“I just read the best book last week,” a good friend of mine with whom I often trade book recommendations told me.
“Oh yeah? What was it? Tell me about it,” I encouraged, knowing that her taste frequently coincided with mine so that our reading lists in a given year overlapped more than they deviated.
She went on to tell me about reading Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach, how subtle and nuanced it was, how McEwan had managed to cram so much brilliance into such a short volume yet again. “I don’t think I could have appreciated it nearly as much without hearing it, though. You really have to hear the pauses and the intonations of the voices to get the full weight of the work.”
Without hearing it? I wondered. “You listened to the audio book?” I said.
“Yeah, it was great. I just returned it to the library; it’s probably still there if you want to pick it up.”
I didn’t say it aloud to my friend, but I internally scoffed at the idea of picking up an audio book. An audio book? An audio book? Why, the very idea was practically a slap in the face to the good old-fashioned, legitimate reading that I loved. “Listening” wasn’t the same as “reading,” I knew. After all, if they were the same activity, they wouldn’t be called different things. Reading was a time-honored and ancient tradition. I knew. I’d been reading since I was three; I loved it so much I became an English major and began working in a library, spending great portions of my life surrounded by books.
I relished the feel of a book in my hands, the ability to curl up anywhere indoors or out and lose myself in the printed word. I loved the smell of books, the texture of worn covers and creased spines, the things people have slipped into them and forgotten, the ability to feel like you can own the words and keep them forever on your bookshelf.
How, I wondered, could my good friend with such great taste fall victim to that inferior substitute, the audio book?
Flash forward a year and a half. One of my primary loves in my present job is discussing books with other avid readers. It has an official industry name – Reader’s Advisory – that makes my pre-existing hobby something I can now get paid for while on the job. (Lucky me!) As part of continuing education training, I got to attend a half-day conference on reader’s advisory. One of the feature speakers that day spoke about “listener’s advisory,” or the process of helping audio book listeners find other audio books they may enjoy.
That day, I learned that there are multiple kinds of audio books: ones read by a single narrator, by two narrators, or by a full cast. I learned that some individuals listen to audio books just for the narrator. In other words, they would come to the library and say, “I’ll take anything you have that is read by Davinia Porter.” I learned that audio books can have music or none, interludes between chapters or none, and many other small defining factors that can affect listener tastes.
Another thing our presenter mentioned was that audio books are often a good substitute for students who are struggling trying to get through the print versions of classics for class. My immediate reaction was one of indignation to this suggestion: That’s like suggesting Cliff’s Notes or watching the movie version instead of reading the book! But then I started thinking about it. Maybe it wasn’t quite like that. After all, they were still getting the full text of the book; they would just listen instead of reading.
Then I thought guiltily of the classic I had tried to read and couldn’t make it through: Beloved by Toni Morrison. When I attempted to sit down with the book, I couldn’t get the words to make sense. The rhythms didn’t roll smoothly in my brain. I couldn’t picture what Morrison was trying to describe. It had been a frustrating activity for me, an individual for whom words normally disappeared off the page, making a book as good as a movie that played only in my own head. That day as I headed home from the conference, I decided to try it out. I would check out Beloved on audio book, and if I could make it through, I would give audio books a more fair shot.
By the next week, I was listening to Toni Morrison’s honeyed voice, reading her own prose. I could not believe the difference between trying to figure out the inflections and intonations in my own head from simple black and white marks on the page to listening to the author herself color the text with all of the meaning that the human voice can impart. That first audio book felt like it took forever to get through, but listening on my way to work and on the way home, I finally got through it. I was elated. Beloved, finally! It had been a source of shame to me that I’d never been able to get into this acclaimed author that so many loved, and I finally had access to her brilliance…it just took hearing it instead of reading it from the page.
Over the last six months or so since that conference, I have become an audio book convert. I did a complete 180 and now listen to more books than I read because I spend so much time in the car. I’ve discovered that audio books allow me to enjoy non-fiction books much better and far more often than I would be able to reading their print counterparts, as I tend to slog through non-fiction because it’s “good for me” rather than because I enjoy it.
Now, I’ve come up with a new project for this year: all those classics I never made it through, I’m going to try to listen to on audio book. Classics are the books that seem to catch my attention most without distracting me too much to drive, and if I can spend my time in the car increasing my knowledge and enjoying myself, then it’s time well-spent. I’m now happy to say that audio books have rightly put me in my place.
If you too are interested in beginning or continuing a love affair with audio books, you can browse our collection in any of our branches or through our online catalog. Look for the call numbers that say CDB for all your audio book needs. As always, if you have questions, stop by the reference desk or call us at (301) 739-3250 ext. 123 or 136.
-Shannon
Reference Librarian
WCFL Central Branch
It’s official — the architects have come up with a design for the new downtown library, and we think it’s beautiful! It will double the floor space we have now, give much better access for people with disabilities, and make the library much more user-friendly for everyone. The plans were announced at a celebration on Nov. 18 — and are available here. (That is a large PDF file – almost 3 Mb.) Drawings of the new building are also on display on our mezzanine, outside the Western Maryland Room.
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If you love to read, especially during the Summer, we’ve got a club for you! Not only that, you can enter a drawing for great prizes, such as Orioles tickets, autographed books, and other great things. Just register for the club at your library, and then complete a short review of each book you read. Everyone who submits a review is automatically entered in that week’s prize drawing. A selection of the reviews will also be published here on our blog – so stay tuned! Full details about the club are in this month’s 
Are you looking for a job, and need help with your resume? The library is offering a free workshop on the evening of June 25th, presented by Norine Dagliano, a Nationally Certified Résumé Writer. She’s a good teacher and she really knows her stuff — I can say that because she did a training session for the librarians yesterday on how we can help our customers. Which means even if you can’t make the workshop, we can help you another time. Stop by the information desk at the Central branch, or give us a call at 301-739-3250, ext. 123. Details about the workshop are on our 
