We're off to an excellent start. During August, the first month of the drive, seven CDs were sent to Pathfinder Press, each with electronic files to produce a book or bulletin.

The seven titles were The Balkan Wars (1912-13) by Leon Trotsky; Cuba's International Foreign Policy, 1975-80 by Fidel Castro; Labor's Giant Step by Art Preis; W.E.B. DuBois Speaks, vol. 2; Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay by Leon Trotsky; Thomas Sankara Speaks with an improved cover; and the Education for Socialists Bulletin, "James P. Cannon, Internationalist."

Pathfinder Press is a publishing house whose books and pamphlets make the line of march of the working class, the continuity of the communist movement, and a Marxist explanation of today's world accessible to workers and farmers.

The work of the Reprint Project is to digitize--computerize--the titles so the printing process can be converted from old-style film and printing plates to new-style computer technology. As we digitize each book we update its typographical appearance and make it more readable. The new technology also makes possible rapid printing of short runs to respond to demand in the class struggle. More than 150 volunteers in nine countries contribute time and skills to the digitizing effort.

The Balkan Wars is an example of the international teamwork that goes into producing each title. This book is more than 600 pages long. We started scanning it in April 1998. More than 60 volunteers worked on it from their workstations in five countries. In the end, we submitted the formatted text to Pathfinder's editorial staff and received back only 11 corrections.

Producing 30 titles by January 1 will require a substantial increase in the rate of CD production for the Reprint Project volunteers. According to production co-coordinator Tom Tomasko, from August 1999 to August 2000 the Reprint Project produced an average of 4.25 CDs a month. To produce 30 by January 1, that rate will have to increase to six per month.

Each production team is gearing up to meet the challenge. Formatting team organizer Jerry Gardner reports that the months of learning, training, and reorganization are now bearing fruit in that team. After a year of producing four or five titles a month, in August the team submitted eight formatted titles to Pathfinder for editorial check.

According to Gardner, they have seven "in the bag" for September and possibly two more. This leap in production was made possible by the fact that in January 2000 around 10 volunteers responded to an appeal for more formatters and joined that team. These "new" formatters have learned the necessary skills and become productive members of the team.

The same process is currently taking place in the index concordance team. At the Active Workers Conference, strengthening this team was presented as one of the central challenges facing the Reprint Project. Socialist Workers Party supporters responded, and in August the number of volunteers working on index concordances rose from around 25 to 35! The team finished four substantial indexes last month. Roughly two-thirds of the books, pamphlets, and Education for Socialists Bulletins that are out of print require index concordance work.

The production pace of these two final-stages teams is currently setting the pace for the project as a whole. But production was up significantly in August in all areas.

According to proofreading team organizer Holly Harkness, the final reads team is aiming to complete seven titles this month. Since the beginning of the project, final reads has averaged about five titles completed a month. In April the proofreading team launched a special effort to train final readers. First reads produced a total of 15 titles in July and August.

After a couple of months of reduced production because of training, graphics team organizer Bobbi Sacks reports that they turned in five new graphics files in August and have the potential of turning in even more new files in September.

At the Active Workers Conference, Reprint Project volunteers also adopted the ambitious new financial goal that all volunteers have a monthly pledge to the project. The project incurs expenses for graphics production and the books it uses in the process and is totally self-supporting through volunteer contributions. At the time of the conference, 79 out of about 200 volunteers had pledges. That number has risen to 90.

In coming weeks we will report on our progress toward both goals. If you would like to take part in this effort to keep Pathfinder's books in print, contact Ruth Cheney at RuthChen@flash.net.

Peggy Brundy is a member of the Reprint Project Steering Committee.