Downloadable Audio Books

The library's subscription to netLibrary is expiring June 30 and will not be renewed. Please check back here for more information.

Public Library of Brookline users can download more than 1200 eAudioBooks from Recorded Books, Inc., directly to their home computers. They will be able to play them directly on their Windows 2000/XP home computers using Windows Media Player, or transfer them to a WMA/DRM compatible MP3 player. Sadly, these files will not play on Apple Computers or IPods because of an incompatible licensing system.

IMPORTANT: Always check the list of Tested Players, maintained by NetLibrary/RecordedBooks, before buying a player for use with these audio files. Read the notes carefully. Most players are designed to play shorter music files and even the manufacturers will not be of much help resolving issues. Do not rely on a salesperson in a store for advice; they are probably not familiar with the particular problems that these long files present!

What is included:

  • Unabridged popular novels, including titles by authors like John Sandford, Stephen King, etc.
  • The complete series of Pimsleur language instruction, including ESL.
  • Nonfiction, business, and self-help titles.
  • Children's and Young Adult titles.
  • Classics.
  • Approximately 50 titles, from Recorded Books backfile as well as new publications, will be added each month.

How to sign up from your home computer:

  1. If you are a Brookline resident, go to http://www.mln.lib.ma.us/electronic/brk1.htm.
  2. Enter your library card number and click Login button.
  3. You will see a list of the online services that are available to Brookline residents.
  4. Follow the link "Register for Recorded Books" to sign up for your free NetLibrary account.
  5. Once registered, you will be able to go directly to http://www.netlibrary.com and login to download eBooks and eAudioBooks.
  6. If your Login attempt in Step 2 above is unsuccessful, you probably do not live in Brookline. You will have to come into the library to sign up for an account, after which you will be able to use it from home. If you do live in Brookline and your Login is unsuccessful, please call us at (617) 730-2368 to correct your borrower account information. It is possible that we will require proof of address before we can make corrections.
  7. If you have a personal firewall product such as Norton Personal Firewall or Zone Alarm Pro, which blocks "referrer URLs", you may have to add www.netlibrary.com to the Trusted Sites list. See http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nip.nsf/pfdocs/2002110811290836 for instructions on doing this for Norton Personal Firewall. You may also find this page: http://mblc.state.ma.us/books/magazine/norton.php helpful for explaining and troubleshooting the problem. This problem will only prevent you from signing up for an account from home. Once you have an account (which you can get by coming into the Library and signing up on one of our computers), you will be able to log in to NetLibrary without any problems.

How To Download from the Site to a Personal Computer

  1. Go to http://www.netlibrary.com/RecordedBooks/
  2. Login (upper right hand corner) using username and password
  3. Use basic or advanced search to find title to download, or follow "Browse Available eAudiobooks" link to browse categories such as Mysteries.
  4. Click on "Download this Audiobook"
  5. Click on "Checkout and Download CD Quality"
  6. Once transfer begins, save file to an appropriate folder on personal computer
  7. After transfer is complete, open file to listen on personal computer in Windows Media Player 10 or 11. When the prompt appears to login to NetLibrary, enter your username and password - this is vital to download the WMA license and must be done before transferring the file to a portable player.
  8. These files are large. You will only want to do this if you have a high speed/broadband connection to the Internet. If you have a dial-up connection, you can download the smaller "Radio Quality" file for listening on your PC, but those files cannot be transferred to a portable device.

To Transfer to Portable Device

  1. Device must be WMA-DRM compatible
  2. Plug player into USB port
  3. You may find it easier to transfer the file using the software that came with your player, or you can use the Sync List/Synchronize function in Windows Media Player 9 or 10.
  4. Locate the file on your personal computer
  5. Right click on file and select "Add to Sync List"
  6. Open Windows Media Player - select "File"/"CDs and Devices"/"Synchronize"
  7. Choose title under sync list in left window
  8. Choose player in right window
  9. Click on "Start Sync"
  10. Once transfer is complete, remove player from USB port

To Play In Your Car

You will need an FM transmitter, such as the Belkin TunecastT II, to listen to your MP3 player through your car stereo. These devices generally cost $20-$40. Performance varies depending on location, however. Your car stereo system may also accept direct input from a portable device, which should work more reliably if that is an option.

To Renew an Audiobook

This is only necessary if you are listening on your PC. If you have transferred the file to a portable device, you can listen to it for as long as you like.

  1. Go to www.netlibrary.com
  2. Login to your account
  3. Click on "My Checked Out Items" in top right corner
  4. Select the title that you wish to renew by clicking on "Download Audiobook"
  5. Select "Renew Your Checkout for 21 Days"

To Delete an Audiobook

  1. When you are finished with an eAudioBook, you will want to delete the file from your computer to free up space. The file will be unuseable after 3 (or 6 weeks, with a renewal) anyway, because the license will have expired.
  2. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer
  3. Find the file(s) and highlight
  4. Press the Delete key and confirm.

Please note: NetLibrary eAudiobooks cannot be played on Macs or downloaded to iPods. Apple products do not support the necessary licenses or the required Digital Rights Management protection at this time.