Library offers audio titles on your PC
Driving, running, even walking while reading can be dangerous.
But with so many titles available on tape, CD or MP3, readers can keep up with their favorite books while performing daily tasks.
Through a new system offered by the Butler County Federated Library System, borrowing the audio books has become easier.
Last month, county libraries began providing a program in which audio books can be downloaded from home.
A service of Overdrive, Inc., a Cleveland-based digital media company, the downloads can be accessed from the library system's Web site, www.bcfls.org, or any of the individual library sites.
From there, library patrons can search for specific titles or browse by categories such as "Hot off the Press" or "Did You Hear..."
The downloadable books also appear in searches of the library system's regular online catalog.
The libraries currently hold the rights to more than 150 titles. This initial list was compiled from reader recommendations collected by county library directors.
"We haven't spent all of the money yet," noted Sheila Brown, administrator for the county's library system.
Brown said more books will be purchased after the library determines which titles and subjects are most popular.
To use the service, library patrons can browse through the available titles at their home computers or from computers at their local library. However, downloading the files is not permitted from library computers.
To download from home, patrons must use a special software that can be downloaded for free from the library site.
The program, called Overdrive Media Console, will allow the user to listen to files on a computer or transfer files to an MP3 player. Some files can also be transferred to compact discs.
To check out a title, users need a valid library card and an account with no overdue books or fines.
"It works just like a physical library," said Fran Martin, 64, of Middlesex Township, who has used the new service.
"You can browse the catalog, check out a book, renew a book and place a hold on a book."
Though file sizes vary depending on a book's length, Brown said download times should not be cumbersome.
"(Overdrive) tells us even with dial-up (Internet) service, they don't take too long. For some services, it takes 10 minutes or less."
Like with any print book, only one patron can check out each online book at a time. Patrons can put holds on books already checked out to secure access as soon as the title is "returned" to the library.
Users have access to the downloaded files for two weeks. When the checkout period ends, the user is blocked from access to the file. If the user is finished with the book, the files can then be deleted.Those renewing a borrowed audio file, however, can save the expired file, preventing the need for re-downloading.For Martin, two weeks is generally enough time to finish a book."I have to exercise quite a bit, and it's so wonderful to listen to a book on my MP3 player while I walk," she said.In addition to downloading books from her home computer, Martin uses the service while outside the county."I travel, and it's inconvenient, if not impossible, to obtain a temporary library card for every little town I visit."Having my home library affiliated with (Overdrive) allows me to check out a new book at any time right from my laptop."Although Martin considers herself computer literate, Carol Troese, director of the Cranberry Township Library, said the software seems easy to use. Troese said she has received only one call for assistance since the service began."We're just launching this program, and it seems to be working seamlessly," she said.Though Troese and Brown are excited about the new program, Brown noted one advantage of the Overdrive service is that, even if they discontinue their contract with the company, patrons would still have access to the titles already purchased.In its first two weeks, more than 60 books were downloaded from the library system Web site, a number Troese sees as a sign of the times."We have a tremendous number of patrons here in Cranberry who are in their car constantly,"she added."People are taking advantage of being able to listen to books on CD in their cars."To establish the program, the library system used money from state library funding, which was recently increased after being cut by more than a third in 2004.Like print books, audio files can also be donated by the public as memorial books.
