***Scroll down for updates***
I was once a great lover of libraries. I haven’t set foot in one in at least two years.
Part of the reason is that the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, D.C.’s main branch, is a dilapidated, stinky building with falling ceilings and an overall dingy atmosphere. It made me dread visiting the library for the first time in my life. (I didn’t bother much with the other branches, either.)
I can’t remember why I decided to surf to the library system’s web site last year, but what I found there turned me into a library lover again, albeit the digital version.
I’m a little slow, so don’t laugh at this question: Did you that you could download audiobooks (videos and classical music, too) on public library web sites? All you need is a library card (which I’m almost certain you have to apply for in person). I did not know this. (I never could deal with PDF ebooks. I mean, reading a book on a computer? Get real.) Before the discovery, I considered joining subscription audiobook clubs and even buying digital audiobooks (the horror!). Not anymore.
I suspect most people know about library audiobook downloads, so this post is for those who don’t. The availability of downloadable audiobooks (downloadable being the operative word) is a much-appreciate public service, and the public library once again has become a goldmine of treasures – both buried and on display – for me.
The only problem is the audio files are protected by digital rights management. The D.C. Public Library’s files are in WMA format, which means they can’t be played on an iPod. However, I use a program to convert the WMA files to MP3s, then transfer them to my iPod. (There’s a loss of sound quality, but since it’s not music, it doesn’t matter that much.) Illegal? Maybe. Could be.
Update: Reader Nate S. writes:
“If you ‘check out’ media online, I think that it is OK ethically to burn it onto your ipod, as long as you have the intention of deleting it when you are done ‘checking it out’. Otherwise, it’s stealing. I checked out one of Ann Coulter’s audio books from the library, but frankly I don’t even OWN a CD player (save the one on my computer), so I burned it, am listening to it, and will delete it when I am done.”
Hmmm…excuse me while I go delete some files.
