Our staff at the New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) are happy to be back, serving our patrons. Staff have been busy circulating books and equipment since June 1, while social distancing and following safety protocols.
If you have any questions or concerns please call or email our library. Our staff are taking phone calls, monitoring our email, and checking voicemails regularly. If you call our library and receive our voicemail, please leave a detailed message including your full name and a call back number. Our reader advisors will respond to your message as soon as possible.
As a reminder, if you are experiencing delays in receiving your books through the mail, please consider increasing your book quota by contacting TBBL staff.
We also encourage patrons, and family or friends of patrons, to register for the Braille and Audio Reading Download service (BARD). BARD allows patrons to download books, magazines, and music scores at any time! Every title is available as a digital download through BARD.
Patrons may access BARD using an Android, iOS, or Kindle device. Patrons may alternatively download books to a flash drive or blank cartridge and play them using your TBBL digital player or third party device. Books and magazines can also be downloaded in an electronic braille format and transferred to a refreshable braille display. Please contact our library if you are interested in BARD or you need help downloading.
We are here to help, so if you have any questions related to your service, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Toll Free: 1-800-342-3688
Email: tbbl@nysed.gov
Stay healthy and safe,
TBBL Staff
The National Library Service (NLS) has created a list of resources to assist disabled veterans, their families, and caregivers.
The NLS Resource List for Disabled Veterans 
provides information related to employment, daily life, finances, eye care, federal resources, and accessible reading materials.
NLS has also created a bibliography of reading material focusing on Veterans' Benefits. This list includes guides to services and programs to support veterans and their families.
According to Public Law 89-522, NLS patrons who have been honorably discharged from the armed forces of the United States receive preference in the lending of books, recordings, playback equipment, musical scores and instructional texts, and other specialized materials.
Eligible US Veterans are encouraged to apply for TBBL service. For more information, please contact library staff.
Print-braille titles are children's picture books that include large-print text and a clear plastic braille overlay between each page. Our print-braille collection contains both fiction and nonfiction titles and would capture the interest of younger readers, pre-k through 3rd grade.
Print-braille books are excellent for sharing with sighted and visually impaired reading buddies! Both children and adults borrow from this collection. If you are interested in learning more or borrowing print-braille books, please let us know.
Are you feeling stressed? Do you need a change of pace? These are certainly challenging times. Many of us are looking for books that bring us comfort and stories that boost our mood.
Our reader advisors have put together a list of recommended books to help you relax, escape everyday pressures, and simply enjoy a good story.
The Bookshop in the Corner by Jenny Colgan.
Downsizing has left English librarian Nina out of a job. But she is not willing to give up on her love of finding people their perfect book. While on vacation in a small village in Scotland, she impulsively buys a van and opens a mobile bookshop. DB 86665, BR 21744.
Cake: A Slice of History by Alysa Levene.
Cake can evoke thoughts of home, comfort someone at a time of grief or celebrate a birth or new love. It is a maker of memories, a marker of identities, and delicious! What follows is a journey from King Alfred to our modern-day love of cupcakes, via Queen Victoria's patriotic sandwich, the Southern States of America, slavery and the spice trade, to the rise of the celebrity chef and so much more. DBC16593.
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
Seven stories presented in chronological order. The first is 'The Magician's Nephew', telling how the journeys between the two worlds began and how the wardrobe came to be a doorway leading into Narnia. For grades 4-7. DB 50083.
Thursday Next series, Book 1, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.
In an alternate 1985 England, literature is a mass obsession, time travel is commonplace, and literary characters can be killed. When Jane Eyre is kidnapped, literary detective Thursday Next vows to rescue her. But Thursday may find herself trapped forever inside the pages of the classic novel from which Jane has been abducted. DB 54764, BR 21181.
Walk in the Woods Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson.
Bryson relates the adventures and misadventures of two totally unfit hikers as he and longtime friend Stephen Katz traverse the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail. Returning from more than twenty years in Britain, he set out to rediscover his homeland, but the two men find themselves awed by the terrain and stymied by the unfamiliar local culture. DB 46519
Election Day, Tuesday, November 3rd, is fast approaching. All New York registered voters are eligible to vote by absentee ballot this year due to COVID-19. Early voting is also an option from Saturday, October 24 through Sunday, November 1st.
If you plan to vote using an absentee ballot, please review the NYS Board of Elections' page on Absentee Voting. This site provides detailed information about applying for an absentee ballot, submitting your ballot, and information on important deadlines.
Individuals with visual impairments may apply online for an accessible remote absentee ballot that can be read by a screen reader. Eligible individuals may apply using the Accessible Absentee Ballot Application Online Portal or Accessible Electronic Ballot Application(Fillable PDF).
After submitting the application form, an accessible absentee ballot will be sent by email. A set of pre-addressed and pre-paid return envelopes will also be mailed. The envelopes are used to return the ballot to the Board of Elections.
The voter can complete the electronic ballot, print it, place it in the return envelope provided and sign the back of the envelope. The voter can then place the ballot into the second envelope and return the ballot. Please see the Board of Elections' 2020 Voting by Absentee Ballot Deadlines page if you have questions about submission dates.
The National Library Service's music collection is the largest of its kind in the world. Materials include music scores in braille and large-print, as well as recorded instructional resources, and audiobooks about music and musicians. All TBBL patrons are welcome to borrow music materials from NLS' Music Section.
Patrons can learn more about available music books and scores through the NLS Music Scores and Books page.
Music materials are housed at the National Library Service in Washington D.C. If TBBL patrons are interested in borrowing materials, all requests can be made directly through the NLS Music Section.
Requests can be placed by email, nlsm@loc.gov, phone at 1-800-424-8567 ext. 2, fax at 202-707-0712, or by mail at this address:
Music Section
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
For further reading, patrons can request catalogs listing available music materials. To request specific catalogs, please complete this music publication order form.
The NLS blog, Music Notes, is also a great way to learn about new music added to NLS' collection, read interviews with blind and low vision musicians, and stay up to date on NLS music news and events. Please read Music Notes to learn more.
Download Music Materials
Patrons using BARD have access to a variety of music books in audio and electronic braille formats. On the BARD Main Page, patrons can navigate to the heading titled, Find Music Books and Scores. Just under this heading, patrons can select the highlighted text, Music Collection. A new page will display where a patron can begin to browse or enter a search term.
TBBL partners with institutions in the community that serve our patrons and prospective patrons. If an organization assists individuals who have difficulty reading standard print, that organization is eligible to apply for library service.
Institution partners may include, but are not limited to:
Institution members play a crucial role in connecting eligible individuals to free accessible books, magazines, and news sources. Please contact our library if your organization is interested in partnering with TBBL, or you may apply to be an institutional partner using our Institution Application.
A virtual TBBL outreach event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27th. If you, or someone you know, is interested in learning more about our library, please join TBBL staff for an overview of services.
Program Title: NYS Talking Book and Braille Library 101
Summary: The New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) is a free library service for residents in Upstate New York who have difficulty reading standard print due to blindness, low vision, a diagnosed reading disability, or a physical disability.
TBBL's service includes free circulation of audio and braille books and magazines through the US Postal Service, long-term loan of playback equipment, and access to a free online downloading service called Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD). In this free webinar, TBBL librarians will provide an overview of services, discuss eligibility, and explain how patrons can access books and magazines.
Who Should Attend: New and prospective patrons, family and friends of eligible individuals, and employees or volunteers working for institutions that serve eligible individuals.
Date and Time: Tuesday, October 27th, 2020 at 1:30-2:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
How to Access the Program: This is an online program. Register in advance for this meeting.
Questions? Please call or email our library for details.
Average Calls - Reader Advisors respond to an average of 385 patron calls per week.
Average Emails - Reader Advisors respond to an average of 85 patron messages per week.
Book Requests - Reader Advisors have placed over 10,090 book requests on behalf of patrons between January 1, 2020 and October 1, 2020.
TBBL welcomed 776 new library patrons between January 1, 2020 and October 1, 2020. TBBL welcomed 24 new institution partners between January 1, 2020 and October 1, 2020.
Monday, October 12 - Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples Day
Wednesday, November 11 - Veterans Day
Thursday, November 26 - Thanksgiving Day
Friday, December 25 - Christmas Day
Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Reader advisors are answering calls between 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
If we are not available to take your call, please leave a detailed message that includes your full name and a call back number.
Toll-free calls: 1-800-342-3688
Fax: 518-474-7041
tbbl@nysed.gov
Talking Book and Braille Library
Cultural Education Center
222 Madison Avenue
Albany, NY 12230-0001