There is a sister service to R.E.A.D.S. for Tennesseans who are blind or physically handicapped. BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service, is a federally-funded program that includes more than 74,000 books and periodicals. Between the two services, digital books are available for Tennesseans with full vision and for those who have low vision, no vision, or physical disabilities that prevent them from easily holding and turning the pages of regular books.
BARD is similar to R.E.A.D.S. in several ways. Both services include downloadable audio books from new releases to classics for all ages and interests. Both services are completely free to use. With either BARD or R.E.A.D.S., there’s no concern about returning books on time and there are never fines for overdue books. Both BARD books and R.E.A.D.S. books are playable through a free app.
To use either service, you’ll first need to have an account set up either with your local public library (for R.E.A.D.S.) or the Tennessee Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (for BARD). It is estimated that about 90,000 Tennesseans are eligible for the services of the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which also has digital books and magazines on cartridges that are mailed to patrons’ homes for free.
There are some important differences, though. BARD books are only available for eligible blind and physically handicapped Tennesseans, while R.E.A.D.S. books are available to patrons of all participating Tennessee public libraries. The R.E.A.D.S. collections include both audio books and eBooks, some of which can be read right in your browser (Overdrive Read). All Overdrive Read books can be read in large type simply by making an adjustment to the text scale under readability settings. A similar setting change can be made on any eBook reader as well.
One other difference is that most titles in R.E.A.D.S. have limits on the number of simultaneous readers, which can result in waiting lists. BARD books have no simultaneous user limits. While BARD and R.E.A.D.S. both have magazines in addition to books, only R.E.A.D.S. also has streaming videos. R.E.A.D.S. has a dedicated eReading Room just for kids, and another for teens, while BARD does not.
BARD has audio books too, but instead of text-based eBooks like the ones in R.E.A.D.S., BARD’s eBooks are in braille. Patrons download the digital braille file onto a refreshable braille display. These devices have rows of pins that raise up to create readable braille words, allowing people who are blind to read the eBooks. Refreshable braille displays cost between $1,500 and $17,000, depending on the features and the amount of braille that can be displayed at a given time.
To learn more about BARD or the Tennessee Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, call (800) 342-3308 or go to http://www.sos.tn.gov/tsla/lbph to get started.
