Audiobooks have long been a favorite of book lovers, and access has become even easier for those who have an active library card.

Libraries in the East Central Georgia Regional Library System offer digital books that can be downloaded to home computers and transferred to portable music players.

"You're able to download books from any location that has Internet access," said Sherryl James, the Columbia County Library reference manager.

The Columbia County main library and branches offer the service through NetLibrary, while patrons can access eAudiobooks with Georgia Download Destination through the Richmond County libraries.

Ms. James said Columbia County has offered the service for a year, and 1,528 patrons have taken advantage of the 2,500 eAudiobooks in the collection. Richmond County libraries started offering the service in May, said Dottie Demarest, the reference librarian at the regional library system's headquarters.

She did not know how many people have used the service or how many volumes are available.

Both digital collections feature fiction, nonfiction, children's literature, classics and foreign language instruction books.

"Some of the books have multiple copies. Six or eight people can be downloading it at the same time," Ms. Demarest said.

Ms. James said an unlimited number of users can access the NetLibrary collection simultaneously. Georgia Download Destination also includes bestsellers, but NetLibrary does not. Neither includes music or movies, but Ms. Demarest said the Richmond County libraries likely will add them. Ms. James said Columbia County libraries plan to add bestsellers first.

Ms. James also said students who have to read a classic for school can download a digital version if all of the volumes have been checked out. Digital books also eliminate fees for overdue library books.

"At the end of the check-out period, it simply expires on your computer. But not on your MP3 player," Ms. Demarest said.

Ms. James said NetLibrary volumes can be checked out for three weeks and renewed for an additional three weeks.

"A lot of people are leery of it. They don't really understand it. They think it's going to be difficult, and it makes people anxious," Ms. Demarest said. "But once people get used to it, it's easy to do. You should try it."

For more information about Georgia Download Destination, log on to www.ecgrl.public.lib.ga.us.

For more information about NetLibrary, go to www.netlibrary.com.

Reach Betsy Gilliland at (706) 868-1222, ext. 113, or betsy.gilliland@augustachronicle.com.