Talking Books
The Assistive Services Department in the Central Rappahannock Regional Library Headquarters houses the Fredericksburg Area Subregional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. The Subregional Library is a component of National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), maintained by The Library of Congress. Contact the Assistive Services Department at 540-372-1144, ext. 234, for more information about the Subregional Library's collection and services.
Talking Books
Anyone in the Subregional Library's service area (City of Fredericksburg, and Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Westmoreland counties) who is unable to read or use standard print materials due to temporary or permanent visual impairment, physical disability, or dyslexia may be eligible for the Talking Books Service. Eligible individuals and institutions may borrow a free player as long as it is needed and receive digital or cassette books.
Apply for membership in the Fredericksburg Area Subregional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped by completing the form below and mailing it to the library (address included on form). Call the Assistive Services Department at 540-372-1144, ext. 234, to have an application mailed to you.
Braille Audio and Reading Download (BARD)
BARD is a program offered by the National Library Service. This free program allows patrons to download talking books from an extensive collection of titles.
To obtain a BARD account, you must first be a member of the Subregional Library for Blind housed in the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.
Once you have a BARD account, you will need a digital talking book player loaned through the Subregional Library and a computer with a high speed internet access. You will then be able to save the talking books to a storage device and play them on your digital talking book player. The downloaded books can be saved to a simple thumb drive which fits in the left side of the digital player, or a blank book cartridge and connector cable.
If you have any questions, call the Library at 540-372-1144 ext 234 and speak to the Assistive Services department or email BARD@crrl.org.
Subregional Library Collection
- The Subregional Library local collection of over 10,000 titles
- The NLS nationwide collection of digital and cassette titles
- The Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired Braille collection
- Descriptive videos provided by the Lions Club and the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Friends of the Eagles
- Tabletop magnifying lenses and a small collection of large print and cassette material on issues related to vision loss
- A Reading Edge or Kurzweil reader. Subregional Library staff can assist users in the operation of the reader, which will read most standard typed text.
- Braille by request. The Subregional LIbrary has a Braille printer and the software to translate print to Braille, thanks to the generous support of local Lions Clubs. If you need a document Brailled for school, church, or business use, we are happy to perform this service, but please call the Assistive Services Department (372-1144, x234) to arrange for printing two weeks in advance of your deadline.
