The Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library is located in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Watertown ...

on the campus of the

Perkins School for the Blind Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...

. Services are provided free of charge to eligible users. The library is a branch of the

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) is a free library program of braille and audio materials such as books and magazines circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States and American citizens living abroad by po ...

, a division of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. The library provides materials in alternate format to those who have difficulty reading books in standard print format.

History

The original library collection was begun in the early 19th century. Perkins maintained a collection of

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

books as well as

braille music Braille music is a braille code that allows music to be notated using braille cells so music can be read by visually impaired musicians. The system was incepted by Louis Braille. Braille music uses the same six-position braille cell as literary ...

for the use of the students. In 1931 the Pratt-Smoot Act was passed and 18 Braille and Talking Book Libraries were set up across the country (19 including the Library of Congress).

Recording Studio

The recording studio housed within

's Library records and produces digital audio books—local titles for its main collection that are then shared with the

(NLS) and custom audio books for anything from a student’s math textbook to narration of

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

(MBTA) documents, such as bus schedules, made readable for customers who are blind or otherwise print disabled.

Services

The library offers braille books to the residents of Massachusetts,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. The library provides Talking Books for Massachusetts and Rhode Island patrons. Although the library offers these services to the residents of other states, the residents must sign up for services through each state's individual regional library. The library also offers the use of the Newsline service (a service run by the

National Federation of the Blind The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is an organization of blind people in the United States. It is the oldest and largest organization led by blind people in the United States. Its national headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland. Overvie ...

) as well as downloadable audio books to its Massachusetts patrons only. The library offers museum passes to several local and regional museums. The museum passes are only available to Massachusetts residents as they are provided through funding by the Friends of Braille and Talking Book Library and not through federal funds. The library advocates for braille literacy in part through its Braille Awareness Kits. These are kits of information including braille alphabet cards and braille books and are lent out to help spread the knowledge of braille.

Administration

The library is a branch library of the

and as such its title is the Massachusetts Regional Library. The library is subject to the rules and regulations governing all such bodies. The library resides on the campus of the

which administers most capital and personnel concerns.

Awards

In 2012 Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library shared the Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies' ASCLA/KLAS/NOD Award for their work in providing services for library users with disabilities.

References

External links

Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library homepage

National Library Service
{{Authority control Watertown, Massachusetts Libraries for the blind Libraries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Blindness organizations in the United States