NY Public Library Loans Digital Audio Books

The New York Public Library (NYPL) system on Monday launched an online digital audio book collection that will be open to cardholders of the system to rent for three-week periods. Over 700 titles will be available in several different genres.

The launch of the audio books follows a successful debut last year of an e-book program, in which electronic versons of books have been borrowed more than 23,000 times. According to the NYPL, they are the largest circulating collection of e-books in the United States.

In order to borrow the books, the cardholder must go to the library's Web site, check out the books and enter their card number along with their pin. For a period of 21 days, the person may borrow up to ten e-books. After the loan period, the e-books are checked back in and made available to others.

"We are delighted to announce the availability of downloadable audio books as part of our circulating collection," said Susan Kent, Director and Chief Executive of The Branch Libraries. "Library users today are much more technologically sophisticated than ever; our aim is to continue to provide our users with free access to materials in whichever format they prefer."

In order to transfer the audio books to a portable device, they must be Windows Media compatible. This means devices such as the Zen Micro and iRiver would be able to play the files; however, the widely popular iPod is not compatible with the audio books offered by the library.

Also, the software necessary to view the e-books is only compatible with Windows PCs, meaning Macintosh users will not be able to use the service. No announcements were made on any potential future Macintosh or iPod compatibility.