The Librivox Project
Librivox is one of those wonderful hidden gems of the internet, and it boasts some of the best narrators of free audiobooks.
Founded in 2005, this project gathers volunteer recordings of public domain literary works. And to put those recordings in the public domain. The internet was still young, and some had big dreams.
But could it work? Would people spend hours recording, only to put it in the public domain without benefiting from licensing?
This sounds like a crazy gamble right?
Well, we can say that it is a complete success. Overall, there are now over 20,000 Librivox audiobooks that you can find on librivox.org.
This means that if you head to their website, you can listen nonstop to public domain recordings for about 15 years. Isn't it cool? And in fact, there are extra recordings being added at about the pace at which time is passing, so you would never have listened to all audiobooks on Librivox.
Such a massive treasure trove.
And every listening is done by someone who is driven solely by the passion of reading and sharing.
Who are those mysterious benevolent narrators?
In this article, we'll highlight five of the best narrators of free audiobooks on Librivox, each bringing their unique style and passion to the recordings.
Mark F. Smith
Mark F. Smith, perhaps the most famous narrator on Librivox, has recorded 86 audiobooks, with over 30 million downloads. If you want to learn more about the very interesting take from Mark on his Librivox recordings, I invite you to read his very interesting update in 2022 on his personal blog.
Now that the introduction is done, let's take a listen to his narrator's skills with an extract from a Shrek-like short story by Kenneth Grahame, The Reluctant Dragon:
Bob Neufeld
With his powerful low voice, Bob Neufeld transports the listener into the story. You can enjoy 34 solo recordings from Bob Neufeld on Librivox.
Check out his perfect narration for the strange story of "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville:
Phil Chenevert
Phil Chenevert created a massive amount of recordings for all to enjoy. In total, he recorded more than 300 audiobooks! He recorded many different kinds of stories including detective, children's stories, horror stories, or science fiction, placing him among the best narrators of free audiobooks.
Here is Phil Chenevert, impersonating Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Mike Manolakes
Mike Manolakes is also a great narrator that I only recently discovered. There are many great narrators on Librivox, each with their own style! You can check out his website at https://www.manolakes.com/.
Mike distinguishes himself by his readings full of emotions. When you add Mike's acting skills on top of an amazing and strange science fiction story from Ray Bradbury, you get a result that I found extremely enjoyable, and actually quite hilarious!
Check out this sample from "Asleep in Armageddon".
Elizabeth Klett
Elizabeth Klett is yet another excellent and very prolific reader on Librivox with 59 audiobooks recorded by herself as well as an impressive 439 contributions overall! You can visit her website at https://elizabethklettaudio.com/.
Enjoy this performance from Elizabeth in The Velveteen Rabbit from Margery Williams Bianco:
Conclusion
Librivox is a wonderful internet success story and thanks to them, many audiobooks read by amazing and passionate narrators are freely available. Check it out!
