The idea of a National Library Service for the Blind was first developed in 1897 by John Russell Young, the Librarian of Congress. He created a Braille Reading Room in the Library of Congress containing 500 items, including books and music scores. The Indiana State Library was not far behind in developing a library collection for the blind. Today, the collection is known as the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library.

In 1905, the Indiana State Library began mailing embossed books to blind residents throughout the state. At the time, the library’s collection consisted of 300 volumes, 200 of which had been donated by blind people throughout the state who were eager to establish a library. This original collection of books began circulating on Oct. 1, 1905.

One day per month, books were sent to patrons throughout the state by the loan division of the State Library. The collection was slow to grow at this time as braille was not yet the standard method of embossed print; it was mostly able to grow through gifts and hand transcribing projects undertaken by volunteers such as the Junior League.

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed into law the Pratt-Smoot Act, which established the National Library Service for blind adults administered by the Library of Congress. They started out with 15 braille titles, the first of which was Woodrow Wilson’s biography of George Washington. Eighteen libraries were also initially selected to serve as regional libraries to better serve people through the country. In 1934, thanks in large part to the existing program that the Indiana State Library was offering, and the support around the state the program had, the Indiana State Library was selected to join the National Library Service as a regional library.

The following year, 27 book titles – including the four Christian gospels, historical documents and a variety of Shakespeare’s works – were made available on long-playing records. Patrons wishing to listen to these titles needed to buy their own phonograph. Records in various forms would continue to be used for more than 50 years. The National Library Service added service to children in 1952 and to people with physical disabilities and reading disabilities in 1966. Talking book formats have changed from records to flexible discs to cassettes in 1968 and in 2009 to digital books, download on demand, and downloadable media for braille e-readers and cellphones. The Library also includes large print titles and braille books.

However, the mission and goals of the program have remained the same, to provide library materials to those people unable to use standard printed materials. In 2019, the National Library Service was renamed the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled.

Learn more about the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled here, and learn more about the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library here.

This blog post was written by the past and present staff of the Talking Books and Braille Library. For more information, contact the Talking Books and Braille Library at 317-232-3684 or via email.

In March, the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library completed the transition of its service model from sending patrons one book on one cartridge to Duplication on Demand, which sends patrons up to ten books per cartridge based on their requests and subject preferences. The same player and cartridge are used as before. Each cartridge includes a mailing card that lists its contents. Patrons should not attempt to return this card with the cartridge, but instead discard it or keep it for their records. There is an address sticker on each cartridge that ensures its return to the library.

There are many benefits to this change for both staff and patrons. Staff can duplicate up to 20 cartridges at a time. The number of physical items circulating through the library has decreased, allowing mail to be processed more efficiently. Patrons now have access to newly-published books more quickly, and there are no wait lists for popular titles. Cartridges can be easily customized for patrons wanting a series of books, or several books by the same author. Thousands of older titles that previously had to be ordered from offsite are now available immediately. All the Indiana Voices titles are also available through Duplication on Demand.

To access the titles on DoD cartridges patrons can either use the player’s bookshelf mode or the sequential play feature. Sequential play will play books in the order they have been loaded on the cartridge, while bookshelf mode lets the patron pick what book they want to listen to.

To use the sequential play feature, patrons put the cartridge in and listen to the first book as usual. At the end of the book, closing announcements will play; when they are finished a voice will say “end of book, press play/stop to go to the next book”. Patrons press the play/stop button and the next book on the cartridge will begin playing. They can repeat this step until all the books have played

To use bookshelf mode, patrons turn the player on and put the cartridge in. Next, they hold down the green “play/stop” button for ten seconds, or until the player beeps and says, “bookshelf mode.” Once in bookshelf mode, they use the fast forward and rewind buttons to scroll through the books or magazines recorded on the cartridge. After reaching the desired title, they press the green play/stop button again and it will start to play.

Any patron having any difficulties with Duplication on Demand should contact the Talking Book and Braille Library via email or at 1-800-622-4970.

This blog post was written by Laura Williams, Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library supervisor.