Libraries, in general

Help, I'm running out of library! by Calista on 2011-10-25 23:33:00 UTC Reply

I have a problem: I love to read, but don't have a whole lot of time. I also walk to and from school, which totals anywhere from half an hour to one-and-a-half hours a day; and I hate walking without anything to think about. So, I listen to audiobooks on my cheap little mp3 player. And then sometimes I get caught up in the story, and listen to them some more while I clean the house or finish yet another afghan...

Since audiobooks cost a lot of money, my library is the only real source of books I have, which is cool because I've made my way through just about all the "classics" (except for the ones that are about nothing but romance), and a lot of best-sellers.

But now I'm running out of library! My library's collection of mp3 audiobooks is getting more and more sparse... and I still want more!

I'm hoping you guys might know about some resource--online, library preferably, either a low fee or free--where I could get more audiobooks. I'm not running out of paper books, thankfully; but I'm also not going to be silly enough to try dodging traffic with my nose in a book. :)

I'm looking for online libraries, mostly--book-lending services, generally; or public libraries with online audiobook databases like mine, that let you buy a library card even if you're not a resident.

Help?

Re: Help, I'm running out of library! by Miah on 2011-10-26 01:11:00 UTC Reply

Have you heard of Librivox? They have several thousand books, and are adding around 100 more per month. All the books are in the public domain. Some readers are better than others, and books that have a single reader are generally preferable (by me) compared to ones that have multiple readers.

Readers I have rather enjoyed are Kara Shallenberb and especially John Greenman, who reads Mark Twain works. My husband has been listening to his readings for about 15 hours per week for almost two years and has only recently ran out of recordings.

I had a couple of other links for audiobooks, but it looks like I lost them when my laptop died. I think I got them from people in the PPC, so maybe we'll both get some more good ones.

Ooh, Mark Twain... by Calista on 2011-10-26 02:55:00 UTC Reply

I see short story collections! I've listened to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn about five times each but the last time I remember reading any of his short stories I was in high school... there was this really ridiculous satirical one about a bunch of people who got stranded and voted on who to eat, or something; and one about insect scientists who didn't realize humans were sentient, and one about a guy who went to heaven by flying through space and found out it was like a huge version of the living world...

*pokes around, bookmarks site*

I have some... by TheCatfishCaper on 2011-10-26 01:01:00 UTC Reply

My library has a list of websites where you can download audiobooks or eBooks. Here's the page: http://www.dmpl.org/search/digitaldownloads/onlineresources.html

Good luck finding something!

Cool! by Calista on 2011-10-26 02:57:00 UTC Reply

Anybody who has a library with an online book lending program, please post :)

You might try... by Phobos on 2011-10-26 01:00:00 UTC Reply

...the Chicago Public Library. I think they have audio books online, but I am not sure about price or the thing about buying a card. Can't hurt to explore though, right?

Libraries, in general by Calista on 2011-10-26 21:01:00 UTC Reply

You know, you're right; big-city public libraries do all have web sites, and I could just go through the major ones until I found somebody that sells library cards to non-residents. I found the Chicago public library charges $100/year, which is not unreasonable but still more than I'd like to pay in one go; maybe I'll find a better bargain. On the other hand, less than $10/month really is a good deal; so I could save up for something like that if they all want that much.