The Books for the Blind Program is an initiative of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

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 ...

(NLS) which provides audio recordings of books free of charge to people who are blind or visually impaired. The program has included audio recordings of books since 1934 and

digital book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

efforts began in 1996.

History

''See also

'' In 1931, the United States passed the Pratt-Smoot Act to provide blind adults with access to books. Before audio recordings, books were made available in

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

. Beginning with 19 libraries in 1931, the network as of March 2018 was 55 regional libraries, 32 subregional libraries, and 14 advisory and outreach centers serving the United States and its territories. The program was expanded in 1952 to include blind children, in 1962 to include music materials, and in 1966 to include individuals with physical impairments that prevent the reading of standard print. The Books for the Blind Program was the model for the effort in the 1950s for captioned films for the deaf leading to the Captioned Films Act of 1958. Audio recordings were first created on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

when the Pratt-Smoot Act was amended in 1933 to include "talking books", and later, in 1969, on proprietary cassette tape and player, becoming the preferred format. Currently, books for the blind and visually impaired can be downloaded from the NLS's Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) system, which allows for digital books on desktop computers and some

mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

s. In 2016, a

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio w ...

symbol was added to the NLS's logo to represent the inclusion of wireless connectivity to the programs.

References

External links

History of the program (with a state of Michigan emphasis)CNIB: Reading by Sound: Pre-1950
Describes a similar service in Canada. {{DEFAULTSORT:Books For The Blind 1931 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1931 Blindness organizations in the United States Books by type