About the Collection

The collection of talking and braille books covers a wide range of interests.
The national collection includes the following formats:

• Talking Books 

A talking book is the complete text of a print book recorded on cassette by a professional narrator.

• Braille Books 

A braille book contains the entire text of a print book embossed in braille. 

Many braille titles are now available directly from Internet files. Web-Braille is a service that provides electronic files of braille books, magazines, and music to individuals registered with cooperating libraries. More information about this service is available in the National Library Service fact sheet Web Braille.

• Print/Braille Books

A print/braille book combines the complete print book (text and illustrations) with the braille text on clear sheets which overlay each page, allowing blind and sighted readers to enjoy the book together. 

 

The collection includes topics similar to those offered by a public library, including popular fiction and nonfiction for children and adults.  Examples of reading interests include:

Fiction:

Bestsellers
Suspense
Animal Stories
Classics
Science Fiction
Frontier/Pioneer Stories
Modern Novels
Fantasy
Sports Stories
Westerns
Short Stories
Award-Winning Books
Romance
Historical Novels
Series Books
Mysteries
Family Stories
Children's Literature

Non-fiction:

Bestsellers
Suspense
Animal Stories
Classics
Science Fiction
Frontier/Pioneer Stories
Modern Novels
Fantasy
Sports Stories
Westerns
Short Stories
Award-Winning Books
Romance
Historical Novels
Series Books
Mysteries
Family Stories
Children's Literature

Let’s Talk Books!
The collection of talking and braille books includes many titles popular with book clubs, book discussion groups, and community-wide reading programs. 

Book discussion groups, whether in person at a library or bookstore, or online, offer the opportunity to exchange thoughts and views about various aspects of the books selected, such as theme, character, and message.

Talking book and braille readers are welcome to contact Voices of Vision to ask whether a local book club selection is available on talking book or in braille.

Magazines
About 80 popular magazines are available on recorded cassette; over 30 are available in braille.  These magazines are provided as free subscriptions.  A listing and order form may also be requested from Voices of Vision. 

Finding and Ordering Books
There are several ways to locate and order talking and braille books:

Catalogs and Reader Advisory Service
Talking book and braille readers receive bi-monthly catalogs of newly released books (Talking Book Topics or Braille Book Review) as well as yearly catalogs. All catalogs contain checklist order forms. Talking book and braille readers are welcome to contact Voices of Vision to check on books by author, title, or subject.

Online Help
The Illinois online catalog is available to search the catalog and find out what books are available from the Illinois collection. Anyone may browse this catalog, but if registered talking book patrons want to order books online, they must contact a Readers’ Advisor at the Talking Book Center for a user I.D. and password.

http://www.klas.com/ilbph

The online catalog of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) is available to search the national collection.  Online ordering is not available on the NLS catalog; however, readers may contact the Talking Book Center to request books found on the NLS online catalog.