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In germany there are now a plethora of public libraries where I can borrow Audiobooks. I can search and download DRM protected files and can use them for a couple of days or weeks before they get invalidated automatically.

Alas, there are (almost) only german ones. But I am much more interested in english Audiobooks. There must be a online accessible public library somewhere where I can borrow english audiobooks for a fee, mustn't it?

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closed as off topic by Robusto, Matt E. Эллен, Barrie England, Mr. Shiny and New 安宇, cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Jul 19 '12 at 12:20

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From libraries, I haven't heard of doing that for -free- in the US. But "borrow for a fee"? That sounds like, in other domains, renting, but for audio online it sounds like ... buying? podcast, audiobook, whatever, you're just buying it. – Mitch Jul 19 '12 at 12:49
    
Renting, right. In many german public libraries this is now possible with DRM protected audio files. You can only use them for some days. At my place its 2 weeks. – towi Jul 19 '12 at 12:57
3  
Hi Towi- Yes, many US libraries have this service - usually with free borrowing for a limited time but because of copyright laws you have to be a member of the library - i.e. fairly local. You also have to have a specific device. – Marcus_33 Jul 19 '12 at 13:58
    
The public library here (in the US) does have that service, so I guess Mitch doesn't have much experience. But (as noted) you have to live in the local area (where the taxes supporting the library are collected) to participate. – GEdgar Jul 20 '12 at 13:25
    
@Marcus_33: That's what I thought -- I did not check, but I guess one has to be a local resident at our public library, too. – towi Jul 23 '12 at 11:40

Not really a Public Library, but you can might a few audiobooks on Wikicommons:

There are also many spoken Wikipedia articles.

As Born2Smile tipped me, the best collection of audio books is probably at Project Gutenberg:

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also gutenberg.org has audiobooks – Born2Smile Jul 19 '12 at 14:25

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