You asked for audiobooks, and the wait is finally over! UCI Libraries are now offering audiobooks in over 25 subjects and genres via OverDrive, including nonfiction, young adult fiction, and even popular titles seen on TikTok.

UC Irvine students, faculty, and staff can access these newly added audiobooks through a desktop or laptop on OverDrive as well as on any smartphone, tablet, or Kindle with the Libby app. For more information on how to access OverDrive and other digital book collections, check out the Libraries’ article on accessing ebooks.

Tired of Reading? How About Listening Instead

When speaking with my fellow Humanities classmates, I learned a common experience we shared was having a large amount of reading for all of our classes. Personally, I was often assigned one to two books a week in an English class, or an average of 100 to 150 pages for each class session. This was on top of my other readings and assignments for other classes.

Balancing such heavy reading loads, along with other responsibilities such as work, family, and personal life, can result in mental exhaustion or burnout. According to the University of Sheffield, academic fatigue is a phenomenon where reading and completing assignments is no longer a simple and quick task. It is believed that it “arises when a person becomes disillusioned and burnout due to academic pressure and stress.”

Audiobooks can be useful tools to help students and professionals combat such stresses.

Audiobooks, Anytime, Anywhere

With audiobooks, you can simply press play and let a narrator read for you. On some occasions, audiobooks can also be a multifaceted experience with sound effects and characters voiced by different people. These features can create an engaging film-like experience.

Audiobooks can also be listened to anytime and anywhere. This accessibility is useful for those who enjoy multitasking, as they can be listened to while walking, preparing dinner, cleaning, or driving.

UCI Libraries’ Research Librarian for Performing Arts Scott Stone enjoys listening to audiobooks for all these reasons and more. “It’s an experience that can transport you into a story and impart knowledge to the reader,” he said.

Also a strong advocate for audiobooks, Research Librarian for Social Science Nicole Carpenter wants students to maximize their learning through whatever means they find most suitable and comprehensible.

“If you prefer, or are a known auditory learner, we encourage you to listen to content, whether a newspaper article or an article in our databases. Society has moved into adapting to other formats,” Carpenter said. “The goal is to consume the information that interests you, regardless of how you do it.”