Resident urges library to add screen‑free audiobooks; staff outlines options and costs

A resident asked the Davis County Library Board on Oct. 10 to expand the library’s offerings of screen‑free audiobooks for children and seniors, and staff outlined several device options and price, durability and logistics concerns.

Jacqueline Pitt told the board she would “personally love to ask the library to spend funds on a different form of audiobook,” and described Playaways — single‑purpose MP3 devices that patrons plug headphones into and control with simple play/rewind buttons. “It’s pretty indestructible,” she said, arguing Playaways avoid exposing children to phones and are more durable than CD players.

Josh Johnson, the library director, said staff incorporated public input into a recent survey and received about 5,300 responses. He said downloadable audiobooks ranked highest in patron preference but that a measurable number of respondents indicated interest in non‑screen options. Johnson noted Murray City Library changed its policy so nonresidents must pay for a Murray card, which complicates reciprocal borrowing of devices from that system.

Staff described four screen‑free approaches they researched: Playaway, Yoto, Tonie and Vox/WonderBook formats. Collection development staff said Playaways are the most straightforward for libraries to manage for chapter books, while Yoto and Tonie typically require a separate player purchase (or the library to circulate players), and Vox/WonderBook devices are more expensive in some read‑along formats.

Board members raised maintenance and theft concerns from an earlier Playaway experiment: battery covers that fell off, short warranties and replacement costs. Staff confirmed the units previously had a shortened warranty and that ongoing replacement and occasional theft were part of why the system had discontinued a larger Playaway collection in the past.

Rather than ask the board to decide immediately, Johnson framed the item as informational. The director and board members said they were open to a limited pilot and to exploring lower‑cost options such as interlibrary loan or reciprocal borrowing to test demand and logistics before buying devices. Johnson said staff would return with more detailed cost estimates, durability safeguards and checkout procedures if the board wished to proceed.

The board did not take formal action on device purchases at the meeting. The next step, staff said, would be a costed pilot or formal recommendation after further research and stakeholder input.