I found a source for a very large amount of free audiobooks, which a potentially large amount of Mobilereaders could tap into. I did a search and found nothing about this on this thread or in the entire forum about this. Please forgive me if something already has been posted about this.
One of the two area library systems where I hold a card provides a service called "Freegal," through which I can get up to 5 free downloads per week of MP3 songs. A little while ago I finished downloading my 5 for the week when I noticed something that I had not noticed before--one of the "genres" that was available was "audio books"!
I estimate there to be about two thousand different titles available. I saw audiobooks of many different subjects. The interface allowed me to browse the audiobooks alphabetically by "artists" (the creators and/or narrators). Frankly, I did not recognize the great majority of the "artists," and none of the ones that I did recognize were people from very recent times. But, at the same time, I do not remember seeing free anywhere else any of the titles that I saw, either. And, they do appear to be quality audiobooks, and not "junk."
Now, just as someone with Freegal privileges cannot download an entire album of music for just 1 download (each song counts as 1 download), someone cannot download an entire audiobook as 1 free download. Each one of the tracks (corresponding maybe to chapters?) of an audiobook counts as 1 download. So, you can download up to 5 tracks of an audiobook each week. Yes, it's a little bit of a hassle and, yes, it can take some time to get a whole audiobook; only you can decide whether or not the tradeoff is worth it.
As I indicated earlier, not every library offers this service. If you are unsure whether or not a library where you have privileges has it or not, you can contact the library or access their website. A backdoor way of finding out is to go to
a page on Freegal's website, where you can plug your library's information in a form and it will let you know if your library has the privileges. In case you are not aware of it, many library systems have reciprocal agreements with other library systems, allowing you to get a library card at those other systems--that is, in fact, how I have my Freegal privileges as my local library system does not offer them.
Finally, you may want to see what Freegal's website looks like, and explore the user interface. One thing that I have been critical of about this service is that the interface is a little clunky and takes some getting used to. If you go to
this Freegal webpage, you can see almost exactly what users see when they access the service through their libraries. Also at that page, you can see exactly what audiobooks are available to you if you have privileges, by going to "Genres">"Audio books".