For years I’ve had about a 30 minute drive to and from my job at the library.  This is my time to be alone with my thoughts, to sing along to a music CD or the radio, and to listen to books on CD.  The road I travel is a pretty good one, even in the winter time.  Sometimes traffic is heavier than others, and sometimes drivers behind me don’t appreciate it when I drive the speed limit or a tad over.  While, of course, driving is serious business, one can also do the above mentioned activities with care.

I listen to books on CD for my own enjoyment, but they are also a tool I use to select books for customers on the library’s Home Delivery program.  Is the reader a good one?  Are the language, storyline and situations suitable for the population served by this program?  Or are they too graphic, both in language and scenarios?  Is fiction only a preference, or non-fiction? It’s easier to skip over the written word than it is when listening to a book so I feel listening is valuable.  My job is the “selector” (a few others also select for Home Delivery customers) and with that comes responsibility to give people books and movies that fall into the criteria given when a person is accepted into the program.  Listening doubles the amount of books I can “preview” before sending them out to people.  I think this is a win-win situation!  One reads, one listens, hopefully leading to a better selector of library materials, while enjoying the process.

The library has a large selection of books on CD; add to that all other titles in the MORE Library System and it’s even an even larger number.  Interlibrary Loan is also an option for Home Delivery customers.  If it’s specially requested, we will try to find it.  A good place to look for all kinds of reading Book Page; https://bookpage.com/.  The library offers free copies of this publication.   Look for them at the end of the row near the Circulation desk.  Home Delivery customers receive a copy if they choose.

So I will continue to fill my commute with memorable, or sometimes not so memorable books, to pass the time.