Are you or someone you know limited in your ability to read standard print material—books, magazines, and newspapers? If so, you should contact the New Mexico Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (informally known as the Talking Book Library), which currently serves nearly 4,000 print disabled persons throughout the state of New Mexico.

Established in 1967, the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH), which is part of the New Mexico State Library, holds a collection of over 50,000 audio books and can provide access to numerous recorded magazines and newspapers. The library serves most patrons via a statewide toll-free telephone number (1-800-456-5515) and can be reached locally in the Santa Fe area at 476-9770. Additional detailed information can be found via the State Library Internet site at http://www.nmstatelibrary.org/.

All audio books are mailed via Free Matter for the Blind or Handicapped through a subsidy provided by the National Library Service of the Library of Congress (NLS). The NLS has been providing Braille services and audio books for over 70 years. Each year, LBPH receives in the area of 2,000 new recorded titles. The New Mexico program, also, produces a number of books of local interest with the help of volunteer narrators.

LBPH works in co-operation with other programs, such as Books-by-Mail, another section of the State Library. Books-by-Mail provides books to New Mexico citizens living a significant distance from an area library, or who have difficulty traveling from home. It has a sizeable large print collection, which may be of benefit to some of the eligible patrons of LBPH. Another co-operating program is the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, which provides access to the Newsline program that offers a number of recorded audio newspapers.

Eligible patrons are persons with a visual or physical limitation that prevents the reading of standard print material. Also, eligible are persons with a reading disability resulting from “organic dysfunction” and of sufficient severity to prevent the reading of printed material in a normal manner. An example of this latter qualification would be dyslexia.

Once eligibility has been established, a telephone call, fax, or e-mail to the library for an order of books will result in these books being provided via mail in about one week’s time. Also, there are a number of public libraries that maintain small collections of LBPH audio books for borrowing.

Books provided by the NLS and distributed through LBPH are protected by copyright and require specialized players provided freely to eligible patrons. Currently, the program is beginning a transition that is expected to take about four years from the general distribution of audiotape books to a recorded book on digital cartridge. The digital “talking book” will, also, provide thousands of titles that can be downloaded via the Internet but will require a specialized player for listening. Some patrons, who can afford the cost of purchasing a specialized player, have already begun to use the download service.

Any person interested in the program, who believes he or she may qualify, is encouraged to contact the library at 1-800-456-5515 (or 476-9770) in Santa Fe or visit at the New Mexico State Library at 1209 Camino Carlos Rey in Santa Fe. The library is generally open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The library's e-mail address is lbph@state.nm.us. We look forward to your contact and sharing our large collection of audio titles.