Audiovisual
Department

• Books on tape
• Compact discs
• DVDs
• Digital Audio Books (Playaways)
• Downloadable Audiobooks (Nassau Digital Doorway)
• Foreign-language instructional tapes

In 2007 the Library expanded its DVD collection to include more self-improvement and instructional DVDs and foreign films.

A new series of audiobooks for the commuter and business traveler has been added called “Your Coach in a Box,” which feature renowned authors on management and personal-growth topics.

The Library has increased its audio collection of foreign-language learning materials to include 15 foreign languages as well as English as a second language. Among the audio-language courses available to Library patrons for personal study are Arabic, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Croatian, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Modern Greek, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish.This month, the Library added the Fodor’s Language for Travelers series to its audiobook collection.

Travelers can prepare for upcoming trips with Fodor’s as well as with the new Starting Out In series. Starting Out is an audio-only beginner’s series in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, which is also MP3 compatible. For more information about the audio foreign-language collection, contact Ann M. Garnett, reference librarian, at 742-8405.

Check Out the Year’s Best Audiobooks

Broadway has the Tonys and Hollywood has the Oscars. On May 29, publishers, producers, and narrators in the audio-publishing world gathered at a formal gala at the New York Historical Society for the 14^th annual Audies, honoring the year’s best spoken-word entertainment. Audies were awarded to the most engaging and innovative audiobooks of the 2008 publishing year. Garden City residents are invited to come to the Library to check out the winning audiobook titles of the year.

Newberry Medal winner The Graveyard Book, written and read by Neil Gaiman, won the coveted Audie for the Best Audiobook of the Year. Already an acclaimed young-adult novel, the audiobook has been praised for its “original musical composition” as well as the author’s “haunting performance.” The Fiction category had a tie with Audies awarded to both The Duma Key, by Stephen King and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows. Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan, also a fiction title, won the Audie for Best Multi-Voiced Performance.

Other Audie winners included Child 44, by Tom Robb Smith, Thriller & Suspense; The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch, Biography & Memoir; and Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, as read by Simon Vance, Classic. Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas L. Friedman, won the Non-Fiction Audie, Politics-Judges’ Award. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris, won the Audie for the Best Narration by an Author.

The Library owns all of these titles for listeners to experience the best in spoken-word entertainment.

Playaways

The Library has added Playaways, the first self-playing digital audio books to the audio collection. Each palm-sized Playaway unit is permanently loaded with an audio book, which makes listening as simple as pressing the play button. Listeners can enjoy books in every genre with only a set of earphones while they walk, exercise, or travel to work. The Library’s Playaway collection is housed on the lower level in the Library’s new Audio-Visual Center.

Half the size of a deck of cards, a Playaway fits in your pocket like an iPod®, making it the easiest way to listen to a book on the go – with no tapes or CDs. Using clearly marked buttons, the Playaway gives listeners the ability to move back and forth within or between chapters and alter the speed of a narrator’s voice. It even has an automatic bookmark feature. In addition, the Playaway has a universal headphone jack that works with almost any type of headphone accessory.

The Library has over 100 bestselling current and classic titles on Playaways, including many selections for young adults. Additional titles are available through the Library’s interloan system. Since the Playaway’s format is friendly for listeners of all ages, every patron can enjoy this innovative digital format. For more information about Playaways, contact Reference Librarian Laura Flanagan at 742-8405. Young adult patrons can contact Marge Kelly, young adult librarian.