French in 1 gigabyte

Alicia Robinson

Books aren’t dead, even if in some cases they’ve shrunk to the size

of a five-stick pack of gum.

But you won’t need a microscope to read these tiny books -- just

headphones or a place to plug in. The Newport Beach library system is

about to welcome literature into the 21st century when it begins

lending out iPod Shuffle digital audio players loaded with popular

books.

Although iPods are wildly popular as music players, Newport’s

library is one of only a few in the country using them for audio

books, said Genesis Hansen, a reference librarian for the Newport

Beach Public Library.

In fact, the only other library she knows of that’s offering books

on iPod is in Long Island. Hansen read an article about it and loved

the idea.

“I just thought it was really intriguing,” she said. The Long

Island library’s “program has been really, really successful, so

we’re really excited about this.”

The library’s 15 iPods will be available to check out beginning

July 6. Each one will hold the complete audio version of a book. Most

will be popular fiction titles such as “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the

Galaxy,” but the library also will order business, beginning Spanish

and French, and other nonfiction books.

The iPods play for about 12 hours before they need to be

recharged, and they’ll come with transmitters that allow them to be

played through a car stereo. The tiny audio players can be charged by

plugging them into a computer or car’s cigarette lighter.

To protect the library’s investment -- $150 per 1-gigabyte iPod --

Hansen said patrons will have to cover replacement costs if the units

are lost or stolen. “You can’t run over them with your car,” she

said, but they can withstand a little rough treatment. For sanitary

reasons, patrons will have to provide their own earphones.

For young people, figuring out how to use the players will be no

problem.

“I have a pink mini iPod, and I use it all the time -- when I go

up in the car to Mammoth and when I’m in class and I’m not listening

to the teacher,” said 14-year-old Katrina Gaar, a member of the

Newport library’s Young Adult Advisory Council.

She and other members of the council said they read books the

old-fashioned way, but they’d be more likely to try the audio format

with an iPod.

“I thought that would be a great way to get people to listen to

them,” said Ashley-Rose Cameron, 15. “No one really listens to audio

books anymore.”

Maybe Cameron and her friends don’t use audio books, but library

statistics show plenty of other Newporters do. As of the end of May,

the Newport library system this year has circulated 15,185 books on

compact disk -- an increase of 55% compared with the same months of

2004, Hansen said.

Although still popular, books on cassette are going the way of the

eight-track tape. This year the library loaned out 23,612 books on

tape, about a 10% decrease from the previous year, and Hansen expects

the circulation of CD books to surpass cassette books soon.

Once word gets out about the new books on iPod, Hansen expects a

waiting list for them, and other libraries that follow the trend also

will likely see high demand.

“I feel that probably libraries in the next two or three years are

going to be jumping on that bandwagon,” said Jana Prock, chairwoman

of the audio committee for the Public Library Assn.

“Patrons are saying, ‘We want [digital music file] downloads; we

want iPods,’” Prock said. “Librarians are trying to find ways to pay

for it, of course, and that’s probably what’s keeping us from

instantly putting it out there, because it is expensive whenever you

change a format.”

The cost wasn’t a problem for the Newport library. The $4,000 for

iPods and related equipment came from the Newport Beach Public

Library Foundation, which raises money privately and gives thousands

of dollars for library materials every year.

But the technology could create problems down the road. Hansen

said she’s not sure how difficult it would be to erase or copy the

audio books from the iPods, though they can be reloaded if necessary.

Also, the formats of various digital players and files aren’t all

interchangeable. Hansen went with the Apple iPod instead of another

brand of digital player because they’re most popular in this area,

she said.

“The other concern, though, is that the technology changes very

quickly,” Hansen said. “Before we invest a fortune in a bunch of

iPods, we want to see how long the technology is going to be

around.... I think it’ll be hugely popular in the short term. The

long-term investment is kind of up in the air.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson

@latimes.com.