Just over 166,000 people in the West Midlands who are blind or partially sighted are being invited to join RNIB's Talking Books service. The service which provides 4,000 audio books every single day to people with sight loss, is now entirely free for all blind and partially sighted people. RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People), the sight loss charity which runs the service, made the announcement on the 80th anniversary of Talking Books.
There are currently almost 7,100 subscribers in the West Midlands and RNIB hopes today's decision will encourage many more people with sight loss to sign up and receive free audio books.
The Talking Books service was launched in 1935 to help soldiers who had been blinded in the First World War and were struggling to learn braille. The National Institute for the Blind (now RNIB) and St Dunstan's (now Blind Veterans UK) joined forces to create the Sound Recording Committee which originally recorded Talking Books onto records to be played on gramophones.
Today, almost 30,000 blind and partially sighted adults and children across the UK use Talking Books and the RNIB library is the largest of its kind in Europe. Readers can access the audio books on CD or USB or as a digital download, so that they can listen to them how they choose, whether at home or 'on-the-go'.
Today's announcement will mean that anyone who is registered as blind or partially sighted can borrow up to six Talking Books at any time, completely free-of-charge. Previously, customers contributed an annual subscription of £50.
Neil Heslop, Director of RNIB Solutions, said:
"At RNIB we feel passionately that reading can change the lives of blind and partially sighted people. After losing my own sight at a young age, I personally know how important the connection to the written word is, both for education and leisure. We're committed to providing a world-class service which makes a huge difference to many people."
The RNIB Library also offers a range of fiction and non-fiction titles for adults and children in braille and giant print. To find out more about the RNIB Library or to sign up for Talking call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk/library .
