My Family Discovers Audiobooks!

September 07, 2012

Hello again from DW. All of you know I am an advocate of the use of the audiobooks in the MCPL System. I have, however, not been able to convince certain members of my immediate family of their value. That is until recently.

This fall my son was forced to drive back to his college in Tennessee by himself. It is a twelve hour drive with no one to talk to and little to occupy your mind, but thoughts of how long you have been on the road and how long you still have to drive.

He made the decision to try downloading an audiobook from the Library to his electronic device and see if that would make the drive go better. He chose the book Courageous by Randy C. Alcorn. The book just happened to be the exact length to take him from door to door. When he arrived at school, he was shocked how easy the drive had been and how much he had enjoyed the experience. He is now a convert and is looking forward to finding a book for the drive home for fall break.

The following week, my husband was preparing to make the same drive to take furniture to the dorm. Because of family issues, he would have to take the drive alone as well. He had a stack of music CDs, but was still dreading the long drive alone. At the last minute, he was loaned an audiobook by a co-worker. The historical account of a group of soldiers during World War II captured his attention, and when he returned home, he was also a believer in the use of audiobooks on long drives to help time pass.

Both were excited about having the chance to "read" books they would otherwise not have had the time to experience in their printed form. They commented on the feeling of satisfaction that came from using their time in the car to "catch up" on books they have been meaning to read. I can now say with a degree of confidence that from now on my family will be listening to even more audiobooks as we travel. And those books will be coming from our collection of fine fiction and nonfiction books made available free of charge to all card holders.

Debbie W.
Lone Jack Branch