libcom.org starts online fundraiser for digitizing old radical publications

An announcement that we have started an online fundraiser for the purpose of tracking down, purchasing and digitizing older North American anarchist and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) publications.

Submitted by libcom on June 30, 2016

update: this fundraiser has now closed. However we still rely on user donations to fund our work, so please support us on patreon if you wish to do this: https://patreon.com/libcom

The libcom.org library hosts an enormous amount of material. Some of this was digitized and put online for the first time by either our users (thanks!) or one of us who run the site.

Over the years we've been able to track down many older radical publications. The journal of the UK libertarian socialist group, Solidarity. Pamphlets and issues of the 1970s-era American Root & Branch magazine. Robert Lumley's out-of-print book, States of emergency: cultures of revolt in Italy from 1968 to 1978.

But there is still much work to do.

Many older publications are in danger of being forgotten. Many more are deteriorating, victim to poor storage and fragile newsprint.

We would like to change that.

Donating to our fund will allow us to be better able to digitize these pieces of radical history.

All money we receive will be greatly appreciated and go towards purchasing titles such as Why?, Resistance, Retort, Man!, Challenge, Views & Comments and The Road to Freedom, which were North American anarchist newspapers produced during the 1930s-1950s.

We are also hoping to track down, purchase and digitize copies of the Industrial Worker, which as of now, mostly reside in academic institutions, rare book sellers and people's attics.

With your help we can ensure that this history can be a freely available resource for all.

Thanks,
libcom.org collective

GoFundMe link: https://www.gofundme.com/2c5zfg84

Comments

syndicalist

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on June 30, 2016

I'll put this up on my FB page. Hope it helps

Juan Conatz

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on June 30, 2016

Thanks, syndicalist!

syndicalist

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on June 30, 2016

Juan Conatz

Thanks, syndicalist!

No probs

jesuithitsquad

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on June 30, 2016

This is a great idea. I"ll throw a bit in after payday.

ajjohnstone

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by ajjohnstone on June 30, 2016

It is not an easy or quick task as the SPGB found out when it tried (and failed) to digitalise the Socialist Standard, so i wish you all well on your endeavour.

Juan Conatz

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on July 1, 2016

Thanks to everyone who has donated. In just one day, we raised over $600. This will go a long way towards our goals.

P.S. - Added two more titles ('Challenge' and 'Views and Comments') that I had forgotten to put in the description. They were also American anarchist newspapers from the 1930s-1950s.

Juan Conatz

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on July 3, 2016

Looks like we reached the $1000 goal. Feel pretty good about this, not just because of what we'll be able to do with that, but because it affirms the work I and many other posters do in making these sort of older texts available.

We've also been contacted by someone with access to a ton of a few of the publications we were looking for because of this fundraiser, so it looks like its possible what we'll be able to digitize is far beyond what I originally thought possible.

Sleeper

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Sleeper on July 3, 2016

I just hope people are not allowing anything to be destroyed that doesn't have any other physical copies in existence that are open and available to anyone who wants to read or study it.

little_brother

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by little_brother on July 3, 2016

Good to hear about this. Check out Nottingham's 'The Sparrows' Nest' for some existing digitised:
http://thesparrowsnest.org.uk
We have a good number of Solidarity and probably the most complete collection of Black Flag although not yet digitised.

Steven.

7 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on July 3, 2016

little_brother

Good to hear about this. Check out Nottingham's 'The Sparrows' Nest' for some existing digitised:
http://thesparrowsnest.org.uk
We have a good number of Solidarity and probably the most complete collection of Black Flag although not yet digitised.

I've been meaning to drop you guys a line actually. Your collection is great, however your online library is really hard to use. Would you guys be interested in combining efforts? As we could help each other in terms of materials and we can help you in terms of getting wider readership. What do you think?

Edited to add: thanks so much to all of you who donated so generously, it is really helpful and it means a lot to us as well.