Advertisement The only books available on tape in the early 1980s were classics. But with the introduction of the Sony Walkman and the proliferation of cassette players in vehicles came a new market for audio books.
“All of a sudden, you started getting many, many more choices,” said Krieg-Sigman, director of the La Crosse Public Library.
Now the proliferation of digital music players such as iPods has spurred another literary revolution.
You don’t even need to visit the library these days to check out an audio book. With a few keystrokes, it can be downloaded to a personal computer — or even to a cell phone.
The Wisconsin Public Library Consortium contracts with a company called OverDrive to distribute digital media at libraries in each of the state’s 17 regional systems.
Digital media provides savings in labor — no need to unpack, label and shelve them — and they don’t wear out with use.
“Your dog can’t chew it,” Krieg-Sigman said.
The Winding Rivers Library System, comprised of 34 public libraries in the La Crosse area, paid $2,437 this year for access to the digital content provided by OverDrive. That’s less than $100 per library.
Under the license agreement, libraries can’t circulate a copy to more than one patron at a time. But there’s no need to return items at the end of the seven-day loan period: The files simply stop working.
“There’s no such thing as a late charge on these things,” Krieg-Sigman said.
Among other benefits, the files are available to any patron with a library card and a computer, no matter where. On a business trip or on vacation, if you can access the Internet, you can download a book.
And since there’s no need to lug around multiple cassettes or discs, the digital format is more convenient for listening while traveling, exercising or gardening, said Kristen Anderson, education consultant for the Winding Rivers Library System.
The OverDrive catalog has been available for a couple of years, Anderson said, but now that the offerings have grown to include about 4,000 audio books, music and videos, libraries are promoting it.
An 18-wheel “digital bookmobile” designed to introduce the concept of digital content stopped Wednesday at the Riverfest grounds in La Crosse.
Anderson asked people who wandered through if they listened to audio books. Then she asked if they had a digital music player, and “their eyes would light up at the idea of free content.”
The library has no other immediate plans to promote its digital content, though Krieg-Sigman said it will be prominently featured when a new Web site is launched later this summer.
Digital patronage so far has been limited but is growing fast. Patrons downloaded 3,751 items in the first six months of 2009, a 63 percent increase over the same period last year, according to Winding Rivers.
And with the growing popularity of digital music players and the baby boom generation’s aging eyes, audio books should become even more popular, Krieg-Sigman said.
“To be able to offer it in the emerging formats is a huge boon,” she said.
About OverDrive
Wisconsin public libraries offer audio books, music and videos in digital format that can be downloaded free to any computer by any patron with a library card. To learn how to access digital media, go online to www.wrlsweb.org and click the link to OverDrive. The site includes a guided tour that explains how to install the free software and how to manage your digital library files. Or contact your local public library for assistance.
