Central Taranaki Rural Women fund new audio books for Stratford Library

Some of the new audio books purchased with the money.

There's more to choose from when it comes to audio books available from Stratford library this month, thanks to a generous donation from a local group.

Visitor information and library services team leader Bridget Roper says the donation from the Rural Women NZ Central Taranaki area is greatly appreciated.

"We have been able to purchase 10 new audio books for the library with the money, meaning a range of new and contemporary titles, both fiction and non-fiction, have been added to the shelves."

Bridget says audio books are popular with a range of users.

"People who are visually impaired like them as it means they can enjoy a book without having to struggle to make out the words on the page. People also like them because they can listen to them on the go."

Audio books are an expensive item, she says, with a total cost of around $100 to purchase them and get them ready to be loaned out.

"In comparison, it costs between $25 and $35 for a fiction print book, around $50 for a non-fiction print book and about $70 for e-digital titles."

E-digital titles - which are borrowed online rather than being a physical CD, are licensed for a set number of loans, she says.

"So that $70 only covers a certain amount of uses. After that we have to pay again if we want to keep it available to our users. A physical audio book however, such as the 10 we have just purchased thanks to the donation from Rural Women, lasts much longer as we own the actual CD and our users are very good at caring for the CDs when they borrow them."

Normally the budget only allows for a couple of new titles to be puchased in any given year when it comes to audio books, says Bridget.

"So we are really grateful to the members of Rural Women NZ Central Taranaki area for this donation, it has made a huge difference to our shelves and will be appreciated by so many people."