Utah State Library needs readers for the blind

Intermountain Catholic

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Bessie Y. Oakes, library program manager, looks at one of the thousands of books in Braille that are housed at the Utah State Library. Volunteers who read for the blind do not read in Braille, but from ordinary books. Their voices are recorded and the DVDs sent out by mail. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

SALT LAKE CITY— If you like to read and have a good voice for it, the Utah State Library needs you. Not to be confused with the Public Library, the Utah State Library is a library for people with special needs, said Donna Jones Morris, state librarian and division director. "We’re not in competition with the other libraries. In fact, we have a back-up collection of books the public libraries have access to if they need them. We provide services for people who are blind or otherwise disabled – perhaps they can’t hold a book or turn a page. We offer audio tapes, and we are soon moving to digital books."

Morris said there will always be a need for books in braille, and the Utah State Library has the largest selection of books in braille in the world. The Utah State Library lends hundreds of books on audio tape and books in braille every week, postage free.

In order to make use of the Utah State Library, a person must have certification of their disability, even if it is a temporary one, said Bessie Y. Oakes, library program manager. "If a person has a cast on their arm and cannot hold a book, or for some reason they cannot turn a page, and their doctor will certify their disability, they can become a client here."

"A person can apply to become a client on line, and get books or audio tapes through the mail," said Jeri Openshaw, library marketing director.

"We have about 70,000 talking books," said Oakes. "They are available for inter-library loans or loans to our own clients. We have fiction and non-fiction books just as every public library would have. In fact, with our braille library, we have some of the best services available in the whole country."

Openshaw said they have books that are qualified specifically for people who are dyslexic.

Oakes said the library also has a radio reading service, over which the Intermountain Catholic has been read, however, the reader who has been reading the Intermountain Catholic will soon be unavailable, and a new reader is needed.

"We not only need volunteers to read our books on tape, we need volunteers to help us repair our recording and playing equipment," said Oakes. "And we need volunteers who make sure all the tapes are re-wound and begin at the beginning."

The Utah State Library is affiliated with other state libraries, she said, and inter-library loans are possible.

"Many of the books we record here are those with some local interest," said Oakes. "After they’re recorded, they can be submitted to the national library."

People who borrow books from the Utah State Library don’t have to have their own tape reader. Every book goes out with a tape machine, which is returned when the client is finished.

"In the future, we will be using digital recordings," said Oakes. "They will go to clients with digital talking book machines."

"The Utah State Library for the blind records hundreds of books and magazines every year, thanks to the help of volunteer narrators," the volunteer pamphlet says. "Volunteer narrators translate the written word to the spoken word in a way that is consistent with the intent of the author. The material must be read clearly, accurately, precisely, and in its proper order with accurate accounting for each word in the text.

"Volunteers work under the direction of the volunteer coordinator who assigns tasks, sets priorities, and provides guidance with projects."

If you are interested in being a volunteer narrator and can commit to at least once a week for two hours, please call 801-715-6791.