Wales says Happy 70th Birthday to Talking Books!

3 November 2005

Today is the 70th Anniversary of the RNIB Talking Book Service, one of the most popular services ever provided by a charity in the UK.  RNIB has been sending out Talking Books to people in Wales since 7 November 1935. Today, almost 2,000 people in Wales rely on this famous service so that they can continue to experience the joy of reading.

Lynda Strickland, 64, from Newport told us about her experience and that RNIB Talking Books are a lifeline for her:

“It’s the next best thing to being able to read myself!  The Talking Book service is excellent, the quality is excellent and the readers are good.  I thoroughly enjoy my books!”

The RNIB Talking Book Service contains over 10,000 titles, making it the largest collection of unabridged audio books in the UK and one of the largest in the world. However, this still represents a tiny fraction of the number of books published every year in the UK - currently over 100,000.

RNIB Talking Books were developed in the years after the First World War in response to the thousands of de-mobbed soldiers who had been blinded in action.  Many returned from the front and wanted to carry on reading but found braille too difficult to learn.

In 1935 RNIB launched the Talking Book Service with ‘Typhoon’ by Joseph Conrad and ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ by Agatha Christie amongst the first books issued on long-playing records1.

Since then the service has grown and changed in response to the needs of customers.  Talking books are now sent through the post on CD and ‘read’ on players which have been specially designed for ease-of-use by people with sight and some dexterity problems.  The ‘Give the Joy of Reading’ Appeal is now being launched to raise funds to expand the RNIB Talking Book Service.

RNIB Cymru’s Director, Ruth Marks, explained: “We are incredibly proud of the RNIB Talking Book Service and hope to produce books for many years to come.  However, as a charity that relies on the generosity of the public to provide services, we can only do so much.  A shocking 96 percent of books published in the UK are never made available in formats such as audio, large print or braille that a blind or partially sighted person can ‘read’.  In fact, less than three percent make their way to audio2. This means that blind and partially sighted people are getting a raw deal when it comes to reading, with only a tiny selection of books to choose from.”

Ruth Marks goes on to say: "RNIB is calling on the Government to take responsibility for making more books available, just as in other countries.  We want funds from central government to expand our work and to support partnerships between charities and the publishing industry.  Only together will we be able to substantially increase the number of books available and make real progress in ending the book famine faced currently by blind and partially sighted people. We're not asking for something extraordinary, just the right to read the same book, at the same time, at the same price as sighted people3."

An expert meeting to progress the issue hosted by Jane Hutt, Business Minister, will take place at the National Assembly for Wales on 10 November 2005.

Anyone who has difficulty reading 12 point print or less, with glasses, could be eligible to join the RNIB Talking Book Service.  It costs £70 per annum to subscribe.  This is often paid for by a local authority and includes the loan of a special Talking Book player and use of a library of over 10,000 books.  If someone has their own Talking Book player, they could subscribe to the service for £50. To find out more about the Talking Book Service call RNIB’s Customer Services on 0845 762 6843 or log onto www.rnib.org.uk/talkingbooks