"That All May Read...".

This article offers several views on the talking books service for the blind and physically handicapped in the U.S. In 1931, Congress established the Talking Book Program, which is administered by the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at the Library Congress. Since then, audio and Braille books, magazines and other materials have been provided postage-free to eligible borrowers throughout the U.S. and to eligible U.S. citizens living abroad. As the seventy-fifth anniversary of the program approaches, the community of those serving the blind and physically handicapped is torn over efforts to provide digital talking books (DTB) to its users. While NLS began planning for DTBs in 1996, deployment of the service is not expected until 2008. For seventy-three years, a network of state libraries, public libraries and other agencies have partnered with NLS to bring public library service to blind and print-disabled citizens. But today, participation in the program is falling because of the outmoded audiobook technology that no longer appeals to many potential users of the service. The U.S. is years behind the rest of the world in transpositioning from antiquated cassette talking books to digital talking books.