I love my public library.
Where else can you choose as many books as you want and walk out the door without paying a penny?
When you think about it that way, you have to wonder why anyone goes in a real bookstore and pays real money for a book.
Now my local library system has given me another reason to gush about it.
Starting this week, anyone and everyone with a Wake County, N.C., library card can download audio recordings of their favorite books onto their home computers. From there, it’s just a matter of a few clicks until you have your next book ready for listening on your Ipod. For FREE.
(On amazon.com, by the way, most audio books sell for $18 to $21!)
For starters, the library is offering 600 titles, including some of the most popular titles now in circulation: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, The Help, That Old Cape Magic and Off Season are among the titles available. Books for children and teens can also be downloaded. More titles will be added as the year progresses.
Having books available for download from the comfort of your own home is a frugal book lover’s dream come true.
With no actual book to pick up or return, think of the gasoline saved.
The rather minor inconvenience of being on a waiting list for a book should all but be eliminated by downloadable books.
And those pesky fines will also be a thing of the past with downloadable books. They are automatically “returned” after your seven- or 14-day loan.
Which brings me back to my original premise. Why would anyone lay out real money for a book when libraries are offering them free for the taking?
LOCAL READERS OF THIS BLOG: Click here to get all the information you need to download audio books to your Ipod.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Shelley in Fuquay // Feb 2, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Wow, that is very cool! Thanks for the info!!
2 Amy Dunn // Feb 2, 2010 at 10:49 pm
You are so welcome, Shelley in Fuquay. I’m glad to have you stopping in to read my blog.
3 Andria (The Librarienne) // Feb 3, 2010 at 10:29 am
As a librarian I can tell you that public libraries get busier and busier as more people start pinching pennies. The only problem with that is, as the economy tanks, so does library funding. Most libraries are circulating more materials with shorter hours and less staff. Many libraries have had their budget for purchasing new materials frozen as well.
Believe me, we love to have new people discover and promote libraries when they’re saving money (and all the time!), but we need people to advocate for us as well.
President Obama froze library funding for the coming year, we’re glad he didn’t cut it, but as more unemployed people pour in needing help finding jobs, filing unemployment, and learning basic computer skills–we’re feeling the pinch more than ever.
Thanks for reminding people all libraries and librarians do, and please continue to do so and support us actively during these trying times.
4 Amy Dunn // Feb 3, 2010 at 11:19 am
Well said, Librarienne!
5 Kristie // Feb 8, 2010 at 10:13 am
Hi Amy,
This is great info as I’ve been looking into some of the e-readers, but hate to spend the money. Do you know whether the books could be downloaded onto a laptop that had some of the e-reader software? (I have the Sony and Kindle software for free on my laptop, but no IPOD.)
6 Amy Dunn // Feb 8, 2010 at 10:35 am
Hi Kristie! I haven’t downloaded a book myself yet, but the way I understand it, you download onto your computer first using free software provided by the library. You then have the option of listening from your computer or putting it on an Ipod. If anyone out there has any first-hand knowledge, please let us know!!
7 Cate // Feb 8, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Andria, those are GREAT points. It reminds me that I want to start making monthly donations to my local library!
I use the library almost exclusively, but utilize PaperbackSwap for books I either really love or can’t get through the library. And on occasion, I do buy books new–it’s important to support the publishing industry, as well as authors.
Leave a Comment