Your Voice.
Your Moment.
Your Books.
Free books on civic engagement, faith, politics, and humanity — written for CCRC residents and all Americans who believe in active citizenship.
Featured Book
CivicGood: A Call to Your Best Self
"For every grandparent who whispered, 'Somebody should do something' — and then realized that somebody is them."
A passionate, research-backed invitation for CCRC residents — and all seniors — to step into their power as citizens. Covers the health benefits of engagement, the moral case for senior activism, and a practical step-by-step guide to joining the CivicGood movement.
The Library
All Books — Free, Forever
Every book is preserved permanently on the Internet Archive and available to read online or download as a PDF. No account required. No cost. Ever.
More books are being added as they are uploaded to Internet Archive. All books by Mel Haas are free, forever.
Permanent & Free
Why Internet Archive?
Every CivicGood book is hosted on the Internet Archive — a nonprofit digital library that has been preserving the world's knowledge since 1996. Storage is free, permanent, and independent of any platform that could remove your content for political reasons.
Create a Free Account
Go to archive.org/account/signup. Enter your name, email address, and a password. Confirm your email. That's it — no credit card, no subscription, no fees ever.
Upload Your PDF
Click the Upload button at the top right. Click the green Upload Files button. Drag your PDF file into the box, or click Choose files. Wait for the upload to complete — a few seconds to a minute depending on file size.
Fill In the Metadata
A form appears with these fields: Title (your book title), Identifier (a short URL-friendly name, e.g. civicgood-call-to-best-self), Description (2–3 sentences), Subject (e.g. civic engagement; senior citizens; democracy), Creator (Mel Haas), Language (English), Collection (texts). Add as many subject tags as apply.
Set the License
Under License, choose Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) — this allows anyone to read, share, and build on your work with credit. This perfectly matches your free, no-profit mission and ensures maximum reach.
Upload and Create
Click Upload and Create Your Item. Archive.org processes the PDF (10–30 minutes) and creates: an online flipbook reader, a downloadable PDF, full-text search indexing, and a permanent URL like archive.org/details/your-identifier.
Copy the Link for Your Website
Once your item is live, copy the URL from your browser's address bar. That is the permanent link you paste into your WordPress book page. For the PDF download link, use archive.org/download/identifier/filename.pdf.
💡 Pro Tips for Your Archive Collection
- Use a consistent identifier prefix for all your books, like
civicgood-, so they group together in Archive searches. - Request a personal collection by emailing info@archive.org — this groups all your books under one "CivicGood Books" collection page.
- Add the subject tag "CCRC" and "senior civic engagement" to every book so they are discoverable together.
- The permanent URL never changes — unlike Amazon or KDP, Archive.org cannot take down your content for political reasons. Your work is protected as long as Archive.org exists.
- Archive.org books are indexed by Google — readers can find them in search results without visiting your website at all.
The Discussion Group
Join the CivicGood Conversation
CivicGood is a free online discussion group where neighbors explore the values that shape how we live with one another — politics, faith, and humanity together.
⚖️ Politics
Democracy doesn't maintain itself. Discuss legislation, elections, and civic duty — as neighbors, not partisans.
✝️ Faith & Ethics
What do we owe each other? How should we treat the stranger? Great moral questions belong to everyone.
❤️ Humanity
From children's welfare to elder care, CivicGood is where compassion meets conversation — and conversation leads to action.
Hosted on Groups.io · Ad-free · Privacy-focused · No app required · Free for members under 100
About the Author
Mel Haas
Mel Haas is a resident of Riderwood Village, a continuing care retirement community in Silver Spring, Maryland. A retired technology professional and author of more than 30 books, Mel uses Perplexity AI to research contemporary issues and publishes the results as free books for fellow citizens.
Mel founded and manages the CivicGood discussion group and is a passionate advocate for using technology and community organizing to empower seniors as forces for positive change. All books are written as a public service — no charge to readers, no profit to the author.
"The world is not changed by those who merely observe it. It is changed by those who refuse to remain silent."
— Mel Haas