The idea for readme.cc Virtual Library grew - without wanting to sound presumptuous - from the desire to mediate between book culture and internet culture. We wanted to consider the world of literature and e-communities on one common plane in order to demonstrate that individualism and the growth of a community have never been incompatible: the intimate experience of reading a book has always been followed by an exchange with other readers.

The project developed through points of friction between those involved. On the one hand, there were writers and scholars; on the other, media experts and engineers. And they all contributed their experiences to the discussions. A project emerged which, from the start, was designed around the idea of communication and transcending boundaries.    Since its inception, the thinking behind the Virtual Library has been to create a playful instrument for conveying information. It aspires to establish a book forum where, whenever they please, readers can give tips for books they believe will stand the test of time.   

The idea for the Virtual Library originated following a project which took place in 2002 at the Collegium Helveticum of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in collaboration with its visiting writer Walter Grond. The project Writing on the Web: Literature in a Digital Age investigated the influence of writing tools on the writing process in science and literature. This project, in which the Neue Zürcher Zeitung Online and the ZKM Karlsruhe were also involved, produced a two volume book of the same name which was published by Haymon Verlag, Innsbruck.

Literary critic and networker Beat Mazenauer also participated in the project. With Adi Blum and Tr51.org, he went on to develop his contribution under the name Encyclopaedizer, an installation in real space with a direct link to the global net.

In autumn 2002, Beat Mazenauer and Walter Grond began contemplating a far-reaching successor project: Reading [on] the Web: Decoding and Understanding in the Age of Information, an interdisciplinary undertaking which would embrace research, art, media and technology. It has already yielded a new series (of books and websites) published by StudienVerlag / Haymon Verlag, Innsbruck: http://www.lesenamnetz.org

The Virtual Library is part of the interdisciplinary project Reading [on] the Web. It strives to explore and examine questions related to reading and understanding in the media age from extremely different angles and in a variety of forms. These questions include:

- How are reading and the reader changing in the digital age?

- Is understanding neglected when reading competence no longer focuses on written language?

- By incorporating other senses and casting a new light on social learning, how is the digital age transforming the traditional concept of reading?

- How do we orientate ourselves in a world where strikingly divergent cultures and changing cultural technologies are mixing at tremendous speeds?

- Initially Grond and Mazenauer wanted to launch a blog in German where authors and critics would be able to recommend books by writing short reviews.
   
They were then joined by Andreas Kohli who runs Belleville AG, a multimedia company in Zurich, with Martin Roth. The two had successfully developed the technology of the Fotobot for Expo.02. They suggested using Fotobots to make self-portraits of the readers and to create an internet platform where readers would be able to set up their own libraries. In this way, a purely literary experiment became a web project – an interactive interface for the public. The Virtual Library goes to its readers and not vice versa:
  
Books Make People: Tell Me What You Read and I'll Tell You Who You Are
   
At the intervention of Helga Nowotny, sociologist of science and director of the Collegium Helveticum during Writing [on] the Web, the project was ultimately expanded to a larger area in Europe. The Virtual Library began to have sister sites in several European countries. Using photos and books, it encouraged communication across language barriers.
   
To this end, p&s melk was established. It is the Austrian sister association of p&s - netzwerk kultur, a network in Switzerland. These associations of artists, scientists and scholars share interests and activities, and embrace cultural work at the interface between traditional and new cultural technologies.
   
Two partners joined in to support the project: the Institut d’Allemand d’Asnières at the Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris and the Collegium Budapest, an institute for advanced studies. In October 2004, these three organisations finally succeeded in getting the project accepted in the European Commission’s cultural funding programme.

In August of 2006 the European Commission funded a three-year development programme for readme.cc. within the framework of the Programme Culture 2000. With the goal of becoming 'The European Forum for Readers' the virtual library continues to expand throughout Europe. New centres have been established (Hamburg, London, Prague, Florence, Maribor/SLO, Copenhagen), new languages have been added (Slovene, Czech, Italian, Danish) and new literature expands the set of book tips across Europe.

The Following Partners will be involved in the development of Readme.cc through 2009:

- Austria / Project direction / p&s melk
- France / Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris.
Co-Partner: Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris
- France / Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers
- Germany / Literaturhaus Hamburg
- Czech Republic / Stredoevropsky dialog (Central European Dialogue), Prag
- Denmark / Oversættelsescentret - Københavns Universitet / Translation Center, University of Copenhagen
- Austria / Zentrum für interkulturelle Studien Fürstenfeld als Koordinator eines Alpen/Adria-Schwerpunktes: südösterreichisch/ slowenisch / italienisch.
- Italy / Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale Florence
- Slovenia / Universität Maribor