Get Free Audiobooks from LibriVox
If you like to read, but don’t have the time, or you can’t see well enough to read, or you’re too lazy to read, or if you want to drift off to sleep reading with your eyes closed, then this site is for you. It’s like a rummage sale of free audiobooks — mostly classics.
The best part of this site is the hundreds of free audiobooks you can download and listen to. The second-best part is that you never know what you’re gonna get… kind of like the now proverbial box of chocolates.
LibriVox exists to make all public domain literature available in audio format to everyone. The fun part is you never know who’s going to be reading to you or what they’re going to sound like. That’s because LibriVox doesn’t care what its volunteer readers sound like – perhaps that’s why there may more than one version of an audiobook. Luckily for us all that neither EB nor I have volunteered to read for LibriVox, thus sparing you a horrid, life-altering experience.
All the audiobooks on LibriVox are free and available in several formats. Most of you will like the audiobooks in zip format for PCs – just unzip the file, click on audiobook and listen to someone read the book to you. There are several other formats available, so be choose the one that’s right for you.
LibriVox makes it easy for you to find what you’re looking for. For example, being the dummy that I am, I typed in Edgar Allen Poe and got zero results. But when I searched for Edgar Allan Poe, I got sixteen audiobooks, not surprisingly, Poe wrote all those books. Who is reading them, I have no clue although the one I downloaded had a lady with a nice-sounding voice reading it. No drawl! No Darcy-accent!
Now, because I’ve run out of witty and humorous things to say, I will turn it over to the site’s developers to regale you.
“About LibriVox
LibriVox Objective:
To make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet.
Our Fundamental Principles:
LibriVox is a non-commercial, non-profit, and ad-free project
LibriVox donates its recordings to the public domain
LibriVox is powered by volunteers
LibriVox maintains a loose and open structure
LibriVox welcomes all volunteers from across the globe, in all languages
What We Do
LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, and then we release the audio files back onto the net for free. All our audio is in the public domain, so you may use it for whatever purpose you wish. Please note: Our readers are free to choose the books they wish to record. LibriVox sees itself as a library of audiobooks. Because the books we read are in the public domain, our readers and listeners should be aware that many of them are very old, and may contain language or express notions that are antiquated at best, offending at worst.
Volunteering for LibriVox is easy and does not require any experience with recording or audio engineering or acting or public speaking. All you need is a computer, a microphone, some free recording software, and your own voice. We accept all volunteers in all languages, with all kinds of accents. You’re welcome to volunteer to read any language you speak, as long as you can make yourself understood in it. You don’t need to audition, but we do suggest a 1-Minute Test recording just to check your setup. We’ll accept you no matter what you sound like.
We operate almost exclusively through Internet communications on our forum, where all your questions will be answered by our friendly community.
For more detailed information, see our FAQ…
So, now that we have amused you, hopefully, informed you…and put in some “About” stuff from LibriVox…
Isn’t it time you visited LibriVox to grab some free audiobooks?
When I attempt to download a listen to book, I get a warning that it cannot be downloaded securely, with a window that shows the option to “discard”. Should I be concerned about this?