Library to Offer Audio Book Downloads

The Rochester, N.Y., Public Library and the Monroe County Library System now offer library card owners no-cost download of audio books to their home computer through a new product called OverDrive. The audio book files may be played through a personal computer, transferred to portable MP3 players, or burned to audio CDs.

OverDrive provides a wide selection of popular and classic titles in both fiction and nonfiction. The library collection contains works by popular authors like James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, Nora Roberts, and Dean Koontz, as well as language instruction audio books and titles that frequently appear on high school summer reading lists.

The system can be searched by title, author, subject, or browsed by category. Two titles can be checked out at any given time for a period of 21 days; after 21 days, the audio book is automatically returned to the library collection. There are no overdue fines. Holds can be placed for items already checked out, and an e-mail will notify users when the audio book placed on hold is ready for check out. Instructions for using the OverDrive service will be available on the library Web site beginning Monday June 11.