This new system has decreased paperwork while it has helped speed the delivery of service for the blind and physically handicapped. The Talking Books Library is an outreach service that loans Braille materials and Talking Books, along with the necessary tape players for listening to recorded books and magazines, free of charge to eligible patrons. Special catalogs are provided for patrons to select books, or library staff will assist with book selection.
All services are available by mail, postage-free to the user.
Although the format is different, the content of the Miami-Dade Talking Book Library mirrors the book collection of a traditional public library. Fiction and nonfiction selections range from classics to bestsellers in many subject areas. It serves 5,445 patrons from a collection of nearly 53,093 copies of over 12,000 titles. With the automated system, Miami-Dade Talking Books patrons and staff now also have direct access to the regional library s collection of over one million recorded and Braille volumes, the largest library of its kind in the world. The Talking Books is part of the federal program established by the National Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.