"I have been receiving books from you for a very long time and I would miss my books so very much if I didn't have them. They are a lifeline to me and I am very grateful to you all."
Talking Books help thousands of blind and partially sighted people to enjoy books again. So how does this fantastic service work?
We explain the life of a Talking Book from the studio to the reader. And even where they end up - you might look at flowerpots in a different way from now on! Please donate today and help someone find their life again.
How Talking Books are recorded
Each Talking Book is brought to life by professional actors or broadcasters in our very own studios. Find out what happens behind the scenes with John and Gordon, two of our narrators.
Support with choosing books
We offer lots of help with choosing books, including:
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Our vital Reader Services team who recommend, advise and inspire with their astounding knowledge and love for books!
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An online Talking Book catalogue
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Listings of new titles added to stock
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Read On, a quarterly magazine about reading.
Like a public library we offer a range of reading activities - author events, Bookchain reading groups, quarterly reader magazine, email lists and a web forum. Plus our wonderful Birthday Books scheme, where we send every child their favourite book in the format they want on their birthday to keep as their own.
How the books reach our readers
When a title is requested through our customer response centre, our computer system picks out the electronic file of the book and burns it onto a CD. The service is on-demand, which means there is no waiting for titles to be returned by other readers.
RNIB Talking Books are delivered straight to customers' doors, free of charge, and they can borrow as many books as they like.
Listening to a Talking Book
Everyone who uses the RNIB Talking Book service has an easy-to-use player to play their books on. These have been designed for people with sight loss, making them easy to navigate. There is even a book marking feature, so the book can be stopped and you can find your place again. It's really useful feature for students like Léonie, who used Talking Books to help her study for her degree.
Talking books are green!
Returned CDs are recycled to ensure we make it as green a process as we can. They are granulated and reused to make other things such as flowerpots or, recently, for a road building scheme in China. Find out more Talking Books facts and figures - it's page-turning stuff!
Make a donation
We need your help to fund our vital services for blind and partially sighted people in the UK. Right now we can only reach one in three of the people who need our help most.
Please make a donation and help us reach them all.
A third of our vital work helping people with sight loss is only possible thanks to people continuing their support through a legacy gift. Find out how you can leave a gift to RNIB in your Will.