Braille Books and the Talking Book Service

November 3, 2021

At the Lewiston City Library, we don't want anything to prevent you from being able to read and access information. We provide a couple or resources for individuals who are blind or have other visual or physical impairments that make reading or holding print materials difficult. These include Braille books in our children's section of our library and Large Print books in the adult section, as well as the Talking Book Service and the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) provided by the Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICfL).

Available at the Library

Braille Books

The library has made available 14 braille books in our Juvenile section of the Children's Library, including:

• Babe Ruth by Glenn Stout
• On the Court with Yao Ming by Glenn Stout
• Muhammad Ali by Glenn Stout
• The Case of the Golden Key by James Preller
• The Zombie Zone by Ron Roy
• Fantastic Voyage by Jim Benton

For a full list of Braille books available for checkout at the Lewiston City Library, you can search for Braille books in our Valnet catalog.

Large Print and Magnifying Glasses

The library has an extensive Large Print section for adults that includes the full spectrum of literary genres. We also have magnifying glasses with LED lights available for checkout for in-library use that can assist with reading and viewing small prints or objects such as maps, newspapers, and magazines.

Available at Home

Talking Book Service

If you or a loved one struggle to read even large print, or perhaps physically holding a book is difficult, we've got you covered! The Idaho Talking Book Service (TBS) is an audiobook library service that is convenient and available at not cost to any Idaho resident who is blind, has a perceptual or reading disability, or is unable to read standard print due to a visual impairment or physical disability.

Administered by the Idaho Commission for Libraries, the TBS loans audiobooks and magazines, braille books, and provides an easy-to-use player for the audio cartridges. Materials are mailed to and from the user's residence at no charge.

There are more than 100,000 titles in the collection -- everything from westerns and romance, to mysteries and biographies. Also available are titles with an Idaho theme or connection, which are recorded locally.

Each user's service can be as automated or personalized as the user and/or their family member or caregiver would like. Whether it means having materials mailed to an alternate address when the family heads south for the winter or increasing the frequency of books, the TBS customer service representatives help ensure the service meets the user's needs.

To utilize the service, a person must have a qualifying condition, which can be certified by a medical professional, social worker, case worker, librarian, educator, school psychologist, school superintendent, rehab teacher, certified reading specialist, or activities director in a care facility.

Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD)

BARD is a way for eligible Talking Book patrons to download audio books for free. Patrons can download the BARD mobile app for free to listen to on their mobile device from any of the app stores. BARD Express is a free downloadable software application designed to simplify searching for, downloading, and transferring audio titles from the BARD website to a cartridge or external USB flash drive for playback in a digital player.

Watch or listen to this video for a short overview of BARD and BARD Mobile.

For more information on the Talking Book Service and the Braille and Audio Reading Download, visit the ICfL's website or call 800-458-3271.