These audio files can be played on any Windows XP system and on many portable players.  Titles designated by the MP3 icon can be played on Apple iPods.  However, these titles cannot be burned to a CD.  The publisher of these works, NetLibrary, has chosen Microsoft's version of Digital Rights Management (DRM) software to control the distribution of the audio files not available in MP3 format.

For more information, check out our "Downloadable Audiobooks QuickStart Guide" [pdf].      .

An audiobook is a recording of the contents of a book read aloud. Both fiction and nonfiction works are produced in audiobook form but novels make up the bulk of the collection.

Sometimes audiobooks are narrated by the author of the printed work, as in the case of Bill Clinton reading his book, My Life.  More often, audiobooks are read by professional voice actors.  For example, we have over 200 recorded books narrated by George Guidall, a prominent voice actor in the field. 

Audiobooks are usually distributed on compact discs (CDs) or cassette tapes.  An average audiobook has a running time of 8-12 hours and is contained on about 10 cassettes or 5 CDs. 

Downloadable audiobooks are digital versions of audiobooks that are made available for downloading to a personal computer connected to the Internet.  The digital audiobook is downloaded as a WMA file or in some cases as an MP3 file.You can find a complete listing of the library's downloadable audiobooks here.

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