BARD Demonstration Accounts

Each Public Library can sign up for a BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) Institution Account, and assign a representative to "demonstrate" downloading to eligible patrons. The purpose of a BARD Institution Account is to teach and demonstrate to individuals with print disabilities how to sign up for a BARD Individual Account, learn how to independently download their own materials from BARD to either a thumb drive, a digital cartridge, or an approved third party device purchased by the patron, unzip each downloaded item, and play it on their player. They can also play their downloaded materials on the MTBL free loaned player. BARD Institution Accounts are for teaching and demonstrating purposes only.  BARD offers four titles (listed below) to download that are in the public domain.  Once patrons are instructed on how to sign up for a BARD Individual Account, download materials, unzip an item and play it on their player, the Public Library has accomplished the goal of a BARD Institution "Demo" Account participant.

Braille into the Next Millennium
Essays examining the history and future of braille include such topics as the development of the literary, Nemeth, and music codes; braille production; legal issues; library service; and literacy and computer access concerns. Edited by Judith Dixon, with a foreword by Frank Kurt Cylke and a preface by Kenneth Jernigan.  DB 50969 (May be available only for download)

R Is for Reading: Library Service to Blind and Physically Handicapped Children
How can the Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) improve its service to children? Leslie Eldridge, a former NLS librarian in San Francisco, addresses this question to special education teachers, child counselors, reading specialists, librarians, and handicapped children and their mothers. Their responses offer specific suggestions concerning changes in library materials, equipment, and methods.  DB 23183 (May be available only for download)

Speaking Out: Personal and Professional Views on Library Service for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals
Candid interviews with users, practitioners, and students. Finding that library services for them are often substandard, disabled readers plead for easy and cordial access to the same services and programs that sighted readers enjoy.  DB 19131 (May be available only for download)

That All May Read: Library Service for Blind and Physically Handicapped People
Describes the laws and agencies serving handicapped people; gives a history of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; identifies sources of special media materials and reading aids; analyzes the characteristics of blind and handicapped readers; discusses the role of state, public, and academic libraries; and reviews activities abroad and internationally. DB 20002 (May be available only for download)