What brought you to LV, and why do you volunteer here?

priruss · Post by **priruss** » December 21st, 2015, 6:30 pm

I found Librivox a couple of years ago when I was desperately looking for "reading" material for a blind family member. Before she lost her sight, she was what we used to call a bookworm, and her dead tree home library rivaled that of a good Division II university in the US. As "payment" for the unrestricted access to her wonderful library that I enjoy, I'm expected to read to her and/or provide good audiobooks for her use (she's currently devouring "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough), both of which I am more than happy to do. She believes Braille to be the work of a malevolent djinn and won't even consider learning it.

I intend to volunteer here when I learn the ropes a little bit better because I dig the concept of making some of our literary history available to all. I have a slightly selfish reason for wanting to do this as well, as my own eyesight is slowly deteriorating (age and diabetes and the fact that I have never had perfect eyesight). If I still have even rudimentary vision by the time I retire in a few years, I will be amazed.

pnagami · Post by **pnagami** » December 23rd, 2015, 8:01 pm

Welcome to Librivox, Priruss!
Pam

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » December 25th, 2015, 11:11 pm

I've been fairly addicted to audio since getting a cassette recorder when I was six or seven. Stories read to me were preferred, listening to recorded TV shows, anything. Musical interests eventually took hold and then while I was painting a dresser in my adolescence I noticed how adept my ears were to the sound of the music all of a sudden. Radio dramas like X-Minus One were a huge staple of my alone time. As a kid I had precious few friends but we'd do fake radio shows. Then a radio show, written in prose with character voices, on a college station got me hooked. I taped them like mad and when others heard it they said, "Wow, does she do all the voices for her show?" and I thought, "Huh? Can't everyone do that?" because Heaven knew I could.

Time went on as I craved more of the written word and it being read aloud. Couldn't get enough of those journeys away from all the chaos in my life. Hey, maybe I could make audio books someday! Of course I was told repeatedly, "No, you have to be famous... you have to be a movie star or have major training to do that." Yeah, right. Like most things I was told by the "grown-ups", I didn't believe it. They lied to me too frequently about everything. (And I don't mean Santa or The Easter Bunny.) "You can't dye your hair, you can't wear that, you can't have independent studies, don't listen to that music, you shouldn't bother with Canadian History, don't try and learn the Irish language; it's too hard, why bother with WWI history? WWII is all that matters. You're too different!" Um. Why was I given birth to again?

I remember in the late 1990's and early 2000's someone mentioning either Librivox or something like Librivox. It's strange because I don't know if it was really around when he mentioned it. Either way when I got my new home and new life in 2007 I was still looking for the opportunity. I wanted more from Gutenberg since I craved old books with less violence from what I knew of modern entertainment. I wanted reflection, the day-to-day, and the deeper meaning. I was in flux for a Librivox project until I finally got my first kindle with the e-ink. (I hated trying to read those books on a computer screen and I couldn't afford the reprints or vintage copies.) My first kindle arrived and I dove for Gutenberg.org, at last! Newest release there? "At The Sign of The Jack O Lantern" by Myrtle Reed. Oh? Jack O Lantern? Does this mean Halloween? What is this book? I grabbed that along with a slew of others and my usual problem with focusing, unless I was severely interested, was eliminated with that book. I tore through it in days or maybe a week, unusual with me and my focusing issues. "THIS is it! THIS is the book I'm going to perform first!"

And then? I did.

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » December 26th, 2015, 1:01 am

Hey, Morlock, if you like doing voices and other dramatic elements, have you found the dramatic works forum? There are lots of parts on varying sizes available - you could start by clicking on the purple link in my signature...

PS - does your forum name indicate that you also are part of the Sherlock fandom?

Or part of the X-men fandom, I've just realized "Morlock" could refer to that too! (If you like the original HG Wells short stories I have two books of them currently open!)

SonOfTheExiles · Post by **SonOfTheExiles** » December 26th, 2015, 1:22 am

I love those old Dimension X and X Minus One episodes myself. Spent several years working in a tyre warehouse, and used to unload the containers and lace the tyres into the bays while OTR sci-fi, comedy, and drama played in my ears. Was a bit non-OH&S, I admit ... though I used to keep one earplug out, so I could hear the forklift approaching ... the boss didn't like it, but she was really easy-going and a joy to work for. Really made the day go faster, those recordings. The ironic thing is, the one time I got hit on the head by a tractor tyre falling out of the stillages ... front wheel, not rear wheel, thank goodness ... I didn't actually have the earphones on.

"I'm a rambling wreck
From Georgia Tech,
And a heck of an Engineer!"

aminminou · Post by **aminminou** » December 31st, 2015, 6:48 am

ezwa wrote:I've always (well, maybe not for that long ;o)) enjoyed reading books and cartoons aloud
So, I volunteer simply because I enjoy reading aloud and, if others can enjoy it with me, it's all the better.

me too but I dont find a chance here in librivox becuz my mother tongue is arabic

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » December 31st, 2015, 7:04 am

aminminou wrote:
ezwa wrote:I've always (well, maybe not for that long ;o)) enjoyed reading books and cartoons aloud
So, I volunteer simply because I enjoy reading aloud and, if others can enjoy it with me, it's all the better.
me too but I dont find a chance here in librivox becuz my mother tongue is arabic

My mother tongue is Russian but it doesn't stop me from using my relatively mediocre English to contribute. You could simply start with a relatively small section in a group project, reading poetry or prose. Once you get your feet wet, it'll grab you. After you've learned the ropes, have got a few sections under your belt, you can go solo in Arabic...

bethesdalily · Post by **bethesdalily** » February 27th, 2016, 1:44 am

Truly, I'm not sure what my first Librivox experience might have been--only that I was thoroughly impressed in 2009 with the copies I found of Esther Ried by Isabella MacDonald Alden, and especially with the collaborative reading of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible. So many voices, so many hearts filled with passion and joy and a sense of the important, detailed, sentimentally-valued, or otherwise beautiful things in life! Of course, I knew I couldn't contribute--logistics, logistics... I hadn't the proper recording equipment, and of what use was a Braille display/screen divice that could hold only forty characters per line and which displayed one line at a time--a BORROWED piece of equipment, no less!? So, I resigned myself to hearing beauty but never being able to share or pour it forth myself...

During the intervening years, I read extensively from Project Gutenberg texts. Much more even than the classics--juvenile or those geared toward a general audience--I have been touched by Project Gutenberg's supply of devotionals and Bible commentaries. And the "Sunday books"!--children's works designed to teach Christian living and expound upon key Scripture passages... I actually did quite the extensive study on these books and found various themes emerging. More than most Christian books published today, these nineteenth-century gems emphasized hope and a shining, holy love. I have a point in this, dear readers and LV contributors, I do.

Now, in addition to being a Braille-display user, I also happen to be a screen-reader user--and, no, I'm not here to discuss visual impairment in its various facets, so to speak. Suffice it to say that JAWS, for that is the program I use to read Project Gutenberg texts, does not convey a sense of this "shining, holy light" as well as could be hoped. Back I went into my own heart and mind to see if possibly, just possibly, a way to volunteer might prove feasible after all. Did it really matter that I couldn't read from a screen or Braille display? Could I Braille each chapter, thinking of the extra time involved in such an effort as practice and rehearsal hours? Could I lay aside ideas of a typical Blue Snowball microphone and use a digital voice recorder instead? More importantly, more to the heart of the matter, could I convey the joy, the utter peace, the profound glory, in the Christian Public Domain texts I had lately discovered? In short, could I reach out to children and their parents--to home-schooling families, perhaps, or to people simply looking for deep subjects read with depth? In short, could Librivox volunteering go beyond a hobby and become a ministry?

I'm here to find out. No, my readings are not perfect. I can convey the joy and general delight in the books that stir my heart, but I do make my share of stumbles and stutters, pause unnecessarily, fail to do any type of characterization, etc. Yet, it's the heart that counts. I have heard it in so many recordings, by innumerable readers. If I can convey a passionate faith, hope, and love in the texts I've assigned myself, with the potential for helping others, I will consider my work on Librivox well worthwhile.

catrose · Post by **catrose** » February 27th, 2016, 2:40 am

Ooo, I love a good resurrected thread

I originally arrived because I got a free voucher for Audible (yes, I know. Traitor. Stay with me

) Once I'd got annoyed at their prices and finished the book series I wanted there, I started looking for any audio versions of Shakespeare's (because before 13 I was the biggest Shakespeare geek around). I found LV's MacBeth. Heard the disclaimer "or to volunteer". Googled Librivox, Leebravocks, libravox, libbradocks and well got here eventually

By the time I made it to the forum, I'd listened through most of the plays available here. I kind of joined in a weird "fan-girl trying to get closer to the celebrities" type thing. I really wanted to meet and listen to Arielle, Elizabeth and mb. They were like my One Direction. Fast forward to today and I had worked with them on about 50+ dramatic projects. So, kids, dreams do come true!

Cori · Post by **Cori** » February 27th, 2016, 8:09 am

Hi Lily! There is an old thread where some of our blind readers share tips and tricks. viewtopic.php?f=23&t=28429 At the end is a link to a guide to using Audacity with Jaws which is clearly written and up-to-date. http://vip.chowo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/jaws/Audacity-2.1.2-Guide.html Some of our readers have printed and read from Braille. (I think this was a service offered at the local library for at least one who didn't other access to an embosser.) Whatever works.

bethesdalily · Post by **bethesdalily** » February 27th, 2016, 11:06 am

Cori wrote:Hi Lily! There is an old thread where some of our blind readers share tips and tricks. viewtopic.php?f=23&t=28429 At the end is a link to a guide to using Audacity with Jaws which is clearly written and up-to-date. http://vip.chowo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/jaws/Audacity-2.1.2-Guide.html Some of our readers have printed and read from Braille. (I think this was a service offered at the local library for at least one who didn't other access to an embosser.) Whatever works.

Cori, thank you so much for those links! I'm sure the guide for using Audacity with JAWS will be particularly helpful; I know the basics, but am still hoping to learn some of the more advanced features. Ah, Braille offered locally!--what a luxury! The closest I've found is a service that charges $0.35 per Braille page, so a moderate children's work (38.000 words) would cost over $50. So, it's ease vs. cost at present, and for the moment, I'm really enjoying Brailling my own scripts so I have a chance to embed the sense and ideas of the books in my heart. I'm off to check those links now; this should be interesting.

bethesdalily · Post by **bethesdalily** » February 27th, 2016, 3:09 pm

I just had a thought. I've read several posts by volunteers who would have gotten started sooner if they had simply been able to find Librivox more quickly--not under Libravox, Leebrivox, etc. Suppose we asked readers to spell Librivox at the beginning or end of projects--at the immediate end of all books, perhaps?

catrose · Post by **catrose** » February 27th, 2016, 3:40 pm

With most variants of the name, the first link on Google takes you to the Librivox homepage. Unless, like I had because I was never the cleverest child, you spell it in the most creative way possible, making the name more than twice as long! Hahaha