As usual at this time of the year, I will be sending you some "Thank You Notes" from our Project Gutenberg readers. Here is one message, in it's entirety, that I hope you enjoy! Thanks!!! Give the world eBooks in 2006!!! Michael S. Hart Founder Project Gutenberg Blog at http://hart.pglaf.org ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2006 17:48:23 +0100 From: Amy <amy.e.pedersen@gmail.com> To: hart@pobox.com Subject: Thank You for all of your work Dear Project Gutenberg, I don’t know if many people take the time to thank you, but I just wanted to express my gratitude for the services you provide. Thank you all for your work and dedication. Your work is profoundly appreciated. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer working deep in rural Namibia. I had always admired Project Gutenberg (even donating some time through Distributed Proofreaders) but I have only begun to realize how truly important it is since I have been here. When I was in America it was nice to have access to books whenever I felt like it, without having to go to the trouble of going to a library or bookshop, but here it is vital. Bookshops are rare in Namibia (the nearest one to my village is over 250 kilometres away) and the books they sell are often very very expensive (especially considering my limited financial resources.) Also, the books they sell are often only in Afrikaans or German, neither of which I understand (Peace Corps taught me the tribal language in my village—KhoeKhoe—instead.) Libraries are even rarer and often badly under stocked. I am trying to build up a school library, but we are dependent on donations and it is much more important to get easy to read picture books to help the children with their English than to get classics for my own consumption. Project Gutenberg has become my library. I didn’t realize the importance of plain vanilla texts until I got here and realized how slow and expensive internet is. The zipped plain vanilla texts often take less than 5 or 10 minutes to download and provide hours of reading enjoyment. Thank you for being an equalizing force in literacy, allowing books to reach those who would otherwise have a hard time getting them. Your work is thoroughly appreciated. I have shared your site with other volunteers who also enjoy it. Thank you so much. I am immensely grateful. Sincerely, Amy Elizabeth Pedersen