Library Resources for the Blind/Physically Handicapped

Services for blind or physically handicapped individuals are provided free by the Cabell County Public Library to anyone meeting the eligibility requirements.

Those requirements include individuals with visual impairments, the physically handicapped, and those with learning disabilities. The Sub-Regional Library for the Blind and/or Physically Handicapped (Talking Books) can be found on the first floor of the Cabell County Public Library.

Talking Books offers services that are numerous and indispensable. Books-on-cassette are the most requested services. These cassettes require a special tape player, one that runs at a slower speed than commercial players and is 4-track rather than the ordinary 2-track. There are more than 20,000 titles housed in the downtown library including bestsellers, cookbooks, westerns, mysteries, romance, contemporary fiction and non-fiction, children's books, and the Bible.

To receive eligibility, an application must be submitted that includes a referral from medical personnel, teacher or librarian to attest to that person's impairment. After enrollment, tapes can be delivered free of charge through the mail or they may be picked up at the downtown library.

Talking Books offers other services for the visually impaired including a Perkins Brailler (typewriter), hand-held magnifiers and large-print catalogs. Descriptive videos are offered through the library's audio-visual department. The reference department on the library's second floor has a public computer equipped with the WindowEyes program that reads web pages, other computer-based programs and one computer with a large monitor.

Newsline can be accessed by the visually impaired. That is a talking newspaper service offered through the National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia.

For more information about any of these services, contact Vicky Woods at 528-5700 or by e-mail at tbooks@cabell.lib.wv.us