Reading is one of the most valuable activities we can spent our time on. Though since the invention of the printing press, the way we read, the workflow around reading, was not much improved. We made huge progress in the process of distribution, via hyperlinks on the web and the basic search for content or books, but we can do better about how we get the most valuable ideas out of texts, how we link them to other ideas, how we curate and later recall our read knowledge. How big the potential of digital text might be showed Ted Nelson, Alan Kay, Doug Engelbart already in 1960s. Though still we have not made full use of it. Textlibrary is just another little experiment to use these opportunities to make reading even more valuable.

Textlibrary is a decentralized application, powered by the open source platform Blockstack. It is not a content provider platform. It doesn’t sell or distribute content. It’s a tool. A software. A service. You bring your own texts and Textlibrary is the tool that provides an user experience to make the most out of them. Textlibrary has no access to the texts that your read, or how you read, if you choose not to share your readings publicly. All your data is encrypted, and securely stored at a place of your choice. You have full control over your data. And yes, no ads. When Textlibrary is fully launched, it will have a paid subscription and a free to use version. Textlibrary should be financed by the people that it tries to serve. The readers. Only then all interests are aligned in the longterm.

This is not a shiny, viral and attention seeking tool. It shouldn’t be and it won’t be. If Textlibrary will grow at all, then it will grow slowly and with the support of its users. It’s not about how fast, but about how strong.  The only way to keep slow growing things running is by staying independent. Being sustainable, even in the beginning, means being patient. Please hang in with us. Textlibrary is currently bootstraped and it will stay independent.