Growing up in Green River, I never traveled far for Thanksgiving. My grandparents often played host and lived in Rock Springs; it was a short 25 minute drive. Short, but not without drama. For some reason, the holiday always brought out the mischief in me and my brothers. Maybe it was because we were hungry.
My parents, in an effort to make sure we ate well at grandma’s house, kept things light Thanksgiving morning. We thought we were starving by the time we climbed inside the family car midafternoon with the delicious smelling food my mother and father had been preparing all morning. The ride was torturous. Thanksgiving smells filled the car and little boys’ bellies grumbled in anticipation of the meal we would soon enjoy. My brothers and I would often argue about who would eat the most or who would sit by grandpa. Our voices would get louder and louder as we argued back and forth until my mother would yell, “Stop!” I’m sure my father, who is known for driving at the speed limit or below, pushed the gas pedal a little harder on Thanksgiving Day in an effort to get to my grandparents’ home as soon as possible.
What my parents needed was a distraction; they needed an audio book from the library. Audio books are a great way to make a drive more interesting and an excellent way to keep children entertained. Even for short distances, an audio book can be an enjoyable way to pass the time. Of course, in the ’80s, my parents would have only had access to audio books on cassette and a limited selection of titles that would appeal to children. Today you won’t find any audio books on cassette at the library, but you will find audio books for children, teens and adults available both on CD and digitally.
The Sweetwater County Library in Green River has a large selection of audio books to choose from with more than 2,200 titles for adults, more than 250 titles for children and more than 125 titles for teens. When you are done listening to what is available in Green River, head over to the White Mountain Library in Rock Springs and the Rock Springs Library in downtown Rock Springs to enjoy an additional 4,500 titles for adults, 600 titles for children and 350 titles for teens. Combined there are more than 8,000 titles to enjoy using your library card, which works at every library in our library system.
Titles include popular New York Times best sellers, romances, science fiction novels, non-fiction titles, and my personal favorite, mysteries. There is nothing like listening to a good mystery and wishing the road was just a little longer so you can discover whodunit. I’ve been caught several times lingering in my car after driving home from somewhere just so I can finish listening to a chapter or two.
In addition to the audio books on CD, the library also provides more than 6,000 audio titles digitally through the OneClick Audiobooks collection. All you need to access this service is a library card and access to the library’s website. From http://www.sweetwaterlibraries.com, click on OneClick Audiobooks on the library’s homepage and follow the directions to set up and install the service on your portable listening device. Titles include popular authors, literary classics and titles for teens and children. The advantage of using OneClick Audiobooks is the service is always available even when the library is closed.
Whether you are traveling this week early in the morning or late or night, you can still borrow audio books from the library using the library’s digital audio book service. You can also access the service this Thursday and Friday when the library is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Much has changed since my parents used to take me to my grandparents’ home for Thanksgiving, but the need to keep everyone entertained while traveling has not. Your public library has several options to choose from both on the shelf and digitally. So no matter where the road takes you this week I’d encourage you to check out the library’s audio books selections. You won’t be disappointed.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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