Long Island Talking Book Library (LITBL) is a free library service for individuals who cannot hold, handle or see well enough to use regular print books. LITBL is a subregional library of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress that produces books and magazines in braille and recorded media for people with visual or physical disabilities.
Downloading is the easiest and quickest way to obtain these National Library Service audio books. Using a blank digital cartridge or USB flash drive, LITBL patrons download books and play them on the digital talking book machine.
In the past, LITBL sent professionally recorded books and magazines as cassettes. Now the service has gone digital with a collection of digital books, which currently number about 25,000, including over 50 magazines. They are available for download via the BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) web site: https://nlsbard.loc.gov/.
The older cassette collection and the new digital cartridges can still be delivered by mail, but the new players support standard usb memory devices. Once a borrower has established service with LITBL, they may apply for a BARD account to begin downloading books that can be read from the special player lent to the eligible resident.
For information about talking books and magazines, Long Island residents should contact the Long Island Talking Book Library at the Suffolk Cooperative System.
627 North Sunrise Service Road, PO Box 9000, Bellport, NY 11713-9000; telephone: (631) 286-1600, toll-free: (866) 833-1122 (Nassau/Suffolk).
To find out more about braille materials they will be referred to the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, 40 West 20 Street, NY, NY, 10011-4211.