[Nfbwv-talk] Perkins Shelf Project

[Smyth, Charlene R]

Perkins SHELF Project Offers Free Book Downloads:  

 

The Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library is the first NLS regional
library in the nation to offer patrons the SHELF Project, a new download
service for digital audio books like those produced at the Perkins
Library's own recording studio on the Perkins School for the Blind
campus in Watertown, Massachusetts. 

 

The SHELF Project (SHared ELectronic Files) provides an online catalog
of locally-recorded digital audio books, plus the capacity to download
and play them on a variety of devices available to eligible NLS patrons.
People unable to read standard print materials may be eligible to use
Perkins SHELF and other free services from the Library. Eligibility
details are online at 

<www.perkinslibrary.org>.

 

Massachusetts is the first state to make its locally-produced audio
books available on the national SHELF Project developed by Keystone
Systems. Other libraries' content will soon come onboard, and users will
have access to that content in addition to Massachusetts titles. Talking
Book versions of national best-sellers and other high-demand books are
available through the Library's affiliation with the Library of Congress
in Washington, D.C. Books by local authors and titles of particular
interest to Massachusetts readers are recorded by volunteer narrators at
Perkins's Watertown recording studios. Interested borrowers can access
Perkins SHELF Project through the Library's online catalog
<www.perkinslibrary.org>. Using the Perkins SHELF Project, patrons can
browse the collection and download a desired title immediately. 

 

Keystone Systems, Inc., in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a leading
provider of software and services for libraries with distinctive needs.
"The SHELF Project will be a repository for sharing locally recorded
titles from across the country. The fact that Perkins has taken the lead
on the SHELF Project will be instrumental to its success. Without the
Library's expertise, feedback, input, and support, it would not have
been possible to launch such an ambitious program," said James Burts,
executive vice president of Keystone Systems. States that have already
committed to putting their titles on SHELF include Utah, Idaho,
Colorado, Missouri, Vermont, Maryland, and the Braille Institute of
America in southern California. Several other states will soon add their
locally-produced titles to the SHELF Project. More than one thousand
titles will be available for Perkins and other states' libraries on the
service. Patrons can email <download-support at perkins.org> or call (617)
972-7240 for details about Perkins SHELF Project.