The following story is shared by two anonymous interview participants from my PhD research, a husband and wife who have developed their digital skills over the years with support from one another and occasional troubleshooting support from a family member who lives nearby.
/*! elementor – v3.18.0 – 20-12-2023 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}Our BorrowBox experience
My husband will be 80 in 2024. And I am in my early 70s.
When we first got an iPad, we used it for checking RIP notices and keeping in contact with family abroad by email. For our 50th Anniversary in 2023, we were given a present of a second iPad. BorrowBox was set up for us and it changed our lives.
My husband likes to read on his iPad like a book. He likes to see the words on a ‘page’ so he likes the ebooks. So far he has read about 18/20 books, mostly westerns and fiction.
As for me, I like the audiobooks. I just love listening to them. My favourite would be Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. This was the first book I listened to. I can see the characters in my mind, like a film. This is the case with every book I listen to. The only trouble is I want to hear the next chapter and find it hard to put down. I just can’t wait to listen again. Since the first audiobook I have listened to so many thrillers and crime novels, probably about 28/30 audiobooks in the last year. With physical books and even ebooks I want to see what happens in the end and often flick to the last few pages. This is not so easy to do with an audiobook and so I have learned to be patient and enjoy the reading/listening journey!
We are members of our local library and have library cards. However, we live in the country and are not frequent visitors to town. For us, BorrowBox ebooks and audiobooks are just perfect, especially when we both love reading.
At a Digital Drop-In workshop recently, Abigail Fowler, one of the volunteer mentors, gave a presentation on BorrowBox, the amazing free resource available from local public libraries all over Ireland. The image below provides a series of steps to follow to get up and running on BorrowBox. We hope you enjoy it as much as our interview participants do!
/*! elementor – v3.18.0 – 20-12-2023 */ .elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=”.svg”]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}
Sandra Flynn 