Talking Books Digital Transition

In early 2009 the Talking Book / Special Needs Library will begin a transition from books on cassette to digital books on flash cartridges. This new service will be first available to veterans of the United States Armed Forces, then to those customers 100 years of age and older, followed by the rest of our Talking Book eligible customers. The new Talking Book reader will be about 1/3 the size of the current tape player, weigh almost half as much and function much like a CD or MP3 player. The actual Talking Books will be recorded on a flash device that is about the size of a tape cassette. Most Talking Books will fit on one cartridge with only very few requiring an extra cartridge. During the digital transition Talking Books on cassette will still be available alongside what will be a small but growing digital Talking Book collection. We anticipate Talking Books on cassette being available for another 10 to 12 years. For more information on the Talking Book digital transition visit the following website: http://www.loc.gov/nls/newsletters/flash/.