Being in the car doesn’t mean you have to miss out on good books. It’s actually a great time to listen to books by checking out CDs, Playaways, and/or downloading them to your favorite device.

“Audiobooks are invaluable to me for keeping up on my reading,” says Amy Shipley, assistant executive director of the Garfield County Libraries. “I download an e-audiobook to my phone and play it in the car when I’m driving to and from meetings. I’m entertained, and I add a tiny bit of productivity to my day.”

Your Garfield County Libraries have a wide selection — from fantasy to non-fiction, mystery to adventure, and horror to romance. All are free to borrow with your library card.

“With the popularity of podcasts and other spoken-word media increasing, publishers are getting very creative with the idea of the audiobook as a unique artform and making some serious investments in production quality,” says the libraries’ Executive Director Jesse Henning. “For example, George Saunders’ ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ features a cast of 166 individual narrators — including Ben Stiller, Susan Sarandon and other A-list talent.”

Listening to audiobooks also counts toward Summer Reading participation. Make sure you are signed up so you can be eligible for great prizes including passes to the Iron Mountain Hot Springs!

So, visit your local Garfield County Library or go online to http://www.gcpld.org and find something you like. You can even place holds on audiobooks from locations all over Colorado and have them sent to any of our six locations. Then, sit back and enjoy a book or two on a long road trip with your family, or make your commute during Grand Avenue Bridge project construction a little more enjoyable.