Mellon Grant Underway! (Welcome Jeff Madsen & Valerie Bock)

[hugh]

See the blog announcement:
http://librivox.org/2012/06/25/librivox-mellon-grant-project-gets-underway/

LibriVox Mellon Grant Project Gets Underway!

We are excited to announce that work has begun behind the scenes to rebuild the LibriVox technical infrastructure and implement a new site design and catalog improvements. Thanks to the Mellon Foundation for providing the grant, and to the Internet Archive for administering the project.

A Project Manager and a Developer!

We are thrilled to have a couple of new faces, hired to move this project along: experienced technical project manager, Valerie Bock, and software developer, Jeff Madsen. Jeff and Valerie will work with a team of LV volunteers over the next few months making major improvements to the creaking LibriVox infrastructure, cataloging software, website and user interface.

Please join us in welcoming Val and Jeff to LibriVox! If you see Jeff (jmadsen) or Val (vbock) on the forums, say hi!

From August 2005 to Today

From our humble beginnings in August 2005 (30 audiobooks were completed that year) to today with 5664 completed projects in 32 different languages in our catalog, we are currently well on our way to reaching 6000 cataloged projects by the end of 2012!

Thanks to Everyone Who Has Got Us This Far

We have many people to thank for taking LibriVox from an idea of LibriVox founder, Hugh McGuire, to the largest online publisher of free audiobooks in the last 7 years. These include the core group of volunteers who have built and maintained the existing technical infrastructure, the admins who do all the cataloging, the book coordinators and proof listeners who help produce the books, the Internet Archive for hosting our books, and of course, the over 5000 readers who have donated their recordings to the public domain so that everyone can enjoy them for free.

Looking to the Future

It’s all worked amazingly well, and it’s a lot of fun, but we are looking forward to this much needed overhaul of our systems to ensure that LibriVox will be able to continue to grow so that our volunteers can produce more free audiobooks. Stay tuned for more news and updates as the project progresses.

[kayray]

This is so exciting I can hardly stand it! :) Welcome, Jeff and Val! And thank you, Mellon Foundation!

[kungfufrijters]

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post this but being a designer, and one of sound mind, wish to offer my services. If you need any help with the visual elements for the redesign or if there is any other way I can help please let me know.
Cheers!

[hugh]

Hi kungfu ... we're still in the process of getting Val & Jeff up to speed on the existing set-up, and in fact we have the designs done, but we will be looking for feedback sometime in the coming months.

hugh.

[kungfufrijters]

I would be more than happy to be an extra set of eyes
Just let me know how I can help when the time comes.
Cheers!

[CaprishaPage]

How wonderful!! Welcome, Jeff & Valerie! How exciting!

[JohanLiebert]

Welcome Jeff and Val!
I really hope your team would make our LV experience much more exciting!

[vbock]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm not sure how much excitement we'll be delivering, but I'm very hopeful that the good work you folks do will become easier and more pleasant by the time we're done!

[Lucy_k_p]

Welcome Val and Jeff, I'm sure you'll have things running smoothly in no time.

[tahcolonna]

Welcome and cheers to both of you, Valerie and Jeff! And a big thank you for all your efforts that will make our beloved LibriVox better than ever!

[rhoffman]

Welcome Jeff and Valerie!! Looking forward to the exciting improvements! Thank you.

[carolb]

A belated but sincere welcome Valerie and Jeff!
(I've only just discovered this thread! )
Thanks in advance for all the wonderful things you have lined up!

Carol