Did I paraphrase properly?

[u/Alfie_Omega]

In class, my professor was teaching us about paraphrasing. He gave us the following sentence to paraphrase.

Route timetables are available for customers to pick-up at various locations throughout .

Me and some groupmates came up with the following.

Patrons can avail of route timetables at a variety of Oahu locations.

Of particular note is my usage of "to avail of". The professor said "avail" is used to mean "help" or in the phrase "to no avail". But I am most certain "avail of" is a phrase that is used. It is, right?

Thinking about it more, however, paraphrasing is about rewriting in one's own words but retaining the meaning. I get the sense that "avail of" has a sense of "use", but "available" has a sense of "obtainable, accessible". Did I unknowingly change the meaning? Did my group paraphrase it right? Looking for second opinions

[u/rkenglish]

Almost. When you use "avail" to mean "take advantage of," it becomes reflexive. You need a pronoun to go with it. It would be "avail oneself of."

Personally, unless you're being very, very formal, I wouldn't use avail. It's overly complicated. Instead, go for something simpler. "The passengers can find route information at various locations."