Fact sheet : Services for the print disabled

              FACT SHEET
Talking Book & Braille Service • Illinois State Library
401 E.Washington St., Springfield, IL 62701 • 800-665-5576, opt. 5 • www.cyberdriveillinois.com
Services for the Print Disabled
Special library services funded by the Illinois
State Library make it easier for the print
disabled to access vital information.
Talking Book Program
■ The Illinois Network of Libraries Serving the
Blind and Physically Handicapped is funded
by grants from the Office of the Secretary of
State through the Illinois State Library. Four
subregional libraries (Talking Book Centers)
serve users in specific geographic regions.
■ The Library of Congress provides free Braille
books, audiocassette books and tape
players.
■ More than 72,000 titles — some in foreign
languages — are available, including best
sellers, light fiction, westerns, classics and
nonfiction. 100 magazine titles also are
available with new titles continually added
to the collection.
■ More than 27,000 patrons in Illinois will read
nearly 1 million books this year. Anyone
permanently or temporarily unable to hold or
read regular print material comfortably due
to a physical or visual disability is eligible
for the service, regardless of age. Registered
patrons also may borrow descriptive videos
and old-time radio shows from a Talking
Book Center. Contact a Talking Book Center
for more information (see reverse side).
Illinois Radio Information Service
■ Radio reading services in Illinois are supported
in part by grants from the Illinois State Library,
a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
■ 11 stations in Illinois provide current
information from local newspapers. Free
closed-band receivers allow patrons to listen to
broadcasts of local news, grocery ads and other
information not available through the Talking
Book program. For more information, contact
any Talking Book Center or visit our Web Site.
NFB-NEWSLINE®
■ The Illinois State Library Talking Book &
Braille Service, in cooperation with the
National Federation for the Blind, sponsors
NFB-NEWSLINE®. This service provides
subscribers toll-free access to audio versions
of more than 200 newspapers, including the
Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald, from
any touch-tone telephone anywhere in the
United States.
■ Free and available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, NFB-NEWSLINE® allows
readers to select the newspapers and
articles they want to hear.
The Illinois State Library Talking Book & Braille
Service, Radio Information Services and NFB-NEWSLINE
® are free to eligible Illinois patrons.
Information and registration forms are available
at any Illinois public library.
For more information on these programs or to register,
call the Illinois State Library Talking Book & Braille Service at 800-665-5576, opt. 5.
Printed by authority of the State of Illinois – December 2005 – 1M – LD BPH-2.1