Why share on Bloom Library?
Do you upload your books to Bloom Library? You should! Here are some reasons why.
When you put your books on BloomLibrary.org, they can benefit:
- language group members
- educators
- people working with refugees
- government officials
- language activists
- donors
- linguists
- people using apps that offer translation (see Facebook’s No Language Left Behind, which reads books from Bloom Library to learn minority languages).
- people who may be able to translate your book into their own language or dialect
Also, your books on BloomLibrary.org will be kept safe for generations.
We have heard a number of reasons why people may not upload their books:
“What if we don’t have an Enterprise Subscription?”
You don’t need a subscription to upload your books to Bloom Library. Anyone can create a free account and upload their books.
“Isn’t Bloom Library for finding books to translate? It would not make sense to translate my book.”
Even though Bloom Library is an excellent source of books that can be translated and re-published, the library is primarily a place where readers, educators, and local-language advocates can find vernacular materials in specific languages.
“Why should I upload my book—it isn’t perfect?”
It’s fine to share books that you might improve in the future. Consider putting a note in the book summary alerting users that more work is planned. You might even want to give them a way to contact you for feedback. Then, as you progress, Bloom makes it easy to upload an updated version.
If the book isn’t ready for the public, it can still be great to put the book where you can get feedback while keeping it from being seen by the public. By marking your book as a "draft," you can keep it private—accessible only to you and the trusted individuals you share the link with. This allows you to maintain complete control over your book and decide when it's ready for the world to see.
“What if my books cannot be shared outside of the country?”
There is a way to tell BloomLibrary.org to restrict the reading and downloading of books to a single country. Contact us for help with that.
“What if our people group doesn’t have access to the internet?”
You can be confident that no matter how remote a language community is, they will eventually get internet access. This may be the local people, the diaspora, or even their descendants. If the books are only on paper or your personal hard drive, your books will disappear. Instead, we encourage you to put them in the Bloom Library. SIL and other organizations will keep them accessible now and for future generations. And your book on Bloom Library can still do a lot of good in the world, even while waiting for your language group to get regular, inexpensive access to the internet:
- Your book may be an inspiration to the broader literature production community.
- In NGO contexts, the government may appreciate seeing that you produce helpful materials.
- If this book production project is supported by donors, putting your books in the Bloom Library will help them understand what their donations are making happen.
- Once a book is available on Bloom Library, it is also shared with the Bloom Reader app, where it can be read and shared offline.
“We are sharing our collection through our website. How does this connect with Bloom Library?”
One option is to publish separately to both places, but there is an alternative that takes less effort while providing a better user experience.
You can embed your BloomLibrary.org collection on your website. Then as you publish to BloomLibrary.org from Bloom, books will automatically appear in the context of your site, where they can be read online, downloaded as a PDF or eBook, etc.
A third option is to embed individual books on your website. For an example, see Chetana Trust’s online library of books for children with disabilities.
Do you have a concern that is not listed here? Tell us about it!