There was some LibriVoxiness on Australian Radio recently … the “Final Draft” show on Radio 2SER FM, Sydney. It’s up on the web:
[audio:http://finaldraft.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-04-12T02_00_34-07_00.mp3]This week, we’re stepping outside the confines of the printed page and devoting our entire show to the phenomenon of audiobooks. First, we speak to Hugh McGuire, the founder of Librivox, a volunteer-run website that provides readers free recordings of books in the public domain. Then we take a close look at Nick Cave’s The Death of Bunny Munro, which broke new ground when it was released as an audiobook earlier this year. And finally we speak to the Chair of the Australian Braille Authority, Bruce Maguire, about how the growing popularity of audiobooks and speech technology may pose a threat to Braille literacy.
Hugh McGuire, founder of Librivox.org; Linda Ferguson and Timothy Ferguson, Librivox volunteers – interviewed by Paul Kildea
Nick Cave, The Death of Bunny Munro, Text Publishing – reviewed by Rochelle Fernandez
Bruce Maguire, Australian Braille Authority – interviewed by Ella O’Keefe
[Link]
Quite an interesting show, and certainly a nice plug for LibriVox.
My great aunt who is 92 and turned blind a few years ago has listened to every audio book in her local library. Unfortunately, they don’t have many so I will try to get her to use this. There are more than enough for her.
I don’t think that audio books will reduce braille literacy. I’m dyslexic and find audio books easier because of it, but I still read ordinary printed books more often.
Dear and respected members of Librivox Doc Org,
Thanks a lot for giving people of all the world the opportunity of having a direct contact with the best literature that has been writing by Humanity during all the time.
I repeat, thanks a lot for you good will.
Go on!!!
Sincerely,
Amalia Altuna
Many of the old classic titles are available as audio books, but the most recently published best sellers don’t often come out in audio book form for quite some time after initial publication. A lot of disadvantaged people can therefore miss out on the latest books. Someone should start a campaign to get them published as ebooks at the same time as they are initially published.