Ownshelf - free ebook sharing

LEGO Lit – Classic Books in Lego

wproot — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:56:51 +0000

Classic books built in LEGO! At Ownshelf, we love LEGO almost as much as we love books. So we built scenes based on classic books and authors out of LEGO! If you are new to Ownshelf, it is a service to share ebooks with friends across devices. You can get many of these ebooks free to read and share on your own shelf at Ownshelf.com.

Please share, Pin, Tweet and Tumbl these pics and invite your friends to share ebooks with you.

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Fahrenheit 451?!? ABS plastic melts at 221°F?

Mr. Grey is such a LEGO stud.

You can get many of these ebooks free to read and share on your own shelf at Ownshelf.com.

Howard Roark left nothing but bricks.

You can get many of these ebooks free to read and share on your own shelf at Ownshelf.com.

Thanks for taking a look at Ownshelf’s LEGO creations based on famous books.

We will keep working on these and have Vol 2 soon!

Banned Book Week

wproot — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 23:15:59 +0000

This week (Sept 30 – Oct 6, 2012) is Banned Book Week. This week is part of an awareness campaign by the American Library Association to remind people that our rights to read freely is often challenged. It is always surprising to find so many beloved books on the challenged, banned, and burned lists.

Perhaps that is why people love these books, because they are thought provoking. And perhaps that is why some people in power feel threatened by these books, because they provoke thought.

Learn more about Banned Books Week here.

In the digital age, suppressing or censoring ideas has become much more difficult for oppressive officials. While book banning was limited to a country or county, the Internet is binary. On, or Off. There are no longer borders or boundaries to restrain knowledge. The future of censorship will be restricting internet access, filtering key words, and blocking files.

Ownshelf hopes that our cloud based libraries controlled by individual users will help keep us all reading freely.

We Love the ALA

wproot — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:16:42 +0000

There is something sacred to a free people about their books. Books are how we share and learn ideas. In a free society, both books and ideas need to flow unhampered. This is why we founded OwnShelf, to give a person control over how and where they can read their own books in the digital age. The American Library Association has been at the vanguard of championing the freedom of the press and the freedom to read since 1876. The ALA makes kick-ass declarations like “all individuals have the right to express their ideas without governmental interference, and to read and listen to the ideas of others.” That is some super hero stuff!

Check out the ALA Library Bill of Rights:

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

For years, the ALA has promoted freedom to read through their Banned Books Week awareness campaign. In the ebook age, Librarians are fighting against unreasonable copyright protection that restricts readers’ access to books. To wit, this awesome “Open letter to America’s publishers from ALA President Maureen Sullivan“.

Since you are at OwnShelf reading this, you obviously love books. Now imagine that librarians love books about a hundred times more! Their love of books, and championing of freedom to read, makes librarians super. Next time you meet one, thank a SuperLibrarian for protecting your right to read.

A is for Alpha

wproot — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:51:30 +0000

Today Ownshelf is Alpha! Alpha is an early project milestone named after the first letter of the Greek alphabet. At Alpha, we start testing the core functionality of the service, and ask a few friends and family to use it with us to see how it works.

Alpha is like an early preview. It is still buggy, will not work on all devices, might delete data, and WILL change over the next several weeks. Ahh, the joys of being an early adopter!

The Ownshelf Alpha features allow users to create an account using Facebook, upload and download books, and see their friend’s shelves. If you are one of OwnShelf’s friends or family, then come on in and try it out. If you have a big or comment to report, ping Rick. We are focused on fixes and foundations for the next few weeks, then we will dive into new features to make Ownshelf more robust and user friendly for the Beta milestone in the Fall.

OwnShelf exists to help people share their love of books. Your OwnShelf shelf is an expression of what you know and love, and that you want others to know about you. So go get some books from the Good Links in the right hand column, and fill your shelves. Happy reading!

-Rick.