Check It Out:

Are you stumped by Shakespeare? If you need help getting a fresh perspective on one of William Shakespeare’s many plays or sonnets, the Newport Beach Public Library is here to help.

From the texts of Shakespeare’s work, to criticism, to biographies, to audio and video, the library has a great many resources for students and admirers to explore.

Let’s face it — Shakespeare was meant to be heard. Why not check out one of more than 50 audio books that the library carries? You will find not only his most beloved plays such as “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet,” or “Twelfth Night,” but also his more obscure plays such as “Cymbeline,” “Timons and Athens,” or “Coiolanus.”

The library also carries audio lectures on Shakespeare if you are looking to learn more about a particular play, a genre of his work, or even the man himself. Check out “William Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies” by The Great Courses for a wonderful overview of his work. “Shakespeare, the Word and the Action” also by The Great Courses explores a number of plays such as a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” “Love’s Labor Lost,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” and several others — including his sonnets. If you are looking for more biographical information about Shakespeare, try Peter Ackroyd’s “Shakespeare: The Biography.”

If you can’t make it to the library and are looking for a performance, try the library’s two downloadable services: Overdrive and MyILibrary. Both services are available from the library website: www.newportbeachlibrary.org. Click on Downloadable Books and choose which service to try. Overdrive has access to 13 different titles including popular titles such as “Macbeth,” “Julius Caesar,” and “The Tempest.” MyILibrary has access to only six titles, but has such standards as “Hamlet,” read by John Gielgud and “King Lear,” read by Kenneth Branagh.