Books & Reading

The Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (OLBPD) is part of the Cleveland Public Library. In partnership with the State Library of Ohio Talking Book Program, OLBPD serves as the Regional Library for the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Print Disabled of the Library of Congress, and administers a free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the State of Ohio by postage-free mail. OLBPD and the State Library of Ohio Talking Book Program received the 2010 National Library Service Network Library of the Year Award.

Download this application for individuals who would like to receive items from the Talking Book Machine and Regional Library Services.

Certification. Must be completed for all applicants:

In cases of blindness, visual disability, or physical limitations, certifying authority is defined to include doctors of medicine; doctors of osteopathy; ophthalmologists; optometrists; registered nurses; therapists, professional staff of hospitals, institutions, and public welfare agencies. In the absence of any of these, certification may be made by professional librarians or by any person whose competence under specific circumstances is acceptable to the Library of Congress.

NOTE:
Playback equipment and special attachments are provided free to eligible persons on extended loan. If the equipment is not being used in conjunction with recorded reading material provided by the Library of Congress and its cooperating libraries it must be returned to the issuing agency.

The Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) provides free library service to residents of Indiana who cannot use standard printed materials due to a visual or physical disability. Patrons may borrow braille books, digital audio books, large print books, audio magazines, and special playback equipment from the library; materials will be mailed directly to patrons homes using “free matter for the blind”. Braille and audio books are also available to download from BARD.

The Kentucky Talking Book Library (KTBL) provides free library service to people who cannot read traditional print because they have a visual, physical, or reading disability.  Audio and Braille materials are sent to and from users by postage-free mail, or can be downloaded from the internet. A special Talking Book player is provided on loan. KTBL has been in operation since 1969 and is part of a national network of libraries administered by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a branch of the Library of Congress.

Find up-to-date analysis, biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism, and reviews on more than 130,000 writers from all time periods and disciplines.  Products include:  Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Novels for Students, Poetry Criticism, and Shakespearean Criticism. 

Access over 130,000 full-text poems and 650,000+ poetry citations, as well as short stories, speeches, and plays.  Also includes secondary materials such as biographies, images, and more. 

National Library Service (NLS) is a free braille and talking book library service for people with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or a physical disability that prevents them from reading or holding the printed page. Through a national network of cooperating libraries, NLS circulates books and magazines in braille or audio formats, delivered by postage-free mail or instantly downloadable.

Geared towards young readers, NoveList K-8 Plus is a comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction, with thousands of book reviews and features that allow you to search by plot, setting, series name, and favorite authors and titles. The “Teacher Resources” tab has useful material for teachers and media specialists to help integrate reading across the curriculum and support young readers.  

Looking for a good book? Wondering what to read next? NoveList Plus is a comprehensive readers’ advisory resource that includes thousands of fiction and nonfiction titles, author readalikes, award winners, book club resources, articles, recommended reads and features that allow you to search by author, titles, series, plot, appeal, and genre. 

Written by scholars, these in-depth, critical introductions in eBook format cover the lives and works of writers, the history of literary movements, and the development of literary genres.  Content is coordinated with input from librarians and educators to include authors studied in high schools and colleges.