Librivox is a treasure!
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I’ve written up a feature of LibriVox and included a link to this post on booksXYZ.com. Good luck reaching your fundraising goals!
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:46 pm
hugh – thanks for the response.
It is not clear to me whether a check should be made out to Librivox as payee, or should be made out to Internet Archive and marked “for Librivox”, in order to be credited to Librivox.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:43 am
@charles, yes:
If you would rather send a check, please make it out to Internet Archive and send it to:
Internet Archive
116 Sheridan Avenue
Presidio of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA 94129
And make sure to mark: “Donation for LIbriVox” somewhere on the check, or attached to it.
thanks!
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:27 am
@Timothy Shoh
The great thing about LibriVox is that our structure is so loose and open that there is no danger of ’smart money men’ getting a foothold. LibriVox is indeed a treasure, and a unique community both for its readers and listeners, who are always welcome to join us on the forum.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:43 am
I’m happy to donate. Thanks to all Librivox volunteers for making me actually look forward to long plane trips!
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Made a donation for the hours of listening pleasure LibriVox has given me. Hope you reach your goal. Kindest Regards…
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
I’m happily willing to donate (PayPal under my real name) out of real appreciation for the volunteer readers and editors, but I have to say, from your explanation, that I’m not quite sure how much is going to better web site cosmetics or ambitions, and how much is going to the necessary nuts and bolts of continuing availability of the audiobooks as we know and love them. I’ll give, but I’ll be watching.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:49 am
@Albin: roughly:
70% of the funds raised will go to paying for the server. No server, no LibriVox … so that’s about as nuts-and-bolts as it gets.
That leaves about 30% for other things … such as making our catalog accessible (right now it is a pretty difficult way to find audiobooks), which will be done in conjunction with a revamp of the site itself.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:07 am
I am an Iranian and librivox has been my paradise for endless hours. I’d love to donate money to this liberal web site however I can’t use credit card from Iran to donate. please guide me and I’d be more than happy to help.
please be specific on method of payment.
thank you so much.
March 4th, 2010 at 7:08 am
I’ve just made a small donation via paypal. A big thank you, and keep up the good work
March 4th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Librivox is a treasure, and I have donated a little something to help out :)
March 4th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
oops – missed the small print about putting “donation for librivox” . I have put “librivox donation” on it instead – hope you get it. Sorry I cannot spare you more this month but will do so next. Keep up the good work.
March 4th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Just dropped a check in the mail. After years of listening, I’m glad to support this project in any way I can.
For larger lump sums, I prefer a check vs PayPal for tax-tracking reasons. But I’d really prefer to be able to setup a recurring PayPal donation. I do that for two other web sources I listen to regularly for news and commentary (a-infos.net and FSRN). It may not seem like much, but if even just a few hundred people signed up to pay $5 to $10/month, that covers your operational costs! May be worth considering, since doing it once now could support you almost indefinitely. (Especially if you can leave that button up on the wiki/front page for new people to find when they look for a way to donate.)
March 5th, 2010 at 8:57 am
@dave, as long as it says LibriVox, it’ll be fine.
@Woody, you can send a check as well, to Internet Archive (see link above), just make sure to specify somewhere that it’s for LibriVox.
Re: recurring donations : we’re going to shut down the fundraiser once we hit our target ($20k) so that wouldn;t work for us.
@Iman Fani: perhaps you could record for us instead? that is much more important than money!
Thank you all!:
@dragos @pam @tanya @davidmorrow @adrian @johnp @christi @joanna @rayburn @katiegibboney @dotc @unicornwoman @katalinawatt @lawrence @john @claire @nullifidian @kate @reclaimingrebus @marygreen @twincitytony @mhhbook @jenny @robert @sfalcon @charles @johndeforest @wolfgang @timothyshoh @kristinpeaeuner @cathymoore @carolann @apo @susan @davel @woody
March 6th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I really appreciate Librivox and continue to discover great works by well-known or lesser known authors all the time. Thank you for all your hard work!
Like Dave, I just made a donation @ PayPal and phrased it “Librivox.org” donation, so I hope it gets to you in a timely manner.
March 6th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I strongly endorse all the fine work done by Librivox and its community of volunteers, I would like to see it grow and to expand to many more languages. You should not need to worry about issues such as server costs. Please let me know how much more you need to reach your goal of $20K. I will make a donation to cover it.
March 6th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
We are now at $14019!!
March 6th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Done.
Keep up the good work.
March 6th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Let me be the first to thank you, Jim. That was very generous.
March 7th, 2010 at 12:46 am
Hi Jim,
A stunned thank you – I think I’ve got your email address from the comment software, I will get in touch, if that’s OK.
Hugh.
March 7th, 2010 at 1:58 am
Wow! thanks so much to everyone for their wonderful support and donations to help keep Librivox be able to continue recording!
March 7th, 2010 at 2:00 am
And an extra special thanks to you, Jim! Thank you so much!
March 8th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Many thanks to Jim, indeed! However I am also glad I did not read the comments until after I donated (two days ago). I am an infrequent visitor, but think the “service” is essential. I am pleased to donate to help others.
IMHO, you should have a permanent simple “donate” button on the web site for those who might occasionally want to donate (for whatever motivation or reason). Make it small if it offends, but there are some who do not have the time to contribute and would like to make other type contributions. People make choices in life on what to do. I like what I do and like to give back when I can.
Dave
March 9th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Objective achieved, funding drive closed. A huge thanks to everyone.
Dave: we suggest donating to Internet Archive & Project Gutenberg, two projects without which we could not exist. We don’t need more money than this (for now) so collecting more would just create headaches.
March 14th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Dear Brother
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Tell me your programme
Yours in Christ
Be blessed
Bishop Niragira Celestin
March 28th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Wonderful news!! :0)
May 5th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Hi
I would like to donate gladly, cant seem to find how.Please assist.
May 10th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Hi Rashid,
If you read a few pages above your kind offer, you’ll notice that Hugh has closed the donations drive.
Some very lovely people gave VERY generously and Hugh reckons we’ll be covered for a few more years.
On behalf of all the volunteers here at LibriVox, I’d like to thank you for offering.
Cheers,
ravenotation
January 12th, 2011 at 7:43 am
Dear All,
I am a Sri Lankan and, I was working with blind people for more than 3 years. The most feasible way to help their education is through audio books in CDs or cassettes, I recorded hundreds of cassettes. when we consider the option BRAILLE one needs a huge space to store them, compared to cassetes.
Now I am working as a Research Assistant, but have the dream of making an audio book collection in Sinhala. It would be a free online library just like LibriVox, and also a physical library for people who doesn’t have online accessibility.
I need financial assistance for that, if any one likes the idea please contact me, I would like to give further details on that.
E – amarasinghe_sl@yahoo.com
T – 094 775855975
A – 143, Rajadahana, Mirigama, Sri Lanka
Thanks and Best regards.
April 4th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
hi, why cant i download mp3s? it needs user name and password.
January 5th, 2012 at 12:19 am
можно сказать, это исключение :) из правил