Our Talking Books Division offers a variety of audiobooks for patrons to include Braille and Audio Reading Downloads or "BARD" resources, and audiobooks from Digital Talking Books, Bookshare and CloudLibrary.
Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) offers more than 150,000 accessible titles for a variety of devices and is a service of the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS). BARD users must be current, active Kansas Talking Books patrons, have a valid email address and internet connection.
Choose from more than 160,000 digital talking books primarily in English and with a growing Spanish and other international language collection. Digital Talking Books are loaded onto customized cartridges, which can hold multiple books tailored to your preferences. You will be supplied with a pre-paid container provided to return books via the United States Postal Service at no cost to you.
A limited number of annual subscriptions to Bookshare, an online library of accessible ebooks, are available to Kansas Talking Books patrons. Bookshare library has over 960,000 titles in a variety of formats, in fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers, textbooks and career resources, as well as magazines. Download titles via internet connection. Titles are available to read on any device including smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers and assistive technology devices.
The State Library of Kansas offers CloudLibrary to all Kansans with a Kansas Library eCard. ClouldLibrary is full of audiobooks - fiction and non-fiction - from popular authors and large publishers to satisfy Kansans of varied interests, reading abilities and ages.
Call 800-362-0699 to get a Kansas eCard or visit your local library.
Kansas Talking Books provides free library services to Kansans of ALL ages:
Who are blind.
Who have limited vision.
Who have difficulty holding a book due to stroke, accident, neuromuscular disorder, or many other causes.
Who have been diagnosed with dyslexia or another perceptual or reading disability.
Who are either permanently or temporarily unable to read printed works to substantially the same degree as a person without a print disability.
