How To: Get Free Audiobooks Legally : Divide By Zero

I’ve gushed before about how I love Audible. I also calculated how much I saved.

But then it occurred to me… have I really saved much? Consider that your public library, University, or city library may well have that audiobook available to you completely free!

I wanted to know how many of my Audible books I could have gotten for free, even if I had used credits to buy them.

In Minneapolis, by checking the Minneapolis Public Library website and NetLibrary.com which you have access to if you have a library card, I found that only the following books weren’t available in either place:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Diamond Age (unless you like phonotapes) by Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Wyrms by Orson Scott Card
Lamb by Christopher Moore

That’s 5 books out of 13 books. Definitely not bad! And then consider all the ones I could potentially get.

The Minneapolis Library has teamed with NetLibrary.com which lets you check out up to 10 audiobooks at a time, with the ability to play on a portable. They last for 21 days before you have to check them in or you can renew them once for another 21 days. That’s more than enough time to get through a book if you listen regularly.

Consider my girlfriend who works 8 hours a day at a computer with no interaction… she borrowed my audiobooks and we even rented some from the library (if you don’t want to rip the CDs, use that old CD player that’s been collecting dust sitting in the basement). She can get through Pillars of the Earth in a week and a couple days since it’s 44 hours. Imagine the amount of books you could “read�? with access to all this free public material!

Does this mean Audible is useless? I don’t think so. I think that next time I will check if my library has the book before buying on Audible and I’ll only use credits from now on to buy books. $15/month is 1 book a month and you save: the book price - $15. It’s still not a bad deal… just be sure to check around before you decide to buy that audiobook.

Comments

You're welcome. By the way, my ipod died at work today, I was so sad. So I'm only 16 hours into Pillars of the Earth now. But I'll still finish it this week hopefully.

Posted by: Cassie
On July 29, 2008 10:07 PM

I used the premium plan for Audible, which gets me 2 books for about 22 bucks. I told myself that I would quit when I didn't use those books (that was in 2005). Still, the library is fine place & I use it often.

Posted by: Karlton
On August 17, 2008 8:32 AM