Friends of the Library to donate $20,000 for CD audio books

GAINESVILLE--The Friends of the Library plans to donate $20,000 to the Alachua County Library District for the purchase of compact disc audio books.

This donation will allow the District to purchase about 260 new CD audio books, which cost an average of $70-$80 each.

Currently, the Library District has about 6,500 adult books on CD in its collection. The new CD audio books should be available to Library patrons in the next couple of months.

"Once again, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our local Friends of the Library," said Library District Director Sol Hirsch. "This donation will help us satisfy our community's growing demand for audio books and keep our patrons coming back to the Library."

Audio books are a high-demand item, with demand far exceeding the Library's supply, according to Jeanne Williams, ACLD's Technical Services Division Director. "At any time, a little more than half of our collection of adult books on CD is checked out, and many circulate more than 100 times each during their time in the collection," she said.

Audio books on CD are becoming more and more popular. Over the last few years, the demand for adult audio books on CD increased by about 25%. To meet the new demand, the District increased its budget for audio books (including both books on CD and cassette) by $20,000, with the majority going to books on CD.

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