"Library System", I would presume that the system would include more than a single branch. I'd also imagine that the Clark County system covers fewer people than either, say, the Orange County library system, or even the LA City system.

Um... I was just making fun of a typo. I believe he typed "severing" instead of "serving"

Growing up our library served the whole county - Lassen County. Still does. They moved into a larger location but it's still not that big (it's the old Sprouse Ritz store).

Ha ha, Kevy meant to make a one liner joke, but mistakenly made conversation. ;)

Audio books are many CDs in length - anywhere from 5 to 25 CDs for something like the longest Harry Potters. Mailing those would not be as simple as Netflix. (That is, unless that was supposed to be a joke too :p )

Of course then it begs the question - why not have downloads? We tried a text e-book thing that was a complete flop. No one wants to read novels on computers. Audio downloads involve large servers and copyright protections, so I do not see most libraries indulging in such expenses and possible problems. Anyone that has worked in a government job can understand why a question about downloadable audio books gets a laugh and a head shake from our tech department.

As for delivery books via snail mail, I've heard of it, but I'd guess it is only implemented by very large, very wealthy libraries.

The Brea library does have downloadable audio books but it does not work with iTunes, iPod, or Macs so it gives me exactly squat which I'm not bitter at all about, don't think I am.

Nope; serious on the Audio CD's. I forgot that they could be so many disks.

The rent-a-book thing is dandy... if it's a best seller. Much like using Netflix, I can get a popular movie pretty quickly as opposed to camping outside Blockbuster on Tuesday morning and keeping it for one day. I'm really cheap... I'd rather just hang out on a waiting list for it. It's not worth $15 a month to get a book right away. Getting a book from a long standing hold IS like getting a present. It's unfortunate that I request tons of items and they all come in at once. *fie*

Kevy, Recorded Books Inc has a mail away system, but the rent fees depend on the book.

Our library has/had (you never know what we have because of our current management) the downloadable book option. It sucked. Primarily because people couldn't download it on iPods. If one didn't have an MP3 player, you could download it onto your computer and listen via RealPlayer or Windows Media Player.

If the e-book idea would be more popular if there was an inexpensive book-sized reader (are you listening Sony? Your proprietary software and $400 list price helped kill the idea before it even caught on!).

I'd pay for downloads, for sure.

While we're on the topic, here's something related - the Playaway.

It's basically a dedicated mp3 player with one book on it (no down- or uploading). Our local "competitor" has these for borrowing. The crazy huge snag is that they take AA batteries - and they chew through them. They had so many complaints about players dying mid-book that the library is actually replacing the batteries every time they're returned. Ouch, from both an economic and environmental standpoint. However, if the were rechargable like a normal player, they'd be more expensive (but not much, at this point. It was a problem 2 years ago, now it's just stupid).

That's only because they still use redbook audio. Where are all the MP3 audio books?

Oh yeah, you can only get those on bit torrent.