Well, new-ish.
Three years ago, when we moved back to New Mexico and I retired, I did wonder what exactly I was going to do with myself once we got settled in. I spent the first many months unpacking, configuring, buying things we needed, and working with contractors on various projects – plumbing and electric upgrades, solar power installation, and the like.
Somewhere in there, as a language nerd will do, and after hearing some episode of the History of English podcast, I got curious about what Middle English sounded like, so I searched online for a recorded version of the Canterbury Tales, read from the original. What I found opened up my world. And answered the question, “What am I going to do with myself?”
I found Librivox. Simply put, Librivox is a project to turn books in the public domain into audiobooks in the public domain. The way this is accomplished is the amazing part.
Librivox has no budget, and no staff. Volunteers from all over the world coordinate their work through an online forum. There are four roles. The Book Coordinator (BC) mounts a project by starting a topic in the forum. Readers upload their recordings to the site. A prooflistener (PL) reviews every recording for errors and editing gaffes. And the meta coordinator (MC) works behind the scenes to set the project up in the system and to catalog it when it’s finished.
Then, after thousands of hours of work are performed every month by volunteers, we give it all away for free!
It’s hard to describe the passion that was ignited in me for LV. I started out by recording, turning a corner of our walk-in closet into a recording studio (see my catalog page here), but soon turned to PL duties, and then to setting up my own projects as a BC. Now, at any given time, I am involved in some capacity with around 15 projects. I work on something for LV every day, and sometimes spend many hours in a day.
This is all the more surprising given that historically, I tend to get really interested in things, jump in headfirst with excitement, and then burn out before too long. That has never come close to happening with LV.
The joy of being exposed to so many ideas that I might not otherwise come into contact with is constant. Waking up in the morning to see what my PL in India (for example) has posted on my project while I was sleeping is always compelling. And being part of an international community with whom I work and communicate every day has a social aspect that richly adds to my retired life. It’s like having a remote job, but you only have to do what you want, in the amount you want, and when you want!
While I wrote this, I got three notifications from two different projects that there was something I needed to take action on. Better go get busy!
LV was started in 2005 and has so far added almost 20,000 recorded books to its catalog. Around 100 new titles are added every month. Works are available on the LV website, YouTube, and the Internet Archive. Check it out today to see if there is something you might enjoy listening to!
