he first audio book club organized several years ago was probably built on one principle: that literature should be enjoyed by everyone, even by the legally blind. And now, thanks to technology, audio book clubs are becoming more and more popular. Organizing and joining one has never been so easy.

How does an audio book club work? Since most members of an audio book club are legally blind and therefore cannot read in a conventional way, most clubs use audio tapes for participants to listen to. There are also audio book clubs who assign sighted volunteers to read for the group. Usually two to three volunteers are necessary, as talking for two to three hours (depending on the length of the book) can be quite taxing if only one person is doing it.

An audio book club is very particular about the technical quality of the book recording. Fortunately, because of technology, almost all recordings have superior attributes and special features that allow listeners to immediately rewind or skip some parts of the recording. In a similar manner, the narrators should be highly skilled and able to convey the emotion of the novel. As a famous saying of audio book club members go, A good narrator can save a poor book, while a poor narrator can ruin a good one.

While audio book clubs were originally intended for the legally blind, more and more sighted people are now joining, too. In fact, people who find it hard to read or simply dont have time to keep up with the reading list prefer audio book clubs to traditional ones.

Buy a good-quality speaker and an audio book and presto! Your audio book club is good to go. Ask your local electronics dealer about the top-of-the-line audio equipment available. Audio books, on the other hand, can easily be bought from bookstores and other specialty shops. There is a wide range of audio books available in the market you will surely find a new one weekly.

Starting an audio book club is much like starting a regular book club you need to advertise and build a membership, establish rules for the club, and maintain momentum by holding regular meetings and social parties.