Celebrating 80 Years of Talking Books

12 Pages·2015·1.19 MB·English

Celebrating
80 years of
Talking Books

80 years of innovation
Eighty years ago, our Talking Over the years, we’ve had to Technology doesn’t stop moving, and
Book service revolutionised be resourceful. We pioneered the neither do we. Today’s Talking Book
use of the long playing vinyl record, readers can choose from a wider
reading for people with
before record labels such as Decca range of listening formats than ever
sight loss. Since its humble
and EMI used it for recording before, but we need to stay ahead of
beginnings in 1935, eight music, but although records proved developments to make sure that our
decades of innovation have popular, they were bulky and fragile. books remain accessible for blind and
made it the biggest and Tape players were introduced after partially sighted people, no matter how
the Second World War, but we they enjoy listening to them.
best service of its kind for
were already looking forward, and
blind and partially sighted
were investigating the possibility of
people, bringing choice and downloadable digital Talking Books
independence to thousands. as early as 1982 – nearly two decades
before digitalisation of the service
became possible.
“I do not want to excite
undue hopes, but I
We’ve made the most of new and
changing technologies to introduce think that in the future
new readers to our library, but have it may be possible to
also had to deal with challenges establish a library of
ranging from bomb damage to
Talking Books.”
shortages in raw materials.
Sir Ian Fraser
Chairman of the National
Institute for the Blind Sound
Recording Committee (1934)
Timeline
1935
The Sound Recording Committee
1918
decide on gramophone records as
the best format for Talking Books,
The First World and the first Talking Book machines
War comes to an and records are sent out.
end, leaving many
soldiers blind
and struggling
to learn braille.
1920 1934
The National NIB joins forces with
Institute for the St Dunstans, a charity
Blind (NIB) starts dedicated to caring
testing different for soldiers blinded
ways of making in war.
and listening to
Talking Books. They form the Sound
Recording Committee,
with Sir Ian Fraser
as Chairman.
1937
1953
The first dedicated
recording studio is built.
NIB becomes the
Royal National
1955
Institute for the
Blind (RNIB).
The Nuffield Talking
Book Library is
established with a
£50,000 donation
from Lord Nuffield.
1940
The recording studio is destroyed
by a bomb during the Second World
War, and a temporary studio
then suffers the same fate just a
few months later. The American
Foundation for the Blind sends
a gift of 500,000 gramophone
needles to help with problems
of supply during wartime.
1977
New studios open
1967
in Great Portland
Street, London,
The MK4 tape player, a much and accelerate
lighter machine, is launched. book production.
1960 1980 1982
The MK1 Talking The Talking Book RNIB are among
Book tape player is service enters the first to consider
launched; sturdier the computer downloadable
than records, it’s age with a new digital books.
so heavy that and more efficient
the postman has computerised
to bring it in a system.
separate delivery!
1984
1987
RNIB start to record
books for third party
publishers, bringing A fourth recording
in commercial revenue studio opens,
to support the Talking named after founder
Book service. Sir Ian Fraser.
1985 1998
The 50th The DAISY
anniversary (Digital Accessible
of Talking Books Information System)
is marked by a visit format, which will
to the studios by revolutionise reading
Prime Minister for blind and partially
Margaret Thatcher. sighted people,
starts development.
2004
The Plextalk DAISY
and Plextalk
Pocket players 2014
are rolled out.
Talking Books
become available
on USB stick
and as digital
downloads via
RNIB Overdrive.
2002
The digital Talking
Book service is
launched – around
800 members
transfer from
2007
analogue to digital
every month!
RNIB merges with the National Library
for the Blind, making Talking Books part
of the second largest library in the world
for books in accessible formats.
80 years of independence
Reading isn’t just a fun Today, a Talking Book reader can
skip through chapters as easily as
pastime. It can be a lifeline
someone would skip through the “The person who
to the outside world or a
pages of a physical book, or change thought of Talking
source of knowledge and
the speed of their reading by altering Books ought to have a
learning. Talking Books have the speed of the playback. Talking
monument three times
given generations of blind Books can be downloaded to a
the size of Nelson’s...
smartphone or tablet, without the
and partially sighted people
Not being able to sleep
need for specialist equipment, or can
independence and access to
much and being very
be borrowed on USB stick and then
a world that might otherwise
played on a wide variety of devices, poor at braille, you can
be closed to them. both simple and advanced. imagine how useful the
Talking Book is to me.”
And if help is needed – whether
to set up or use a new device, or just
A blind ex-soldier’s
to choose what to read next – there’s
reaction to the new
no need to rely on friends, family or
Talking Book service
neighbours. We’ve been sending
The Times, 1936
volunteers to our readers since 1949,
when the growing membership of our
Talking Book library created demand
for engineers to service machines
in the homes of blind and partially
sighted people around the country.
Today, we have around 800 volunteers
nationwide, so there’s always someone
nearby to help.
80 years of choice
From the first five books Today, thanks to the support of
donors, publishers and the hundreds
recorded – including The
of staff and volunteers who work “Having the Harry
Murder of Roger Ackroyd by
hard behind the scenes, our collection Potter audio books
Agatha Christie – the Talking
of more than 23,000 unabridged come out at the same
Book library grew and grew. books – which is growing every day
time as standard print
By 1968 there were 1,200 - is listened to by nearly 30,000
meant I was able to
people, in a wider range of formats
books in the library; by the
discuss the books with
than ever before.
start of the new millennium
my sighted peers.
there were over 12,000.
Our collection includes prizewinning It’s very important
fiction, bestsellers, biographies, when you’re young not
cookery books, titles for children to feel excluded from
and young adults and everything
the things your friends
in between.
are talking about.”

We’re working more closely than
ever before with publishers, not Tuesday, aged 22
only to bring their books to our library
but also to make sure all books are
published in accessible formats so
they can be enjoyed at the same
time by anyone, regardless of their
reading requirements or preferences.