On March 1st, Kalamazoo Public Library became the first library in the United States to loan digital audio books (audio ebooks) to its patrons. Since then, several other libraries across the country, including three in the Rochester, NY region, have contracted with Audible.com to do the same. Exactly what are audio ebooks and how does an agreement with Audible.com work? 

Audio ebooks are the digital equivalent of a traditional book on tape. The content is delivered electronically in a MP3 format and played either on a desktop computer or on one of the several dozen portable MP3 players currently on the market. At present, Audible.com is the largest distributor of audio ebooks with over 24,000 hours of audio. Their collection include audiobooks (both abridged and 1500 unabridged), lectures, public radio programs, newspapers, such as the New York Times, and magazines, including Scientific American. Audible's collection also includes a great deal of material that cannot be found in the book on tape format. For instance, for $1.95, you can purchase John F. Kennedy's 20-minute inaugural address or Archbishop Desmond Tutu's 1999 National Press Club address for $2.95. Moreover, Audible is creating some of its own content, including a fortnightly Robin WIlliams comedy series. 

Audible's content costs between 35-50% less than the cassettes and have no replacement costs as there are no cassettes to be lost or damaged. The Audible store is set up in a Amazon.com-like fashion and includes information such as narrator and running time. The entire collection is searchable and browseable and several best seller lists, such as NY Time, Publishers Weekly and Oprah's Picks, are regularly updated. 

So how does a library circulate an audio ebook? First, the library would need to enter into an agreement with Audible.com. To do so, contact Matt Fine, Audible's Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales. The agreement requires the library to commit to a minimum monthly content purchase for 12 months. A special account with Audible is then created so that purchases can be billed on a regular schedule, rather than requiring a credit card at time of purchase. The library must also select some portable MP3 devices and determine how many devices will circulate. Presently there are 11 "Audible-Ready" MP3 devices from which to chose (see listing). If the devices are either leased or bought from Audible (at prices significantly lower than list price), Audible will service or replace the devices as necessary. The devices also come with a cassette adapter that allows the content to be played on a car stereo. At the end of the 12-month agreement with Audible, if the library opts to not renew the agreement, the library retains all content purchased to date; therefore, the audio collection is not lost when the agreement comes to an end. 

Unlike the MP3 files available from Napster, Audible's content is encrypted for copyright protection. However, the encyrption does not directly tie the content to a specific device, as with Gemstar's ebooks, but rather to a suite of devices. Therefore, the audio content can be loaded onto any one of the library's authorized devices, and it is up to the library to comply with the requirement that it not simultaneously circulate more copies of the content than it owns. 
 
 

Here is an example of the possible workflow for a library 

• At the beginning of the month, a collection development librarian selects content equal to the Audible agreement's minimum monthly content purchase amount
• Once the content is selected and purchased, it is downloaded over the Internet onto a workstation within the library that is loaded with Audible's free audio management software, AudibleManager
• The new titles are added to the OPAC, where they are discovered by patrons
• A patron selects one or more available titles (the Diamond Rio 500, for example, can hold up to 32 hours of voice content) and completes a request form
• A library staff member loads the requested titles onto an available device
• The patron leaves the library with an MP3 device loaded with the content, a cassette adapter and headphones

• Who will pay for the replacement of a lost or stolen device?
• Most of the devices run on AA batteries-- should a spare battery be provided by the library?
• Where will the needed staff time to load content on to the devices be found? Is this an easy enough task for patrons to do themselves?
• Circulating headphones brings up hygiene issues