Some of the hottest bestsellers and best-loved titles are now only a keyboard stroke away for patrons of Edmonton's public libraries.

The library system has introduced a service called OverDrive where users can download audio books and music to their computer with their library cards and listen through a free, downloadable console. Half the 700-plus collection is already checked out.

"There are thousands of potential titles to add, so this is absolutely a growing area. We are hoping that by the end of 2007, you'll see downloadable movies from this service, too," said Peter Schoenberg, who heads the library's e-services division.

The new system is Microsoft Windows-based, so users cannot play books on Apple's iPods. And after 21 days, the file re-encrypts itself and is no longer playable.