| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 2010 12:21 am |
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Local News 
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Everett libraries offer audiobooks online EVERETT -- Everett Public Library is now open 24 hours a day -- sort of.The two-branch library system recently joined other libraries across the country in offering patrons the convenience of downloading audiobooks onto their personal computers, cell phones or portable digital audio players. "We really hope that people will be using it," library director Eileen Simmons said. If early results are an indication of what's to come, finding interest shouldn't be a problem. Everett library members can download about 200 different audiobook titles, including Thomas Friedman's perennial best-seller "The World is Flat," W. Somerset Maugham's classic "The Painted Veil" and Philip Pullman's fantasy novel "The Golden Compass." The library had about 50 of 200 available digital audiobooks checked out as of Friday, Simmons said. The new service does have a major drawback: Apple computers and iPods don't support the audio files. Downloadable audiobooks are just one way libraries are striving to remain relevant in the digital age, when regular folks with Internet connections and powerful search engines from home can tap an unprecedented wealth of knowledge. Increasingly, libraries are filling a niche online by letting card-holders download copyrighted video, audiobooks, electronic books and music free from their Web sites. In 2005, Sno-Isle Libraries launched its downloadable audio book service. Since then, it has added movies and streaming music on its Web site. "It's popular," said Mary Kelly, spokeswoman for the library system with 21 branches in Snohomish and Island counties. "But it's taken people a while to catch on to this new way to access a book or a movie." Everett has also expanded its online presence. Last year, it set in motion NextReads, an e-mail book newsletter service with regular updates on new books in 20 genres -- including fitness, science fiction and romance -- and Books24x7, a database of more than 5,000 technology books that can be downloaded from home. More recently, it began carrying Playaway, a simple digital audiobook player about half the size of a pack of cards. It can be plugged into a car stereo. Simmons started a blog on the library's Web site, where she recently wrote about the library's strategic plan. If you know how to use Amazon or Netflix, you shouldn't have any trouble downloading audiobooks from the library. Library card holders can download up to two digital audiobooks at a time to a Windows-based computer or several models of Web-enabled phones, among them the Samsung BlackJack. Audiobooks can also be transferred to hundreds of compatible devices, such as the SanDisk Sansa. Several books can also be burned onto CD. After three weeks, the audio files automatically expire. Members can place a hold on a title if it is checked out. With an annual price tag of about $21,000, plus a fee for each title, the service doesn't come cheap. But the service is convenient because items don't have to be returned and there are no late fees or chances that you'll have to pay for lost or damaged items. David Burleigh, director of marketing for Cleveland-based OverDrive, the company that Everett Public Library and Sno-Isle Libraries is contracting with, said his company has contracts with 7,500 libraries worldwide, including the Seattle, Los Angeles and New York public libraries. Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com. Browse the online books View audiobook collections at: Everett Public Library: www.epls.org Sno-Isle Libraries: www.sno-isle.org |
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