Kafka or Clancy for your Headphones: The NY Public Library Offers Digital Audio Books for MP3 players and Computers

Hundreds of Free Audio Books Available For 24/7 Access Via Digital Downloading from Library's Web Site

New York, NY, June 13, 2005 - On June 13, The New York Public Library will launch a digital audio book collection allowing cardholders to download audio books from the Internet, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. On the subway or in the sun, users can listen to a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books on portable devices, CD players, or via their PCs and laptops.

Listeners of all ages can choose from a selection of 700 titles in fiction, narrative nonfiction, business, biography, self-help, and language instruction. Available titles range from recent bestsellers such as The 9/11 Commission Report and The Jane Austen Book Club to classics such as Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Users may listen to digital audio books via computer or laptop; burn to CD for playing in the car or on stereo; or transfer to many portable devices, including Windows Media-compatible MP3 players. Digital audio books circulate for 21 days and are available for free Internet downloading 24-hours a day through the Library's website, ebooks.nypl.org.

"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."

Borrowing Made Easy
In order to borrow digital audio books, users will browse or search the initial selection of 700 popular titles, ranging from romance fiction and classics to business, technology, biography, and language instruction. For example, some titles include The Worst Case Scenario Handbook, Pride and Prejudice, 101 Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers, Dan Barry Hits Below the Beltway, and Dr. Phil's Get Real. Check-out is fast and easy: NYPL cardholders simply enter in their existing card number and a 4-digit PIN. Up to ten digital audio books--or a combined total of ten e-books and digital audio books--may be on loan at one time. After 21 days, the materials are automatically checked in and made available for other users. And if the requested title isn't immediately available, users can place a hold on it and will receive email notification when it becomes available.

A Wealth of Electronic Resources
The launch of digital audio book circulation follows last year's highly successful launch of more than 3,000 e-book titles for circulation on laptops and PDAs. E-books have been borrowed more than 23,000 times since the program's 2004 launch, making The New York Public Library system by far the largest circulating collection of e-books in the country. In addition, the Library currently offers 70 full-text, searchable databases of reference works and more than 10,000 periodicals, an astonishing array of e-resources that is available to Library cardholders 24-hours a day.

Digital audio books have been licensed through OverDrive, Inc., a leader in managing distribution of digitized content utilizing digital rights management technology (DRM) to publishers, retailers, and libraries. Additional information about OverDrive is available at www.overdrive.com.

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Contact:   Tim Farrell 212.704.8600