[Publib] Headphones for patrons

[Rachel Davis]

Although I initially responded directly to the person who asked the
question, I thought I'd also post to the list since several people have
mentioned sanitary concerns about headphones, and also that headphones
break easily.  

We have had the same set of five pairs of headphones for public use for
the past five years.  Only one in the initial set broke, but that was only
due to excessive force by an autistic child, not everyday use.  The
headphones we use are from The Library Store: [
http://www.thelibrarystore.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=21751&langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001
]http://www.thelibrarystore.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=21751&langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001

We wipe down the earpieces of the headphones after each use with wipes
specifically designed for this purpose (available from various vendors,
but here's an example:) [ http://www.soundbytes.com/page/SB/PROD/HA275
]http://www.soundbytes.com/page/SB/PROD/HA275

Our headphones are used daily by children who either want to hear audio on
the computers (we ask them to please use headphones instead of turning up
the sound) or want to listen to an audiobook, read-a-long, or music on our
public cassette/CD player.   Granted, we are not a huge library
(population of just over 9,000) so I'm not sure if our system and these
products would work in other settings, but it works for us!

Rachel


Rachel Q. Davis
Children's Librarian
Thomas Memorial Library
6 Scott Dyer Road
Cape Elizabeth, ME  04107
207-799-1720


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