BARD Downloading for All!

Abstract

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at the U.S. Library of Congress offers an excellent service for its members to download tens of thousands of audiobooks, audio magazines, and Braille. It is called the Braille and Audio Reading Download site, affectionately known as BARD. The New Jersey State Library Talking Book & Braille Center (TBBC) has demonstrated national leadership by working with NLS to craft the BARD Pilot Project in the state of New Jersey located in the USA. The pilot project is a partnership with public libraries in New Jersey to assist TBBC members with print impairments to download from BARD, a task that can be difficult for numerous reasons. This project gives members access to more books and creates a closer relationship between TBBC members and their public libraries. We hope this project will be expanded nationally