ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Having access to reading materials is incredibly important, especially to people with vision disabilities, and soon, part of the State Library of Kansas will be working to help spread the word about just that.
“We at Kansas Talking Books are a division of the State Library of Kansas. Our upcoming NovemBARD program is to help make sure everyone, whether they're already patrons or know someone who might qualify for our services, is aware of our offering of BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) services,” Kansas Talking Books Director Michael Lang said. “BARD is provided through the federal program, the National Library Service, for people who are blind and/or print-disabled, and it's a division of the Library of Congress. Our goal is to make sure everyone knows ... everyone is aware of talking books, and a lot of people are still aware of the old style, which is us sending out cassette tapes and players. We do still send out that physical equipment to people through the mail, and it's all free and available to patrons, but a lot of people don't know they can use BARD to access audiobooks, audio magazines, Braille books and magazines, musical scores in Braille, audio instructional materials for musical materials, etc. We also started a roadshow idea last fall, and since we don't see very many of our patrons face-to-face, we love getting out on the road and meeting our patrons who we've talked to on the phone or e-mailed back and forth with.”
Lang said he and his staff will be working hard throughout November to spread the word about the BARD services.
“A lot of our spreading the word will be done online, we're going to highlight some of our newer advancements and upgrades to our BARD services. BARD Express is a Windows-based program that allows patrons to download books and play them, and new to the program is a player so patrons can listen to their books and download them onto their computer,” Lang said. “There's also a open beta right now for a smart speaker app called My Talking Books for users to access their BARD account through their smart speaker. At the beginning of 2025, we anticipate rolling out a new digital talking book machine, which will include direct access to BARD. We really want to highlight those changes as well as advice on searching through BARD, and we'll be doing some roadshows. We want people to know BARD is more than just one thing, there are now multiple ways patrons can access its offerings.”
The importance of offering such services cannot be understated, Lang said.
“We're a service for people who are blind and/or print-disabled, and there are a lot of Kansans who fit in that category, so we want to be there for them,” Lang said. “For people who lose their vision later in life, they might not know this service is available. And for a lot of people, when they hear the term 'talking books,' they're not 100 percent sure what all that entails and might not know about the advancements that have been made over the past decade or so. And even if there's a service you already use, we're another resource to be used, and we're free to access for all patrons. We are here to help – we offer one-on-one personalized service, people can call and ask us about what materials we have and support for BARD. We are here to help, we have staff members answering the phones and/or emails to find out what you need. We've got more than 170,000 titles and again, if there's a resource you're already using, use us to complement it. I tell everyone I have the best library job in the state. We're for people start off with us as their public library, and we're here for everyone who needs our services, whether it's Braille or audiobooks or whatever they need. For people who lose their vision later in life, especially if they're frequent readers, it can feel like they've lost part of themselves because they don't have the ability to read like they could before, and that just compounds on everything else they might be feeling. We're here, we're free, and we can help you with whatever you need. We've got the best job here helping people.”
Lang also offered encouragement for people to look into the Kansas Talking Books program.
“We are in contact with public libraries throughout the state, and most public libraries know who we are, so if there's something you need from us, or if you want to register as a patron, there should be someone who can sign off on the application,” Lang said. “A lot of libraries will have demonstration equipment on hand. People are also more than welcome to contact us through our Web site, which is https://library.ks.gov/talking-books, and it's got a bunch of information for how everything works. We're a division of the State Library of Kansas, we're a free service, and we're here to help anyone and everyone who needs it. It's personalized support, so we're happy to help you with anything and everything you need. We're here to help people get books, which is a really great job. If you have any questions, and if there are any particular materials you're looking for, feel free to reach out to us, and we'll answer you as best as we can.”
