In Arizona more than 65,000 visually and physically disabled people are eligible to use free services offered by the Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library. The Library was designated as a Regional Library of the National Library Service by the Library of Congress in 1969, the year the Division was formed.

Talking Book Library services are available to persons who cannot hold, handle or read conventional printed material because of a visual or physical disability. Its services can be used by those with either permanent or temporary disabilities and are available to individuals or to institutions serving such persons.

· Loan of recorded books and magazines.

· Loan of equipment to play recorded material.

· Loan of braille books and magazines.

· Free mailing privileges.

Talking books are books recorded on cassettes. The collection of braille, talking books, magazines, and playback equipment is loaned to individuals who meet the eligibility criteria of the National Library Service. There is no charge for the service, including the mailing of material to and from the patron. Interested persons may contact the library for an application for service.

In addition to the National Library Service's collection of books, magazines and playback equipment and its other services, a cadre of local volunteers narrates and monitors recorded books and magazines, repairs cassette books and playback equipment, provides home delivery to new patrons, and performs clerical and professional tasks that enable the Division to meet the highly diverse information needs of its patrons.

The Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library offers a great variety of recorded books -- both fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction books cover topics similar to those offered in a mid-size public library and include biographies, poetry, humor, religion, and history. The fiction collection ranges from mysteries and westerns to best-sellers, romance, and suspense.

Library patrons receive bi-monthly catalogs of newly released books as well as a yearly catalog and may request specialized catalogs such as Romances, Mysteries, and Science Fiction. A Union catalog of the National Library Service is available on the Internet and instructions for using the catalog are available on cassette RC 38507.

Over 90 popular magazines in braille or on cassette are available free of charge from the Library or are mailed directly to subscribers.

Volunteers in Arizona record several books each year that are about Arizona and the Southwest and, additionally, record other books that are of more general interest. You may call the library to request a bibliography of locally produced books or to inquire about the availability of any particular title.

The Library offers a number of braille magazines by mail and provides braille book service to our patrons through the Utah Regional Library. The Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library has produced a small number of print/braille picture books that are available to institutions serving visually impaired children.

Books are loaned for a one month period.