Recorded Books and
Large Print Materials
Free Services
Besides special collections of large print books and other
material for the blind and visually impaired,
most local public libraries also have recorded
books and sometimes large print books in their regular
collections. Check your nearest branch library to
find what is available there. Local public library
systems also provide a variety of other accomodations for those
with low vision. Some locations have CCTV systems,
document scanners, or
text-to-speech machines, and many have computers equiped with
screen magnification or screen reading software.
Disability Resource Center at the Rockville Library (Montgomery County)
21 Maryland Ave., Suite 100
Rockville, MD 20850
240-777-0140
Maryland State Library for the Blind
415 Park Avenue
Baltimore, MD
410-230-2424
800-964-9209
Martin Luther King Memorial Library (District of Columbia)
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Room 215 (2nd Floor)
901 G Street, NW
Washington, DC
202-727-2142
Access Service Library (Fairfax County)
12000 Government Center
Parkway #123
Fairfax, VA 22035-0012
703-324-8380
Arlington County Library
1015 N. Quincy St.
Arlington, VA 22201
703-228-6333
Alexandria Public Library
5005 Duke St.
Alexandria, VA 22304-2903
703-519-5911
Loudoun County Library Outreach Services
380 Old Waterford Rd.
Leesburg, VA 20176
703-771-5621
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped provides its Talking Books service through your local public library system. You can call the number listed above for your local library system to learn how to sign up for Talking Books.
National Library Service for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped (NLS)
The Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
202-707-5100
800-424-8567
Among other services, the Jewish Guild for the Blind provides
InTouch,
which broadcasts stories from major magazines and newspapers over
the Internet and by radio.
Jewish Guild for the Blind
15 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
800-284-4422
The Metropolitan Washington Ear reads The Washington Post as well as selections
from the Wall Street Journal and some magazines via the telephone, radio, and Internet
everyday. To sign up for this free service, contact:
The Metropolitan Washington Ear
35 University Blvd East
Silver Spring, MD 20901
301-681-6636
Another free newspaper reading service is NFB-Newsline. It
uses synthesized (computer-generated) speech to read The Washington Post
and over 50 other national and local newspapers by telephone. Anyone
eligible for the
NLS Talking Book service also qualifies for
NFB-Newsline. To sign up, contact the library from which
you receive NLS services, or call:
National Federation of the Blind
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore MD 21230
410-659-9314
1-866-504-7300
The Project Gutenberg site
on the Internet (www.gutenberg.org)
has a limited number of free, public domain
audio books available for free download to your
computer. Project Gutenberg also has a vast library of free,
public domain books in plain text format; if your computer has
text-to-speech capability, you can download a book from Project
Gutenberg and have your computer read it to you.
Services with a Fee
The National Association for Visually Handicapped(operates a lending library of large print books. Services are free to members. A donation is requested from non-members.)
22 West 21st Street, Sixth Floor
New York, NY 10010
1-888-205-5951
E-mail: navh@navh.org
TIFLOLIBROS
(based
in Argentina, provides blind and visually handicapped people
Spanish-language audio books for download on the Internet.
Registration is free, but a semi-annual donation is requested.)
E-mail: tiflolibros@tiflolibros.com.ar
Recorded Books, LLC
(publishes, rents, and sells audio books; publishes and sells large
print books)
270 Skipjack Road
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
800-638-1304
Reelbooks.com
(sells audio books on the Internet)
202-454-6400
Books on Tape (division of Random House)
(publishes and sells audio books)
Customer Service
400 Hahn Road
Westminster, MD 21157
800-626-3333
Audio Editions
(publishes and sells audio books)
PO Box 6930
Auburn CA 95604-6930
800-231-4261
Audiotome
an Internet dealer in used audio books. The web site includes
some interesting musing by the proprieter on audio books
and the business of buying and selling them.
Blackstone Audiobooks
(publishes and sells audio books)
PO Box 969
Ashland, Oregon 97520
800-729-2665
Huge Print Press
(creates large print versions of customer-selected books)
North Central Plaza I
12655 N. Central Expressway
Suite 416
Dallas, TX 75243
1-866-484-3774
LearnOutLoud.com
(sells audio and video materials for education and self-improvement. Their web site
also includes resources
such as a list
of audio book rental services.)
1322 2nd Street, Suite #35
Santa Monica, CA 90401-1131
1-800-550-6070
Reader's Digest Large Type
(publishes large print books)
P.O. Box 262
Mount Morris, IL 61054
800-877-5293
Simon and Schuster
(publishes some audio books, usually abridged)
800-223-2348
The web site of
AudioFile magazine includes a list of other suppliers of
audio books and related items.
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/other_resources.cfm
Harvard Business Review on Tape
617-972-9117
Recorded Periodicals
Associated Services for the Blind
919 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-627-0600
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
5225 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 312
Washington, DC 20015
202-244-8990
Book Share
(provides books for download from the Internet in Digital Talking
Book (text only) and Digital Braille formats. Public-domain works
are available for free; copyrighted works require a paid subscription.)
www.bookshare.org
Most bookstores, public libraries, and Internet bookstores also have books on tape and in large print.
Some magazines and newspapers can be found in large print, too.
Reader's Digest
PO Box 262
Mount Morris, IL 61054
800-877-5293
New York Times Large Type Weekly
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
800-631-2580