Audiobooks, podcasts, and other spoken-word recordings   Tags: audiobooks, books, books, digital, on, tape  

'Audiobooks Collection' via Auraria Library.

This collection is currently experiencing access problems.  Working to resolve 9/1/11.  The Auraria Library currently owns and supplies access to 144 downloadable audiobooks.  To see the genres of audioboooks (biography, history, fiction, etc.)  click on 'audiobooks' along the top to bring up the Browse by Category page.

Colorado Public Libraries: Digital Audiobooks.

Find thousands of audiobooks available for free download at many Colorado public libraries. Public libraries also continue to offer collections of pre-recorded CD audio books.  Most libraries offering downloadable audiobooks now offer them in formats compatible with all audio listening devices.  Some libraries with digital audiobook downloads include:

• Arapahoe Library District
• Jefferson County Public Libraries
• Denver Public Libraries

Books on CD at the Auraria Library.  The Auraria Library has few recorded books on CD. (Check public libraries for larger collections). To browse the Auraria Library's holdings of books on CD, go to the advanced Skyline search page. Type in the word SOUND as a keyword and choose Material Type SPOKEN CD/DVD.

Gutenberg: The Audiobooks Project.  Both human and computer readings from:

• LiteralSystems. A group of Santa Fe local actors and technicians "enjoying a little side work."  They've "made these free audio books for your personal enjoyment."
• Librivox. Provides free audiobooks from the public domain performed by volunteer readers.

BooksShouldbeFree.com.  Offers no-cost audio versions of titles that have entered into the public domain.

NewFiction.com. Features newly-created stories called iSoaps performed by actors.

Internet Archive. Collection ranges from alternative news programming, to Grateful Dead concerts, to Old Time Radio shows, to book and poetry recordings, to original music contributed by users. Includes non-English audio options. 

The Spoken Alexandria Project from the Telltale Weekly. The Spoken Alexandria Project is creating a free Creative Commons library of spoken word recordings, consisting of classics in the public domain and modern works (with permission). AAC, Ogg Vorbis, and MP3 audiobooks available for free download and redistribution. Learn more on the Mission page.

Other Resources. Note that most of the subscription/purchase audiobook services listed in the next section, 'AudioBooks You Can Buy,' also offer some free content. Example: Free area on the Learn Out Loud site.

See also: Podcasts.

Photo Credit: acastrillejo.

These sites represent both audiobook producers and retail sellers of CD and digital audiobooks.

• Audible.com
• AudioFile: the magazine for people who love audiobooks.
• eMusic: Audiobooks
• iTunes Audiobooks
• Amazon.com
• AudioBookStandDL.com
• AudioBookStore
• AudioBooks Online
• AudioEditions.com
• Blackstone Audio
• BookAudioJunction
• Books in Motion
• Books on Tape
• FonoLibro - Spanish language.
• Full-Cast Audio - children's books.
• HarperAudio
• Hay House - self-help and more.
• HighBridge
• Learn Out Loud
• Listen and Live Audio
• Live Oak Media - children's books.
• Naxos Audiobooks
• Recorded Books
• Simply AudioBooks
• Tantor
• Spoken Network
• Telltale Weekly
• Taped Editions
• Writer's AudioShop
• Thought Audio - Classic literature, history, and philosophy.
• Other: Downloadable and CD Audiobooks are also available through many online booksellers and bricks and mortar booksellers that maintain websites.