[Greater-Baltimore] FW: BARD Will Continue Operating During the Government Shutdown!
Donna Ring
ring1864 at outlook.com
Wed Nov 5 22:43:33 UTC 2025
Please share.
Donna Ring
From: Braille Institute Library <bils at brailleinstitute.org>
Sent: Monday, November 3, 2025 1:02 PM
To: ring1864 at outlook.com
Subject: BARD Will Continue Operating During the Government Shutdown!
͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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You Will Still Have Access to BARD Audiobooks and Braille eBooks!
Greetings Donna,
We know that many of you have had questions and concerns about the shutdown of the federal government. Some of you frequently use BARD, an app established by the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled, to download audiobooks or braille ebooks to various devices. You may have even noticed a message in BARD the last time that you opened the app, which mentions the government shutdown and the My Talking Books feature.
We at the Braille Institute Library want to assure you that the BARD app will continue to work during the government shutdown!
You will still be able to search for, download, and listen to audiobooks with BARD, on computers, tablets, Victor readers, and smartphones.
You will still be able to search for, download, and read braille ebooks with BARD on braille ereaders .
BARD will continue to work on almost all devices!
There is one notable exception: Alexa devices will not able able to access the “My Talking Books” skill during the shutdown. This skill was still in testing prior to the shutdown, with access limited to 5000 total participants across the U.S. Because the team responsible for maintaining the Alexa skill is furloughed, you will not be able to use “My Talking Books” to access BARD on Alexa devices during the shutdown. “My Talking Books” will be restored to service sometime after the government shutdown is lifted.
We are, of course, disappointed at the temporary loss of this part of the NLS service! “My Talking Books” allows users to access BARD using voice commands, thus offering greater accessibility to patron who struggle to use computers or touchscreens. However, we are glad that the BARD app continues to be fully functional on all other platforms!
We understand that modern society is only improved when national governments provide free services to all citizens in need, including library services, fire fighting, national highways, food and drug safety testing, and healthcare. We look forward to the federal government restoring all their important social services in the near future.
Until then, stay kind, and stay curious!
Braille Institute Library Services
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