[Nfbf-l] Fwd: FW: Book Download App through Apple

Fri Sep 27 16:00:56 UTC 2013

Dwight D.  Sayer
12516 Hammock Pointe Circle
Clermont, Fl.  34711
352-988-5583

____________________________________
 From: Phyllis.Dill at dbs.fldoe.org
To: bgrzesik at cfl.rr.com,  Brokerbruc at aol.com, 
ChristopherW at disabilityrightsflorida.org,  Daniel.O'Connor at dbs.fldoe.org, deeantonio at yahoo.com, 
misteradvocate at aol.com,  gloria at irescue-tax.com, jbmini at comcast.net, 
Leanne.Grillot at fldoe.org,  fopbc at aol.com, plipovsky at cfl.rr.com, Edwards.paul955 at gmail.com,  
pkaminsky at bellsouth.net, Sheryl.brown at tampalighthouse.org, sperez at lvib.org,  
vmagliocchino at fldeafblind.org, outreachvip at gmail.com
Sent: 9/27/2013  11:55:30 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: FW: Book Download App through  Apple

FYI   Refer to the following information and attached press release 
provided by  Susan Roberts, Bureau Chief of the Library. 

Phyllis  Dill 
Administrative  Assistant II 
Florida  Rehabilitation Council f/t Blind 
Division  of Blind Services 
325 W.  Gaines St., Room 1114 
Tallahassee,  FL  32399 
850/245-0392 
FAX:  850/245-0363 
Phyllis.Dill at dbs.fldoe.org
From: NLS Documents for  Network Librarians 
[mailto:NLS-REPORTS at LISTSERV.LOC.GOV]  On Behalf Of nls-reports-admin
Sent: Wednesday, September 25,  2013 10:06 AM
To: _NLS-REPORTS at LISTSERV.LOC.GOV_ (mailto:NLS-REPORTS at LISTSERV.LOC.GOV) 
Subject:  Operations Alert 13-58 (BARD Mobile press release) 
NLS Operations  Alert 
No. 13-58 
DATE           :     September 25,  2013          
TO                 :     Network Libraries 
FROM          :     Jane Caulton, Head, Publications and Media Section   
SUBJECT    :     BARD  Mobile press release 
The  following press release was issued by the Library of Congress Public 
Affairs  Office on Tuesday, September 23. Please feel free to distribute this 
to your  media outlets.  
You may  also use the attached template, which has been modified for 
network libraries  to customize with their information. The template will require 
that you type  over the blue capitalized information and change the text 
color to black. Be  sure to remove instructional guides (also blue) in the text 
on completion.   
We hope  that this information will be useful.  
Attachment 
For more  information contact: 
Jane  Caulton 
Head, Publications and Media Section   
_jcau at loc.gov_ (mailto:jcau at loc.gov)  

____________________________________

Library of Congress Braille and  Talking-Book Program
Releases Book Download App through  Apple 
People who are blind,  visually impaired or have a physical disability may 
now download audio and  braille books to their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, 
if they are registered with  the National Library Service for the Blind and 
Physically Handicapped (NLS) in  the Library of Congress. 
The Braille and Audio  Reading Download (BARD) Mobile app is now available 
through the Apple App  Store. The app, which is free, allows readers to 
download audio and braille  books from their NLS BARD accounts. Access to BARD 
is provided through local  cooperating libraries. BARD contains nearly 50,000 
books, magazines and music  scores in audio and braille formats, with new 
selections added  daily. 
NLS Director Karen Keninger  said, “The BARD Mobile app allows searching, 
downloading and reading braille  and talking books and magazines on one fully 
accessible, mainstream device.  It’s a library in your pocket.” 
She explained, “With BARD  Mobile, patrons can play talking books and 
magazines on their iOS devices.  Patrons may also read electronic braille books, 
magazines and music scores  using a refreshable braille display connected to 
their iPhone, iPad or iPod  touch through Bluetooth.”  Patrons will be able 
to receive their reading  materials faster and won’t have to be weighted 
down with bulky volumes or  playback equipment. 
NLS has provided free  library service for people who have visual 
disabilities for more than 80 years  and for people with physical disabilities since 
1966. Best known as the  talking-book program, NLS upgraded its analog 
program to digital in  2009. 
“Audiobooks are provided on  cartridges for use with digital playback 
equipment that provides high-level  navigation capability, high-quality sound and 
other features, which are  provided without cost to the reader,” Keninger 
said. “Around the same time,  NLS launched BARD, which permitted patrons who 
had access to high-speed  Internet to download their audiobooks, as braille 
readers had been doing with  the Web-Braille system since 1999. BARD now 
merges the two  systems. 
“BARD Mobile is another  benchmark in our use of technology to enhance the 
delivery and reading  experience of NLS patrons,” Keninger said. “NLS 
developed the BARD Mobile app  in response to demand from our borrowers. Blind 
and disabled Americans  are as keen as everyone else to use mobile devices. 
Our younger patrons  are particularly eager to use the same gadgets as their  
peers.” 
BARD Mobile will make  reading not only more accessible, but more portable. 
“We anticipate that  significant numbers of readers will adopt the app as 
their primary reading  device,” Keninger said. “As a growing percentage of 
blind and disabled  Americans adopt mobile devices, the app will provide a 
highly valued avenue to  NLS materials.” 
Eligible users may even  find the free braille and talking-book program 
more attractive. Keninger  explained, “This new, instant and convenient package 
will increase the appeal  of audio and braille reading.” 
NLS is also working on an  app for Android devices. 
NLS, which is part of the  Library of Congress, administers the braille and 
talking-book program, a free  library service available to residents of the 
United States and its  territories and American citizens living abroad 
whose low vision, blindness or  physical disability makes reading regular print 
difficult. Through its  national network of cooperating libraries, NLS mails 
digital audio players and  books and magazines—in audio and in braille—
directly to enrollees at no  cost. Music instructional materials are available 
in large-print, braille  and recorded formats. Select materials are also 
available online for  download. To learn more, call 1-888-NLS-READ or visit 
_www.loc.gov/nls/find.html_ (http://www.loc.gov/nls/find.html) . 
The Library of Congress,  the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution 
and the largest library in  the world, holds more than 155 million items in 
various languages, disciplines  and formats. The Library serves the U.S. 
Congress and the nation both  on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and 
through its award-winning  website at _www.loc.gov_ (http://www.loc.gov/) .  

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