/tour.en
Type: /type/page
body: value: OpenLibrary.org is an online [California State Library][1] run by the non-profit [Internet Archive][2] which enables patrons to browse and checkout millions of digital books using their computers and mobile devices. The service is provided for the public good and is available to patrons free of charge and ad-free. On OpenLibrary.org, [your account][3] is your library card and a valid email address is all that's needed to get started.

With the world's help, Open Library aspires to be a comprehensive public catalog of every book ever written. When Open Library doesn't have a book to read or borrow, the websites tries to provide patrons useful information about the book, as well as which libraries or bookstores may have the title available.

## Features

Open Library offers a variety of features, including:

- Read or borrow [millions][4] of books
- Audio-listening mode for every book ([demo][5])
- [Reading Log][6] to keep track of what you're reading ([demo][7])
- [Search-inside][8] to search within millions of books

## Video Tour

[Watch a short video introduction to Open Library][9]

<iframe src="//archive.org/embed/openlibrary-tour-2020?start=46" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>


## An Open Library

1. Open Library is run as an [open-source][10] project. More than [100 volunteer contributors][11] from around the globe work together to make OpenLibrary.org possible.
2. Just like Wikipedia, Open Library is a [wiki][12]. This means anyone with an account may contribute to improve the accuracy and completeness of Open Library's book catalog.
3. Open Library is a democratic library. The community can help add titles to Open Library's lending program by [sponsoring books][13].


  [1]: http://web.archive.org/web/20171219063446/http://www.library.ca.gov/grants/lsta/initative.html
  [2]: https://archive.org
  [3]: https://openlibrary.org/account/create
  [4]: https://openlibrary.org/subjects
  [5]: https://archive.org/embed/openlibrary-tour-2020?start=190
  [6]: https://blog.openlibrary.org/2017/12/27/a-holiday-gift-from-open-library-introducing-the-reading-log/
  [7]: https://archive.org/embed/openlibrary-tour-2020?start=276
  [8]: https://blog.openlibrary.org/2018/07/14/search-full-text-within-4m-books/
  [9]: http:////archive.org/embed/openlibrary-tour-2020?start=46
  [10]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software
  [11]: https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary/graphs/contributors
  [12]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia
  [13]: https://openlibrary.org/sponsorship
has_fulltext: true
title: Welcome to Open Library!
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