How To Apply/Application Form

How to apply for service:

Service for individuals  You may contact the Voices of Vision Talking Book Center to request a print application form and additional information about the program. You may also download or fill out and print an online application form. The application must be signed by a certifying authority as described below. 

• TBBS Application for Free Library Service (pdf)
• TBBS Application for Free Library Service (HTML)

Service for institutions  Institutions such as nursing homes, retirement communities, schools, rehabilitation centers and other organizations which provide services for those unable to read regular print due to visual or physical limitations may qualify as well. Request an institutional application from Voices of Vision.

More information about school service may be found at our Illinois KidsZone website.

Once completed applications are received by the Voices of Vision Talking Book Center, a reader advisor will be in contact to answer any questions about talking book center procedures and to arrange to begin the talking book or braille library service.

Please contact Voices of Vision with any questions about eligibility, certification, or the application process.     

Who is eligible for the program?

1.  Blind persons whose visual acuity, as determined by competent authority, is 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses, or whose widest diameter of visual field subtends an angular distance no
greater than 20 degrees. 

2.  Other physically handicapped persons are eligible as follows:

A. Persons whose visual disability, with correction and regardless of optical measurement, is certified by competent authority as preventing the reading of standard printed material.

B. Persons certified by competent authority as unable to read or unable to use standard printed material as a result of physical limitations.

C. Persons certified by competent authority as having a reading disability resulting from organic dysfunction and of sufficient severity to prevent their reading printed material in a normal manner.

Who can certify people as eligible? 

In cases of blindness, visual impairment, or physical limitations, “competent authority” is defined to include doctors of osteopathy; ophthalmologists; optometrists; registered nurses; therapists; and professional staff of hospitals, institutions, and public or private welfare agencies (e.g., social workers, case workers, counselors, rehabilitation teachers, and superintendents). In the absence of any of these, certification may be made by professional librarians or by any person whose competence under specific circumstances is acceptable to the Library of Congress. 

In the case of reading disability from organic dysfunction, competent authority is defined as doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy who may consult with colleagues in associated disciplines.