Proofreading as a Collective Act of Care: Introducing the “Wikisource Loves Proofreading Campaign 2025”

For many years, Wikisource has quietly served as one of the Wikimedia movement’s most powerful tools for preserving and sharing knowledge. Every page proofread, every scan validated, and every text published makes the world’s cultural and literary heritage easier for someone else to discover.
Yet, while its impact is enormous, Wikisource itself often remains under-recognized, under-resourced, and under-explored.

In 2025-26, we hope to bring a little change.

With that approach, we are excited to announce the Wikisource Loves Proofreading Campaign 2025, a global call to action for Wikisource contributors, newcomers, and partners across the Wikimedia movement.

Why This Campaign, and Why Now?

Across many language communities, Wikisource faces a familiar set of challenges:

• Many scanned books are uploaded, but left unproofread or partially complete.
• Newcomers find Wikisource exciting, but often difficult to navigate without guidance.
• Communities work hard, but often in isolation, without shared events that connect them globally.
• Compared to other Wikimedia projects, Wikisource receives far less visibility and participation.

And yet, the need has never been greater.

Every day, libraries, archives, and cultural institutions digitize materials at an unprecedented scale. But scanned images alone do not guarantee access. Proofreading is the essential step that transforms a digitized book into a readable, searchable, accessible public resource.
Even if the Wikimedia ecosystem provides the platform, but without volunteers who know how to proofread, validate, and publish texts, this important work risks staying incomplete.

The Wikisource Loves Proofreading Campaign 2025 is a pilot project created in response to this need: to bring more collaborators into this work, to energize communities, and to make Wikisource a more welcoming space for everyone.

The Purpose: Building Skills, Connection, and Momentum

At its heart, the campaign serves three key goals:

1. Lowering the barrier for newcomers

Proofreading may feel intimidating at first. Through simple training materials, community calls, and hands-on support, the campaign aims to make Wikisource more approachable. New editors will have clear pathways to learn, practice, and grow.

2. Strengthening and connecting Wikisource communities

Three pilot languages will run contests, supported by ambassadors and jury members. But the wider campaign is global—any language community is welcome to participate, learn, or replicate the model.
The emphasis is on connection, collaboration, and learning from one another.

3. Elevating Wikisource’s visibility and long-term sustainability

By anchoring proofreading within a global campaign, we hope to increase public awareness of Wikisource’s role in preserving open knowledge. Beyond the contest period, the skills and momentum built during these months will help sustain communities long after the campaign ends.

What to Expect During the Campaign

From 20th December 2025 to 20th Feb 2026, the campaign will include:

• Ambassador and jury training across selected Wikisource communities
• Practical tutorial resources for new contributors
• A proofreading contest supported by the WSContest tool
• Celebrations and recognition of contributors
• A reflection process to design future editions based on shared learning

Although the pilot communities lead the contests, the campaign is open to everyone- including small or emerging Wikisource communities and individuals who wish to observe, join activities, or adapt the model locally.

A Campaign Rooted in Collaboration

The effort is led by a small, coordinated international team, with support from volunteers across different regions and languages.
This global structure ensures that the campaign is not only a contest, but a movement-wide experiment in shared learning, multilingual collaboration, and community empowerment.

Your Invitation to Join Us

Whether you are an experienced Wikisource proofreader, a first-time contributor, or a community eager to revive local activity, this campaign is for you.

You can:

• Participate in proofreading
• Join as an ambassador
• Support jury work
• Introduce newcomers to Wikisource
• Promote the campaign within your networks
• Help make more texts free, accessible, and usable

“Every corrected page matters. Every contribution leaves a mark.- For us, it’s GREEN 🟢” – 🙂

Why we are adapting this campaign as a “Collective Act of Care” is because “proofreading” is more than just a task- it is a careful, attentive act. A commitment to accuracy, accessibility, and preservation.
Through this campaign, we hope to celebrate that spirit of care and collaboration. Together, we can strengthen Wikisource-our open library, open more doors for readers and researchers, and build a more inclusive home for free knowledge.

We invite the entire Wikimedia movement to join us in Wikisource Loves Proofreading 2025. Let’s proofread, learn, and build together. 🙂