Talking Books
TALKING BOOKS
The member libraries of InterLINK, including NVDPL, loan taped books and books on disc (DAISY and MP3) free of charge to eligible borrowers. We also loan cassette players and Daisy readers free of charge.
Taped books are unabridged books recorded by professional readers. They can be played on any audiocassette player.
DAISY books are complete books from a number of sources, each digitally recorded by the CNIB (Canadian National Institute of the Blind) on one disc. They are especially designed for people with print disabilities and can only be played on a DAISY player or a computer with DAISY software.
Our MP3 books from commercial sources are also unabridged and are usually contained on one or two discs. They can be played on DAISY players, computers and MP3 players, as well as some newer CD players.
ELIGIBILITY
If you are unable to handle or read print books because of a visual, physical or perceptual disability, you can take advantage of the Talking Books Service. You will need to fill out and submit InterLINK’s elegibility form to us. You can download the form as a PDF document or you can pick up the form at any InterLINK library.
This formality is required by the publishers or copyright holders of the recorded books to ensure that the service is available only to people with print disabilities.
Eligibility forms can be hand-delivered, mailed or faxed to:
Talking Books Service
Lynn Valley Main Library
1277 Lynn Valley Road
North Vancouver, B.C. V7J 2A1
Fax: 604-984-7600
Attention: Talking Books Service
THE TALKING BOOKS COLLECTION
Taped books, DAISY discs and MP3 books held at NVDPL are entered in the library catalogue and are designated “Talking Books”. Most are titles from the shared Lower Mainland’s InterLINK Audiobooks collection, some are purchased by our library from the CNIB and commercial sources with donations and grant monies. Talking Books in our catalogue are easily identified by the designations after the title as “taped book”, “sound recording”, or “electronic resource”, and by the prefix of TB before the call number.
A wide variety of popular material is available including:
> Bestsellers
> Biography
> Mysteries
> History
> Romance
> Travel
> Science Fiction
> Children’s Books
> Westerns
Titles not held in our collection can often be obtained through interlibrary loan with other InterLINK libraries or from the CNIB.
You can search the full InterLINK Audiobooks Catalogue on the Internet. You do not need a password. InterLINK carries copies of every taped book formerly produced by the BC Library Services Branch. Current purchases in audio format (taped books, DAISY and MP3) come from the CNIB and commercial publishers in the U.S. and Britain. InterLINK also contracts professional readers to narrate a limited number of otherwise unavailable titles.
To find titles available through the CNIB library, go first to their website: www.cnib.ca. Select “CNIB Digital Library Login / Guest Access” and then “Search the Library as a Guest”. Through B.C. public libraries, print-disabled readers who are not CNIB members can now also register for free personal access to the CNIB Digital Library which includes online electronic books and resources.
BORROWING
Once you have your NVDPL Talking Books library card, you can select and check out talking books from the collection at the Lynn Valley Main Library or place holds on desired titles to be held for you at any of the three branches for pickup. If you are homebound, you can arrange for scheduled home deliveries.
Yvonne Thompson, Talking Books Service, can find specific books for you or you can ask her to choose a selection based on your interests. She is also available to teach you how to use the cassette and DAISY players and to answer your questions about the service.
For information about borrowing books from either collection, or about CNIB Library membership registration, please contact Yvonne by phone 604-990-5800 Local 8125 or by email yvonne@nvdpl.ca.
THE LARGE PRINT COLLECTION
Not ready to read exclusively in Talking Books? NVDPL maintains a Large Print collection of popular reading, classics and non-fiction at all three branches. All Large Print titles are identified with an LP before the call number in the library catalogue and newer acquisitions also have the designation of “text (large print)” after the title. Any library patron can borrow from the Large Print collection.