Whether it’s for convenience or for independence, Cal State Long Beach students can now listen to books on the go.
Through donations, CSULB is now offering Playaways, a small MP3 device that is preloaded with an entire book. The library originally provided cassettes beginning in 2002, then later switched to CDs. It started providing Playaways to students this past summer.
There are currently 275 titles available on Playaway, and each month more are being added to the collection. “The Canterbury Tales,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Angels and Demons” and “Marley and Me” are available, among other classic novels. The collection also includes other genres, such as history, business and science.
“The library saw an opportunity to lessen the tedium for the many students, staff and faculty who face long commutes to campus and to enable students to read classic books related to their courses,” said administrative librarian Henry DuBois. “Audio books also enable libraries to serve the needs of visually impaired customers more effectively.”
The library encourages students to use the audio books as a supplement to their assigned texts.
“It’s a way of enhancing someone’s classroom work,” said Cathrine Lewis-Ida, director of outreach for the children’s collection of the library. “Maybe we don’t have a history book that they’re using for class, but we have a biography book that helps them understand it.”
Christina Dabney, a visually impaired CSULB senior journalism and communication studies major, said she plans on using the audio books as a supplement to the service she already uses, which translates her textbooks to audio. Books read aloud on tape help her be self-reliant, enabling her to get the information without needing someone else to read to her, she said.
The convenience of Playaway books on campus will also enhance Dabney’s educational experience by helping her to be more efficient, she added.
“If I know the library has a book right there on campus, it’s an immediate thing. Then I don’t have to worry about ordering it and when it’s going to get there,” she said.
Commuter students can also listen to the Playaway through their car’s sound system by using a simple adapter device. Some newer cars come with an auxiliary jack, while older cars can usually play the content through a cassette adapter. Roman Kochan, dean and director of the University Library, said on the CSULB Web site that this will “make their time on the highway productive and enriching.”
Some students, however, would rather stick to basic radio for their long distance commutes to campus.
Cesar Arreola, a sociology student, drives to campus from Los Angeles and said the audio books aren’t of interest to him.
“I listen to the radio,” he said. “I wouldn’t really pay attention to the audio books because of traffic on the road.”
Krista Hartford, a senior journalism major, also said she would “start to tune it out” if she were to listen to audio books.
Vernandina Rodriguez, a senior computer engineering major, said the books are a good idea.
“There are so many different styles of learning and some people may be better at listening than reading,” she said. “It offers more opportunities for different styles of reading.”
Playaway audio books can be checked out like regular books using a CSULB ID card. They are available in the lower-level media section of the library.
Brianne Schaer contributed to this article.