This week we had a chance to speak with a user of OverDrive who has been listening to audiobooks from the library to help pass the time during his physical therapy. Using a simple Bluetooth connection and water safe headphones, he was able to break up the monotony of his workouts by “reading” while he swims. His story is another example of how, with OverDrive, you can take the library with you wherever you go:

imgresRecently, my knees became so bad that I had to give up biking last fall.The doctor recommended I try swimming which has been incredible and my knees feel the best they have in 20 years. It has allowed me to continue to be an avid golfer. Unfortunately, after a while I was ready to give up swimming due to the boredom when I was just listening to music. This is when my good friend suggested I try listening to audiobooks instead which has made the time fly by.

I use the Underwater Audio Waterproof iPod Shuffle by Underwater Audio and the headphones I use are Swimbuds SPORT Waterproof. I always carry extra earbud ends with me to the pool since they do come off and get lost now and then. Since the IPod shuffle is slightly older technology I only load one book at a time and set it on non-shuffle mode. It returns to the portion of the book I was listening to even when I need to recharge it.

I swim for an hour at a time and use a snorkel and mask to make it easier on my neck. The iPod has a built in clip that attaches to my mask strap and the headphones are made at perfect (shorter) length for this use but do come with an extension if you need it. Using the OverDrive app to listen to library audiobooks has been great. I end up working out even longer because I want to hear what happens next!