Playaways
Nature seems to be really struggling with a chilly spring this year, but most of us are eager to spend time outdoors anyway. Pulling last year’s debris out of gardens is not my favorite chore, but it does go a little better when I’m listening to a book. If you read my column, you probably already know about my fond relationship with my mp3 player, but I’ve recently found a new love. The Cedar Falls Public Library experimented with Playaways awhile back, and found that people really like them.
A Playaway is like an mp3 player—a little electronic gadget about the size of a Zippo lighter that plays an audio version of a book. You listen to the book by plugging in your earphones and pressing the buttons. The Playaway makes it a little easier for those of us who might struggle with the skills or time required downloading books—one book is already on each device. So you checkout a Playaway (battery included), plug in your earphones (you can buy them at the Library if you don’t have your own), and you’re ready to listen. We recently purchased 100 Playaways. You can find them on our catalog with the keyword “playaway,” or come in and browse the collection. I can pull weeds all summer (like that’s going to happen) and never run out of listening material.
The Playaways were purchased with a generous gift given to the library from the estate of Ken and Maureen Lauterbach. The new library levy has done marvelous things to our materials budget, but gifts in memory and in honor of others really enhance the collection. For example, a group of women who refer to themselves as “Old Neighbors on Panther Lane” regularly donate money for library materials that would otherwise buy birthday gifts for each other. The result—great books about the Midwest, women and art are in our collection. Donations in memory of Karen Kelso-McMurrin have added great selections to the youth department. I hesitate to even start naming names, as there are so many, and they’ve all added so much. Library materials are a great way to give to the community.
A Playaway is like an mp3 player—a little electronic gadget about the size of a Zippo lighter that plays an audio version of a book. You listen to the book by plugging in your earphones and pressing the buttons. The Playaway makes it a little easier for those of us who might struggle with the skills or time required downloading books—one book is already on each device. So you checkout a Playaway (battery included), plug in your earphones (you can buy them at the Library if you don’t have your own), and you’re ready to listen. We recently purchased 100 Playaways. You can find them on our catalog with the keyword “playaway,” or come in and browse the collection. I can pull weeds all summer (like that’s going to happen) and never run out of listening material.
The Playaways were purchased with a generous gift given to the library from the estate of Ken and Maureen Lauterbach. The new library levy has done marvelous things to our materials budget, but gifts in memory and in honor of others really enhance the collection. For example, a group of women who refer to themselves as “Old Neighbors on Panther Lane” regularly donate money for library materials that would otherwise buy birthday gifts for each other. The result—great books about the Midwest, women and art are in our collection. Donations in memory of Karen Kelso-McMurrin have added great selections to the youth department. I hesitate to even start naming names, as there are so many, and they’ve all added so much. Library materials are a great way to give to the community.
posted by SGroskurth at 1:52 PM
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