Contacting Libraries to Add Librivox to their website

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brownrottger
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Post by brownrottger »

Hi, I was wondering if contacting libraries to add Librivox to their website would be a good project. I called my local library and they did not know anything about Librivox. I think it would be a good way to increase readership of books in the public domain. What do you all think??
annise
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Post by annise »

Various people have done it. There are some posters in the wiki https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Promotional_Material if you wanted 0r you could make your own if your library was interested.

Anne
lorda
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Post by lorda »

Here is a link to business cards, which I distribute - in german (http://librivox.lorda.de/hintergrund/)

It means:
Free audiobooks from the public domain

Listen when there is no time to read


Greetings from Germany. :)
Bernd
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brownrottger
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Post by brownrottger »

Thank you all!
brownrottger
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Post by brownrottger »

Invitation for anyone who wants to keep track of which libraries they have put posters up in here. To cheer each other on!
GraceBuchanan
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Post by GraceBuchanan »

This is a great idea! I don't remember ever seeing a link to LV on any library's website. I'll put this on my to-do list for my local library and regional library system. Then I could contact a neighboring county...

To organize this effort, maybe we could start by reporting here which libraries we contact and the results.
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brownrottger
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Post by brownrottger »

I went to my town library. I am finding it hard to get the message to the powers that be there. The person in reference said he would ask and took my name/contact. Never heard back from him... After 3 weeks I went there, they are allowing in person visits now, I was given the email of the assistant director but it bounced back. Luckily, while there, I put up the sign given in this thread. I asked if they would put one also in the children's area and was given a "maybe". I will check on that as well next week.
erieston
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Post by erieston »

I think this is an awesome idea!! I've tried to contact my public library, and I plan to email the director later today about seeing if we could get audiobooks available to them, however the librarian I spoke with stated that for my city and county libraries will not allow digital copies of audiobooks to be "checked out" since they now go through a state program. I asked her about physical copies as well, and she stated that they were getting rid of their physical copies (which saddens me).

I'm going to also try reaching out to my local college library; hopefully I'll have better luck there!
brownrottger
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Post by brownrottger »

erieston wrote: September 23rd, 2021, 1:25 pm I think this is an awesome idea!! I've tried to contact my public library, and I plan to email the director later today about seeing if we could get audiobooks available to them, however the librarian I spoke with stated that for my city and county libraries will not allow digital copies of audiobooks to be "checked out" since they now go through a state program. I asked her about physical copies as well, and she stated that they were getting rid of their physical copies (which saddens me).

I'm going to also try reaching out to my local college library; hopefully I'll have better luck there!
Good effort!
I am just trying to get a Librivox link on their website. Or see if they will put up signs. You can print out signs from this thread. They let me put up one near the elevator. I have to get over there and see if it is still up.
Nammy
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Post by Nammy »

I did an online search of my hometown small public library. On their website, they have links to multiple online audiobook websites. So why wouldn't they add LibriVox if I asked them to?

I know that I overthink everything, but wouldn't it be best to keep track of all the libraries contacted? Whether they posted a link or refused? Perhaps at a later time, they could be contacted again and might decide to add that.

I'm picturing a database probably by state and county, but I'm overlooking other countries. Couldn't this grow into something huge? Maybe someone can chime in. It would be a waste of time to have multiple people checking the same libraries and perhaps finding they already have it on their website. Of course, you can check their website before asking them.

For my own reference, I would keep track of those contacted and their response. If I contacted all the libraries in Clarion County, Pa. (where I'm from), I'd need to keep track of which ones I have already searched, emailed, etc. I'd probably set up my own database if this gets off the ground which I think possibly it already has!

It is exciting, and it would be a great project for volunteers who want something different to do. This would have been a great COVID project or a good winter one for us in the north!

Everyone has different interests, and this would be fairly easy. Should there be guidelines or rules to follow? What is LibriVox's stand on doing this? Does it need approval? All of these things I have no idea about, and if I can make it more complicated, I'm sure I will! :lol:

Carol/Nammy
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brownrottger
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Post by brownrottger »

Nammy wrote: June 5th, 2022, 4:31 pm I did an online search of my hometown small public library. On their website, they have links to multiple online audiobook websites. So why wouldn't they add LibriVox if I asked them to?

I know that I overthink everything, but wouldn't it be best to keep track of all the libraries contacted? Whether they posted a link or refused? Perhaps at a later time, they could be contacted again and might decide to add that.

I'm picturing a database probably by state and county, but I'm overlooking other countries. Couldn't this grow into something huge? Maybe someone can chime in. It would be a waste of time to have multiple people checking the same libraries and perhaps finding they already have it on their website. Of course, you can check their website before asking them.

For my own reference, I would keep track of those contacted and their response. If I contacted all the libraries in Clarion County, Pa. (where I'm from), I'd need to keep track of which ones I have already searched, emailed, etc. I'd probably set up my own database if this gets off the ground which I think possibly it already has!

It is exciting, and it would be a great project for volunteers who want something different to do. This would have been a great COVID project or a good winter one for us in the north!

Everyone has different interests, and this would be fairly easy. Should there be guidelines or rules to follow? What is LibriVox's stand on doing this? Does it need approval? All of these things I have no idea about, and if I can make it more complicated, I'm sure I will! :lol:

Carol/Nammy
I looove your enthusiasm! I think all your ideas are great and this post of yours can be our standards. I don't think we need policy or approval. The whole goal of Librivox is universal access to Public Domain Books. I will start tomorrow to follow what you have written above! I kind of let it go for lack of enthusiasm by others; which is a very poor excuse on my part. Let's make this into something together Carol/Nammy.
Thanks!
Christine
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Post by annise »

Personal approaches are one thing - but wouldn't mass emailing be considered spam? And treated as such ?

Anne
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Post by Nammy »

I would love to work on it with you Christine! Like I said, I tend to make things complicated. Maybe it's OCD or wanting to things right the first time by keeping a journal of some sorts of our steps we've taken. It could be a lot of work, but if we can get volunteers from other areas, we are on our way.

Where are you from? Which doesn't matter, but I was just interested if you wanted to take a certain section and run with it. Do you think dividing the states by county is a good starting point? I imagine we will have to cover several counties at least getting started. Or we could take one state at a time an divide it into sections by counties. It really doesn't matter where we live. The idea is to get it spread throughout the US and beyond.

Could we set it up like a Magic Window for people to take sections? I have no idea who to talk to about that sort of thing, do you? I know Phil and Larry are good ones to talk to, but so far I know no one else. Like I said, I'm new to this.

I can picture a MW with states and counties and assignments like readings. The challenge is finding the libraries in each county which can be done online. Then sending them a generic email to respond to. Then it's up to us to go from there.

Perhaps if this idea marinates, we'll get some more input as to how to go about this. Our work belongs to LibriVox so they have to know what our plans are and what we're doing, progress and final outcome. Does LibriVox want to do that? Right now it's a big idea in a little brain! :clap:

Carol
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GraceBuchanan
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Post by GraceBuchanan »

I love the enthusiasm about publicizing LibriVox through libraries. After all, they share our mission of making books available to everyone.

I understand that library funding often depends on the number of books borrowed. I wonder if they might consider us to be competition, if their members obtain audiobooks from us instead of through the library. However, as they decide which books to discard as they make room for more-appealing books, our offerings and statistics might guide them.

Best wishes as you decide how to approach libraries in an effective manner.
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TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

Could we set it up like a Magic Window for people to take sections? I have no idea who to talk to about that sort of thing, do you? I know Phil and Larry are good ones to talk to, but so far I know no one else. Like I said, I'm new to this.
No. Magic Windows are for projects, period.

You could set up a spreadsheet on Google Docs or something, but this would be a side project that would not use LibriVox resources.

I think Anne's post is legitimate. If you were a library, would you respond to a generic email? It would probably go straight into the spam bin. Personal approaches (speaking to your own local librarian) is probably the better option over a mass generic email effort.
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