How to Volunteer for LibriVox

How to Volunteer for LibriVox - View a clickable map with links that visually shows all the ways you can help out at LibriVox. It outlines the contents of this page.

Types of Projects

LibriVox volunteers read and record chapters of books in the public domain (meaning out of copyright - sorry, no Harry Potter, no Lord of the Rings, and no Da Vinci Code, though we'd love to do Da Vinci's notebooks). Then we make the files available on the Internet, for free. We have several types of projects:

collaborative projects: many volunteers contribute by reading some chapters of a long text
solo projects: one volunteer reads an entire book (we prefer if you contribute to some collaborative projects first)
short works (prose and poetry): read by individuals.

Languages of LibriVox

We have hundreds of volunteers from all over the world, including a growing number who are recording books in languages other than English. We welcome all languages, and accents. You can visit our Frappr map to see a small selection of LibriVox volunteers, and where they are from.

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.

Before you visit the Forum, you might want to read this guide. The Forum is split into three main sections:

The Basics (info about LibriVox, including FAQ)
The Books (where most of the volunteering happens).
- Book Suggestions (discussion about possible books)
- Readers Wanted: Short Works (a good place for newbies, especially WEEKLY POETRY)
- Readers Wanted (where you find chapters needing readers)
- Readers Found (ongoing projects with all chapters assigned)
- Going Solo (entire books by one person ; we request you record some shorter works before taking on a solo project)
- Listeners Wanted (help out by "proof-listening")
- Completed Books (a reminder of progress)
- Volunteers Wanted: Other Projects (non-reading volunteer projects)
Comments, Discussion, News & Suggestions
- Need Help? Got Advice (ask anything here)
- Suggestions & Comments (good or bad comments welcome)
- Off-Topic (anything you like. knitting. rugby. etc.)

There are many, many other things you can do to help, so please feel free to jump into the Forum, or contact us at the email address on the contact page.

The Recording Process: Basics

Practically, here is how things work:

A Volunteer Book Coordinator (who has recorded at least one chapter for a LibriVox project) posts a book (with chapter info) in the Readers Wanted Section.
Volunteers "claim" chapters to read by posting their request in the thread
The readers record their chapters in digital format (MP3 file, 128 Kbps, 44,100 Hz)
The book coordinator collects all the files of all the chapters
The book coordinator makes sure all the files are named consistently (including ID3 tags)
The book coordinator sends the collected files to a "meta coordinator"
We check the files for technical problems in the Listeners Wanted section
The meta coordinator uploads, and catalogs the files
Yet another public domain audio book is made available for free!

For more on recording, see the Newbie Guide to Recording.

Listeners & Editors

Not all volunteers read for LibriVox. If you would prefer not to lend your voice to LibriVox, you could lend us your ears. Some volunteers will post in the Listeners and Editors Wanted section and ask others to "proof listen" to their recordings. This helps us to catch mistakes we may have missed the first time around. Some volunteers choose to only record the content and ask others to edit out their mistakes.