What is a Playaway?
We bought a house on a lake this past January and we’ve been doing a lot of driving back and forth each week cleaning and fixing up our new house. This new lake house will be a place that we plan to use on the weekends and since my husband plans to retire next year, a place that we can escape to more, when he retires. I could go on about this lake house which I will in future posts (boy, do I have the stories!) but today, I thought I would talk about Playaways. If you don’t know what a Playaway is, I hope thatt by the time you finish reading my post, you will. Playaways are amazing!
I get my Playaways from my library. I check them out, just like a library book. They sound and work just like an audio book actually except they are more versatile and easier to use, I think. The issue I have with Playaways though, is that the library doesn’t carry a wide assortment of books on Playaways. They are getting better about buying them for the library which is great so we shall see. I do notice that more patrons of the library are checking them out so that is a plus. The more that people check them out, the more the library will buy. I guess I could buy Playaways on the web, but they’re expensive. So what is a Playaway?
A Playaway is an audiobook. Instead of having CD’s to listen to or having to have access to the internet/Wi-Fi to listen to a book, you’re supplied with a small rectangluar device that has your book on it. You’ll need to have some headphones and one (1) AAA battery to work the device but once you have that, you’re ready.
The Playaway has volume controls, speed controls, a pause button and off and on controls. There’s an equalizer button that helps with the sound quality. The device tells you how far you are in the chapter and it remembers your spot in the book when you shut off the device.
I’ve been listening to Playaways on our drives betwee the two houses but I’ve also been listening to them while I’ve been working around the house. I like to stick the device in my pocket and go about my day. I’ve caught myself talking to myself as I listen to the book, either responding to what is happening in the book or stopping and letting off a few comments about what is transpiring in the book. I currently have paint on my headphones as I was painting listening to my latest Playaway and the cord kept getting in the way BUT there was no way I was going to stop listening. I’ve also learned that I need to keep a few spare batteries in my glovebox.
Here's a couple links if you want to learn more or if you want to pass some information onto your library. Our library also have the the Wonderbooks and Launchpads. I read my first Wonderbooks and I was amazed!
https://www.akronlibrary.org/images/pdfs/Playaway-instructions.pdf
