It all started with a traveling salesman who spent hours and hours on the road. Henry Trentman logged a lot of miles, listening to radio stations of varying quality fade in and out, and thought about books. He believed there was a commuter market for high quality books on cassette tape. He shopped his idea around, and in 1979, Recorded Books brought out their first title – Jack London’s Sea Wolf, narrated by D.C. stage actor Frank Muller.

In the forty years since, Recorded Books has grown in size and offerings. Keeping up with modern trends, they moved from cassette tapes to CDs, and now offer digital audiobooks through RBDigital, part of the RBMedia conglomerate. What hasn’t changed is the commitment to excellent titles and professional narration.

But RBDigital is SO MUCH MORE than audiobooks. So. Much. More. Whether you want to READ, WATCH, LISTEN, or LEARN, RBDigital and your RPL library card has you covered:

READ:

RBMagazines: 80+ full-text magazines. No holds, no waiting. Read on your computer, or download the RBDigital app for tablet / smartphone access. Magazines for any interest, from “The Advocate” to “Yoga”. By clicking the “automatically check out next issue” button, you can essentially have a subscription to a magazine! You can also find back issues by clicking on the “all issues” button for each title.

RBDigital eBooks: mostly classic titles in the “public domain”. I am currently reading “The Chronicles of Barsetshire” series by Anthony Trollope, which I missed during my short-lived Trollope phase in college.

WATCH:

AcornTV: Acorn TV brings world-class mysteries, dramas, and comedies from Britain and beyond.

IndieFlix: a streaming movie service that offers access to pop culture favorites, box office hits, award-winning feature films, documentaries, and shorts.

Pongalo Novela: Spanish language telenovelas and translated movies streamed on demand to all popular devices. Telenovelas en español y películas traducidas por transmisión continuo a todos los dispositivos populares.

Qello Concerts: Stingray Qello is the world’s largest collection of full-length concerts and music documentaries streamed on-demand to just about any digital device.

LISTEN:

RBDigital eAudiobooks: Over 30,000 downloadable audiobooks – no holds for most items, check out as many as you like. That’s right – no limits to how many you check out. More titles added monthly. Studio recordings by professional voice actors.

LEARN:

Great Courses: the world’s most engaging professors provide you with an immersive learning experience, covering a wide variety of subjects.

Learn it Live: Check out a seven-day pass for this premium Health & Wellness Channel.

Method Test Prep: Prepare for or improve your ACT or SAT test scores.

Transparent Languages: Over 100 languages and growing, including English for speakers of over 25 languages.

Don’t have a library card? Sign up for an eCard here and get immediate access to all of the digital offerings from Richmond Public Library. When the library re-opens, visit any branch (with a photo ID and proof of address) to turn your eCard into a card with full borrowing privileges.