MAHONING VALLEY Libraries offer audio books on MP3s

Patrons pick audio books at www.listenohio.org.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
Do your summertime plans include mowing the lawn or cleaning the garage? How about hitting the road, hauling a load of steel or heading to the beach in a sport utility vehicle loaded with teenagers? Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Grisham or John Steinbeck could go along.
The East Palestine Memorial is the latest public library in the Mahoning Valley to make digital audio books available to patrons.
The Northeastern Ohio Library Association's Listen Ohio program allows patrons to choose from about 1,800 available titles to download from the Internet.
East Palestine library has 10 digital MP3 players available. Each can store up to 20 hours of audio, said Lisa Rohrbaugh, library director.
There's no charge for the players or the downloads unless they become overdue, she said. Patrons have to provide their own earphones for health reasons.
"The players are really nice because they are so small," she said. "We can put two or three medium-sized books on here."
Convenient, efficient
She said it takes two to three minutes to download an average-size book.
Best sellers, fiction and nonfiction titles are available, she said. Take a biography or thriller to the beach, or practice foreign language lessons on the way.
The MP3 players come with adapters so patrons can listen to the books through the vehicle's radio or cassette player without earphones.
Public libraries in Lisbon, Hubbard and Niles also have the MP3 players, 10 at each library.
The checkout policy for the MP3 players is usually the same as for books. Rohrbaugh warned, however, that the fine for an overdue MP3 player is $1 per day.
Nancy Simpson, director of the Lepper Library in Lisbon, said patrons like to listen to the books when they are out walking, gardening, or doing housework.
Growing trend
She said the library has had the audio players about two years and the companies that produce MP3 players are constantly improving them.
"The sound quality isn't quite as good as the standard books on audiocassette, but it's getting better," she said. "We are always trying to improve our offerings."
Simpson said a core of Lepper Library patrons uses the MP3 players often.
At the Hubbard Public Library, Shawn Walsh, the library's technology administrator, is planning to distribute posters at the trucking companies in the area.
Hubbard has 10 MP3 players as well and has used the Listen Ohio system for about two years.
Since Hubbard is near Interstate 80 and state Route 11, the audio books are a hit with long-haul truck drivers. They can take two or three books with them on a long trip and come back and get more, he said.
Patrons log on to the Listen Ohio Web site, www.listenohio.org. The page is designed similarly to online booksellers, Walsh said.
Browse the lists of books, from popular fiction and nonfiction to classics, make selections and put them into a basket file to order, he said.
Hubbard even has a drive-up window to make pickup of MP3 players even easier, he said. Patrons call the library, tell them to download the books from their personalized basket on the Listen Ohio site, and stop in and check out the player, he explained.
tullis@vindy.com