Putnam Public Library showcases Talking Book machine

Reminder News
Putnam Library has Talking Book for demonstration purposes

The Putnam Public Library now has a Talking Book machine on site that they can use for demonstration purposes. The specialized cassette players and easy-to-handle cartridges put libraries within reach of the visually and physically handicapped as well as those with reading disabilities.

Library Director Priscilla Colwell said this is the first time public libraries throughout the state have been enlisted to help with a national program. The Talking Book Program is a federal program run through the CT State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. That library is located in Rocky Hill. By showcasing the machines and the program throughout the state, Colwell hopes more people will take advantage of it.

The machine comes with large buttons marked in Braille which makes it easy to operate. A user can slow down or speed up the pace of the narrator. Volume, tone control, rewind and fast forward functions are available. Cartridges are easy to plug in and remove.

An amplifier/headphone combination that produces sound up to 130 decibels is available for adults with severe hearing loss. A special application form is necessary.

Cassettes come through the mail in plastic cartridges with removable address cards. Those cards can be turned over and reinserted, showing the library's name and address for return mailing. All books, magazines, equipment and catalogs are sent to readers through the U.S. Postal Service as "Free Matter for the Blind." There is no cost to users of the service.

U.S. residents who are unable to read or use regular print materials as a result of a visual or physical limitation or a reading disability are eligible for the service. Individuals must fill out an application and eligibility must be certified by medical professionals or public or private welfare agency staff.

Once approved, users can keep the talking book machines as long as they need them. Applicants can fill out reading preferences according to genre or they can list specific titles. NLS provides classics as well as popular works that appeal to children, young adults and older readers. Initial shipments of books usually takes about five days after the receipt of a properly certified application.

"People don't have to go to Rocky Hill," Colwell said. "They can come here and try the machine and see how easy it is to use."

For more information, call the Connecticut State Library at 800-842-4516 or 860-721-2056.

Copyright © 2018, Courant Community
34°
http://www.courant.com/community/rnw-pt-putnam-talking-book-1003-20140929-story.html
www.courant.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-13
167645
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:KWFZ46QO3CXMFNO2NWPVL4YWRVL6SI2S
<urn:uuid:b9347124-d638-44ba-998b-171882ee8163>
2018-03-22T10:05:00Z
104.112.42.254
text/html
sha1:E3NDRYI2ON4H7EZUFAMIWIGCKGSVHACZ
<urn:uuid:57967133-9fc8-404e-901b-61cbc712526d>
http://www.courant.com/community/rnw-pt-putnam-talking-book-1003-20140929-story.html
response
<urn:uuid:de954013-02c4-45af-b38f-b96e7addcda6>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-149-106-148.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-13
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for March 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf