Talking Books Talk - Website at State Library of Kansas

Kansas Talking Books patrons can enjoy free access to this service with several great benefits:

Unlimited access time — keep downloaded books as long as you like.
No waiting lists — everyone can read the same book at the same time.
Multi-device convenience — read across multiple devices and platforms.

Starting in 1999 as Web-Braille, BARD has changed over the decades to become what it is today, providing access to audio books, audio magazines, braille books, braille magazines, and music appreciation and learning materials in audio and braille formats. We include here a brief look at the timeline of significant changes to BARD over the years.

1999 - Web-Braille on the Internet is launched for blind and visually impaired library users. Web-Braille provided direct access to thousands of electronic braille files.

April 2009 - BARD Website launches for all talking book users after a two year pilot program.

2013 - BARD Mobile app for iOS is released.

November 2014 - Kansas Talking Books Uploads our first book to BARD. DBC02401 The blue shoe: a tale of thievery, villainy, sorcery, and shoes by Rod Townley

2015 - BARD Mobile app for Android and Kindle Fire devices is released.

December 2016 - BARD Express desktop application becomes available for Windows computers.

Fall 2019 - Spanish BARD Interface introduced .

April 2022 - French BARD interface introduced.

August 2022 - Many Faces of BARD patron program from NLS begins with monthly topics that help patrons learn about BARD

August 2024 - BARD Express Player added, enabling users to download and play audio books and magazines on their personal Windows computer.

2024 - Amazon Alexa smart speaker skill launches open beta testing, allowing patrons to access BARD by voice on their Amazon smart speaker or Alexa mobile app.

August 2025 - BARD website updated to BARD 2.0 with a cleaner interface the ability to refine searches.

2025 - The new digital advanced player (DA2) launched with on board BARD accessibility, enabling patrons to download books and magazines directly to the player.

Recent Posts

November 2025 Staff Picks

Kansas Talking Books staff share with you what they've been reading this month. Maybe you'll find your next read from their selections. Don't forget these books are all available from BARD, Braille and Audio Reading Download, a free download library service provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled to all Kansas Talking Books patrons. Learn more at https://library.ks.gov/talking-books/bard.Michael Lang, DirectorDB 104866 Wizard and glass: Dark Tower, book 4 by Stephen King Roland and his band continue their quest for the Tower by following a beam of energy. Roland also, in a flashback, narrates the tale of his first love, Susan Delgado. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 1997.Also available in braille as BRG02219.DB 104868 Wolves of the Calla: Dark Tower, book 5 by Stephen King Roland and his companions continue their quest to the Dark Tower. In the village of Calla Bryn Sturgis, they meet disgraced priest Father Callahan, who asks for help against the kidnapping wolves. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2003.Also available in braille as BRG02067.Dylan Calhoon, Patron Services ManagerDB 82848 A knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The tales of Dunk and Egg series, books 1-3 by George R. R. Martin Sir Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and his squire Egg (one day to be King Aegon Targaryen) go on adventures. Three novellas explore the history of the Seven Kingdoms, many years before the events told in the epic series A Song of Ice and Fire. Some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2015.Maggie Witte, Outreach LibrarianDB 129758 Immortally yours: Argeneau, book 26 by Lynsay Sands "One hundred and twenty-five years is a long time to nurse a crush. That's how long it's been since Beth Argenis first met Cullen "Scotty" MacDonald and he instantly became the star of her most X-rated dreams. Back then, he was rescuing her from a Rogue Immortal. Now Beth's a Rogue Hunter--a damn good one. She doesn't need saving anymore, despite what Scotty thinks. What she does need is the fierce, wild desire that finally erupts between them. Scotty has hesitated to claim Beth as his own. But one explosive kiss confirms what he's long suspected: She's his life mate. But Beth is tough, fearless, beautiful...and in immortal danger. Unless he wants to lose her forever, he'll have to rethink everything he once believed about love and destiny as well as confront an enemy who's terrifyingly close."-- From publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.DB 130000 Twice bitten: Argeneau, book 27 by Lynsay Sands "For someone who's been around for over a hundred and forty years, immortal Elspeth Argeneau hasn't done a whole lot of living. Now that she's moved away from her controlling mother, she's tracking down rogue vampires and enjoying some overdue freedom. A fling would be fun. A life mate can wait. Yet to Elspeth's surprise, her landlady's hot grandson checks both boxes. Wyatt fell instantly in love with Elspeth four years ago. He's stunned to run into her again, especially as she has no memory of him. Then again, there are a lot of things about Elspeth that don't make sense, like the miraculous speed with which her wounds heal. And the chemistry that transforms every touch into an explosion of desire. But with mysterious "accidents" besieging Elspeth, the ex-Special Forces soldier appoints himself her bodyguard. But time is running out to uncover the truth about her enemies--and rediscover the man determined to love her for eternity."-- From publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.DB 130320 Vampires like it hot: Argeneau, book 28 by Lynsay Sands ""Vampires ... " When Raffaele Notte pulls a barely dressed, disoriented woman from the ocean, the last thing he expects is for her to utter that word. The immortal has come to the island resort to help his cousin, but now, it seems, there are rogue vampires dining on unsuspecting tourists. And he soon realizes that not only is Jess a target, she's also the life mate he's been waiting for ... Vampires are real. Jess would've never believed it until she saw them with her own eyes. She knows she has to get off the island, and her gallant rescuer has offered to help. There's something about Raffaele that's unlike any man she has ever met, and his touch sends pleasure through her that is beyond all imagining. But when Jess discovers who he really is, will she risk life as she knows it for a chance of forever by his side?" -- From publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.DB 130690 The trouble with vampires: Argeneau, book 29 by Lynsay Sands "Irresistible desire and thrilling suspense combine in this electrifying new Argeneau novel from New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands. For close to three thousand years the imposing, impossibly handsome Santo Notte has fought in armies across the world and battled his own, more personal enemies. Of all the places he might expect to encounter his life mate, a quiet corner of upstate New York doesn't seem likely. But as soon as he makes contact with history professor Petronella Stone, while hunting down a suspected rogue immortal, he knows that she will be the greatest adventure of his eternal life. He expects her to be surprised, confused, even overwhelmed. What he doesn't expect is that Pet has a secret history of her own. There's no mistaking the mind-blowing, mutual pleasure they share. But as Pet struggles to protect her nephew from a danger lurking too close to home, Santo realizes there's another threat to her safety--him. And claiming their passionate future will be impossible until he leaves his past behind, forever ..." -- From publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.DB 57755 Touching the void: the true story of one man's miraculous survival by Joe Simpson Mountain climber recounts his harrowing 1985 survival story of plunging off an Andean ice ledge, forcing his partner, Simon Yates, to cut the rope binding them. Describes Simpson's grueling descent with a broken leg and Yates's emotional turmoil believing his friend dead. Some strong language. Bestseller. 1988.Troy Arndt, Circulation ClerkDB 125872 Herscht 07769: Florian Herscht's Bach novel by László Krasznahorkai "The gentle giant Florian Herscht has a problem: having faithfully attended Herr Köhler's adult education classes in physics, he is convinced that disaster is imminent. And so he embarks upon a one-sided correspondence with Chancellor Angela Merkel, to convince her of the danger of the complete destruction of all physical matter. Florian works for the Boss (the head of a local neo-Nazi gang), who has taken him under his wing and gotten him work as a graffiti cleaner in the small eastern German town of Kana. The Boss is enraged by a graffiti artist who is defacing the various monuments to Johann Sebastian Bach in Thuringia with wolf emblems. A Bach fanatic and director of an amateur orchestra, the Boss is determined to catch the culprit with the help of his gang. Florian has no choice but to join the chase. Havoc ensues when real wolves are sighted in the area... Written in one cascading sentence with the power of atomic particles colliding, Krasznahorkai's novel is a tour de force, a morality play, a blistering satire, a hilarious and devastating encapsulation of our helplessness at the moral and environmental dilemmas we face today."-- Provided by publisher. -- Translated from the 2021 Hungarian edition -- Strong language and some violence. -- Translated from the 2021 Hungarian edition. Strong language and some violence.DB 46904 Blindness by José Saramago Written by the Nobel Prize- winning Portuguese author. Without cause people are suddenly becoming blind. A doctor's wife is spared but pretends she is blind to remain with her husband. Quarantined by the government in an abandoned mental hospital, the blinded citizens create a reign of terror. Some strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex.DB 29012 A prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving When he was eleven years old, Owen Meany hit a foul ball that struck and killed the mother of his best pal, Johnny Wheelwright the story's narrator. Thereafter, Owen believes himself to be an instrument of God. What happens to the two pals after that accident is extraordinary and terrifying. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. Book club selection.DB 21531 The cider house rules by John Irving Set in rural Maine at the turn of the century, this is the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch, saint, obstetrician, orphanage director, ether addict, and abortionist. His medical practices are hindered and abetted by his favorite orphan, Homer Wells. The novel is based on documents left by the author's physician grandfather. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller 1985.DB 11764 The world according to Garp by John Irving The fictional life and times of T.S. Garp, famous writer and son of Jenny, an early feminist leader. Named after a father he never sees, Garp grows up to be a fiercely independent, determined individual and his mother's equal. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 1978....

On The Download - November 2025

Check out last month's top BARD downloads in Kansas! If you aren't yet a BARD user, you can learn more at the NLS BARD website. If BARD isn't a good fit for you, we are still happy to mail books and magazines directly to your home. Just drop us a line at KTB@ks.gov or call 800-362-0699. Happy reading!Most downloaded audio books in Kansas, October 2025DB128800 The Argument by Jenkins, VictoriaDB129492 The Tenant by McFadden, FreidaDB129760 Hidden Nature by Roberts, NoraDBC29308 Mean and Evil by Johnstone, William W. & Johnstone, J. A.DB131308 Don't Let Him In by Jewell, LisaDBC32225 Hey, Cowgirl, Need a Ride? by Black, BaxterDB129178 The Patient by Terry, TeriDBC32217 Murder on the Minnesota by Allen, ConradDB129830 Husband Missing by Regan, LisaDBC32218 Don't Think Twice by Johnson, WayneDB130298 Nightshade by Connelly, MichaelDBC32221 Savage Justice by Handberg, RonDB131405 The Tattered Quilt by Brunstetter, Wanda E.DB131325 The Locked Ward by Pekkanen, Sarah Most downloaded audio magazines in Kansas, October 2025Atlantic Monthly October, 2025The Week September 26, 2025Southern Living September, 2025Horticulture: For Gardeners Everywhere September, 2025Choice Magazine Listening October, 2025Cooking Light September, 2025Foreign Affairs September, 2025Consumer Reports: On Health October, 2025New York Times Book Review September 21, 2025AARP Magazine and Bulletin October, 2025The New Yorker October 06, 2025Consumer Reports September, 2025Travel and Leisure September, 2025A full list of available magazines can be found on the NLS Website. Most downloaded braille books in Kansas, October 2025. BR 25721 Lateral: Wonderful answers to weird questions by Scott, Tom & Bodycombe, David J.BRG05216 The Woods by Coben, HarlanBR 26173 Get Cooking: 150 simple recipes to get you started in the kitchen by Katzen, Mollie.BR 25101 Overcoming Every Problem: 40 promises from God's word to strengthen you through life's greatest challenges by Meyer, Joyce...

Brief History of BARD

BARD, Braille and Audio Reading Download, is a free download service provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) that makes all the digital books and magazines in the NLS collection, and many books and magazines produced by network libraries across the U.S., accessible at all times. With today’s fast cellular, Wi-Fi, and computer technology, downloads take almost no time at all. Kansas Talking Books patrons can enjoy free access to this service with several great benefits:Unlimited access time — keep downloaded books as long as you like.No waiting lists — everyone can read the same book at the same time.Multi-device convenience — read across multiple devices and platforms.Starting in 1999 as Web-Braille, BARD has changed over the decades to become what it is today, providing access to audio books, audio magazines, braille books, braille magazines, and music appreciation and learning materials in audio and braille formats. We include here a brief look at the timeline of significant changes to BARD over the years.1999 - Web-Braille on the Internet is launched for blind and visually impaired library users. Web-Braille provided direct access to thousands of electronic braille files.April 2009 - BARD Website launches for all talking book users after a two year pilot program. 2013 - BARD Mobile app for iOS is released.November 2014 - Kansas Talking Books Uploads our first book to BARD. DBC02401 The blue shoe: a tale of thievery, villainy, sorcery, and shoes by Rod Townley2015 - BARD Mobile app for Android and Kindle Fire devices is released.December 2016 - BARD Express desktop application becomes available for Windows computers.Fall 2019 - Spanish BARD Interface introduced .April 2022 - French BARD interface introduced. August 2022 - Many Faces of BARD patron program from NLS begins with monthly topics that help patrons learn about BARD August 2024 - BARD Express Player added, enabling users to download and play audio books and magazines on their personal Windows computer.2024 - Amazon Alexa smart speaker skill launches open beta testing, allowing patrons to access BARD by voice on their Amazon smart speaker or Alexa mobile app.August 2025 - BARD website updated to BARD 2.0 with a cleaner interface the ability to refine searches.2025 - The new digital advanced player (DA2) launched with on board BARD accessibility, enabling patrons to download books and magazines directly to the player....

October 2025 Staff Picks

Kansas Talking Books staff share what they've been reading recently and recommend as your next read.Michael Lang, DirectorDB 50842 Alice's adventures in Wonderland; and, Through the looking glass, and what Alice found there by Lewis Carroll Extraordinary things happen when a little girl falls down a rabbit hole and encounters the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and other unusual characters. Alice's second adventure takes her to a land with a peculiar back-to-front order in which everything is reversed. For grades 3-6 and older readers. 1865.DB 127916 The lamb by Lucy Rose "Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember. When Margot is not at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she satisfies her burning appetite by picking apart their bodies. But Mama's want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her bid for freedom."-- From publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.DB 94129 We are legion (we are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor A century after his death, Bob Johansson wakes up to find that his consciousness has been uploaded into computer hardware on an interstellar probe. His job is now to seek habitable planets for humanity, but he will face foreign probes with the same goal. Contains strong language and violence. Commercial audiobook. 2016.DB 128442 The unworthy by Augustina Maria Bazterrica "From her cell in a mysterious convent, a woman writes the story of her life in whatever she can find--discarded ink, dirt, and even her own blood. A lower member of the Sacred Sisterhood, deemed an unworthy, she dreams of ascending to the ranks of the Enlightened at the center of the convent and of pleasing the foreboding Superior Sister. Outside, the world is plagued by catastrophe--cities are submerged underwater, electricity and the internet are nonexistent, and bands of survivors fight and forage in a cruel, barren landscape. Inside, the narrator is controlled, punished, but safe. But when a stranger makes her way past the convent walls, joining the ranks of the unworthy, she forces the narrator to consider her long-buried past--and what she may be overlooking about the Enlightened. As the two women grow closer, the narrator is increasingly haunted by questions about her own past, the environmental future, and her present life inside the convent. How did she get to the Sacred Sisterhood? Why can't she remember her life before? And what really happens when a woman is chosen as one of the Enlightened?"-- From publisher. -- Translated from the Spanish edition. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.Nataly Renfro, Machine ClerkDB 125976 Southern beauty: race, ritual, and memory in the modern South by Elizabeth Bronwyn Boyd "Southern Beauty explains a curiosity: why a feminine ideal rooted in the nineteenth century continues to enjoy currency well into the twenty-first. Elizabeth Bronwyn Boyd examines how the continuation of certain gender rituals in the American South has served to perpetuate racism, sexism, and classism. In a trio of popular gender rituals-sorority rush, beauty pageants, and the Confederate Pageant of the Natchez (Mississippi) Pilgrimage-young white southern women have readily ditched contemporary modes of dress and comportment for performances of purity, gentility, and deference. Clearly, the ability to "do" white southern womanhood, convincingly and on cue, has remained a valued performance. But why? Based on ethnographic research and more than sixty taped interviews, Southern Beauty goes behind the scenes of the three rituals to explore the motivations and rewards associated with participation. The picture that Boyd paints is not pretty: it is one of southern beauties securing status and sustaining segregation by making nostalgic gestures to the southern past. Boyd also maintains that the audiences for these rituals and pageants have been complicit, unwilling to acknowledge the beauties' racial work or their investment in it. With its focus on performance, Southern Beauty moves beyond representations to show how femininity in motion-stylized and predictable but ephemeral-has succeeded as an enduring emblem, where other symbols faltered, by failing to draw scrutiny. Continuing to make the moves of region and race even as many Confederate symbols have been retired, the southern beauty has persisted, maintaining power and privilege through consistent performance."-- Provided by publisher. -- Commercial audiobook.Miguel Delgado, Library AssistantDB 82848 A knight of the seven kingdoms: the tales of Dunk and Egg by George R. R. Martin Sir Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and his squire Egg (one day to be King Aegon Targaryen) go on adventures. Three novellas explore the history of the Seven Kingdoms, many years before the events told in the epic series A Song of Ice and Fire. Some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2015.Maggie Witte, Outreach LibrarianDB 72629 A discovery of witches: All Souls trilogy, book 1 by Deborah Harkness After scholar and witch Diana Bishop requests an alchemical manuscript from the depths of Oxford's Bodleian Library, she finds the magical power within the leather cover disturbing and hastily sends it back. But the book's reemergence causes a chain reaction through the paranormal community. Descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2011.DB 75214 Shadow of night: All Souls trilogy, book 2 by Deborah Harkness Diana and Matthew, from A Discovery of Witches (DB 72629), find themselves in Elizabethan England. Court intrigues demand their attention as they search for the enchanted Ashmole manuscript and Diana struggles to understand her powers. Descriptions of sex and some violence. Bestseller. 2012.DB 79442 The book of life: All Souls trilogy, book 3 by Deborah Harkness After the events of Shadow of Night (DB 75214), Diana and Matthew return to modern-day Sept-Tours. The Congregation hunts them to demand answers regarding Diana's change in powers. They race against time to find the final pages of the Book of Life. Explicit descriptions of sex and some violence. Bestseller. 2014.DB 122854 The black bird oracle: All Souls trilogy, book 5 by Deborah Harkness "Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself--and her family history--in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls series. Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches. Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two other-worldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England, dissolved the Covenant between the three species, and awoken the dark powers within Diana's family line. Now, Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family's future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It's time you came home, Diana. On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family's dark past, and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power-if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it"-- Provided by publisher. -- Explicit descriptions of sex, some strong language, some violence. Commercial audiobook.DB 118427 Argylle by Elly Conway "A luxury train speeding towards Moscow and a date with destiny. A CIA plane downed in the jungles of the Golden Triangle. A Nazi hoard entombed in the remote mountains of South-West Poland. A missing treasure, the eighth wonder of the world, lost for seven decades. One Russian magnate's dream of restoring a nation to greatness has set in motion a chain of events which will take the world to the brink of chaos. Only Frances Coffey, the CIA's most legendary spymaster, can prevent it. But to do so, she needs someone special. Enter Argylle, a troubled agent with a tarnished past who may just have the skills to take on one of the most powerful men in the world. If only he can save himself first..." -- Provided by publisher. -- Some descriptions of sex, strong language, violence. Commercial audiobook.DB 111034 Witch queens, voodoo spirits & hoodoo saints: a guide to magical New Orleans by Denise Alvarado "A magical mystery tour of the extraordinary historical characters that have defined the unique spiritual landscape of New Orleans. New Orleans has long been America's most magical city, inhabited by a fascinating visible and invisible world, full of mysteries, known for its decadence and haunted by its spirits. If Salem, Massachusetts, is famous for its persecution of witches, New Orleans is celebrated for its embrace of the magical, mystical, and paranormal. New Orleans is acclaimed for its witches, ghosts, and vampires. Because of its unique history, New Orleans is the historical stronghold of traditional African religions and spirituality in the US. No other city worldwide is as associated with Vodou as New Orleans. In her new book, author and scholar Denise Alvarado takes us on a magical tour of New Orleans. There is a mysterious spiritual underbelly hiding in plain sight in New Orleans, and in this book Alvarado shows us where it is and who the characters are. She tells where they come from and how they persist and manifest today. Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints shines a light on notable spirits and folk saints such as Papa Legba, Annie Christmas, Black Hawk, African-American culture hero Jean St. Malo, St. Expedite, plague saint Roch, and, of course, the mother and father of New Orleans Voudou, Marie Laveau and Doctor John Montenée. Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints serves as a secret history of New Orleans, revealing details even locals may not know." -- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.DB 58255 Again the magic by Lisa Kleypas 1844. Twelve years ago, Lady Aline Marsden fell in love with John McKenna, one of her father's servants, who was sent away when their infatuation was discovered. Now, having made his fortune in America, McKenna returns to seduce and abandon Aline to avenge his heartbreak. Explicit descriptions of sex. 2004.DB 129757 Immortal unchained: Argeneau, book 25 by Lynsay Sands "Ever since Domitian Argenis recognized Sarita as his life mate, he's been waiting for the perfect moment to claim her. Those fantasies did not include him being chained to a table in a secret lab or both of them being held hostage by a mad scientist. Somehow, they have to escape... Sarita has seen some crazy things as a cop, but nothing to rival Domitian. A vampire? Seriously? But his healing ability, incredible powers, and their mind-blowing physical connection? None of it should be possible, yet her body knows differently. Now, not only do they have to save each other, but other innocent lives are at stake. Failure is not an option, for Sarita intends that Domitian show her exactly what an eternity of pleasure feels like..."-- From publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook....