Libraries Offering Downloadable Audiobooks!

As the popularity of down-loadable audio has grown (typically music) it seems other media outlets are also starting to embrace this concept.  I recently discovered that my local library offers audio books in a down-loadable format that can be played on a computer, Ipod, or other media device.  Upon investigation I discovered that a number of libraries actually subscribe to this service.  One would think that the books they offer in this format are the less popular / obscure titles that most people would not be interested in anyway….but this is not the case.  Examples of the books they offer are…general books for children, books by authors such as Ken Follett, James Patterson, Stephen King, and others…

The service itself is provided by overdrive.com and is pretty easy to use.  Libraries subscribe to the service and in turn offer it to their patrons.  There is verification involved so only patroms of subscribing libraries can use the service.  Basically an individual gets to the site from their library or they can go directly to the site, find their library, and enter their library card number.

Individuals can download a few books at a time but they do expire (and unfortunately the checkout period seems to be only a week).  The good thing is you can simply re-download it after the period has expired and continue listening.

The only drawback to this system is the software involved and how it interfaces with devices such as Ipods.  The software is not very intuitive and takes some experimenting to master.  Adjustments to your Itunes settings are also typically necessary but are not too difficult.  Another complaint is how the media breaks into multiple files / parts.  Unfortunately it breaks the media into multiple arbitrary parts that do not necessarily coincide with chapters in a book….very odd.

Despite the drawbacks this is a great service.  I have been contemplating ‘reading’ a Ken Follett book called World Without End but the book itself is 1024 pages!  I knew I couldn’t get myself to read it so instead I listen to it on my Ipod (45 hours worth of audio!).  So check out your library and see if they offer this….it’s really a terrific thing.

This entry was posted on October 22, 2009 at 9:05 am and is filed under Fun!, Web Sites, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.