Playaways

Categories: Digital Audiobooks , Nonfiction , Fiction

Have you discovered Playaways?  They’re new to our collection this week.  Playaways are digitial audio players pre-loaded with books.  No downloading required—all you need is your own headphones and a AAA battery, and you’re all set.

Everything from brand new bestsellers to classics is available.  You can listen to the latest Alex Cross novel by James Patterson, or carry around the whole 63 hours of Atlas Shrugged on a 3 3/8 by 2 1/8” device.   (You're on your own, though, finding the 63 hours to listen to it!)

Only some of the branches have them, so far—the Popular Library at Main, Anderson, Clifton, Harrison, Madeira, and Monfort Heights—as this is a test project.  But they are searchable in the catalog (just choose “playaway” as the media type on the search screen), and you can put holds on them to bring them to your branch.  The circulation rules are the same as for other audiobooks, with a limit of 3 for now.

You can use them in your car with a portable speaker, mp3 jack, FM receiver, or cassette adapter.  You can wear them around your neck on a lanyard.  Like the old cassette player, they re-start wherever you stop. 

Let us know what you think!