Library Collections: Document: Full Text

The advent of the Talking Book more than doubled the number of borrowers from the libraries, until today there are in excess of 35,000 blind Talking Book readers, as compared with some 9,000 braille readers. Talking Books are much more expensive to manufacture than are braille books, but as they are the only source of reading matter for a large number of blind people who have lost their sight in adult years the increased expense is well justified.

The appropriation for books for the blind has gradually increased over the years, until today the authorized appropriation has grown from the original $100,000 for embossed books to $200,000 for embossed books and $925,000 for Talking Books and Talking Book reproducers, making a total of $1,125,000. While the full $1,125,000 has never been appropriated, the grant never has fallen short of $1,000,000 and there is little opposition even among the most zealous of the economy-minded lawmakers.

The first proposal to Congress for the financing of Talking Books was a suggested appropriation in 1935 of $75,000 in addition to the $100,000 for embossed books specified in the original Pratt-Smoot bill. Even after the committee had recommended its passage, opposition came from the Wisconsin School for the Blind, which then had a close family connection with the office of the American Printing House for the Blind. When the matter came before the Senate, Senator LaFollette of Wisconsin said he had it on good, disinterested authority from his state school for the blind that the Talking Book was a new, untried frill, and he opposed any encroachment upon the braille appropriation for this purpose, even as an experiment. Senator Smoot, who was guiding the bill through the Senate, promised that the Library of Congress would spend nothing for this purpose out of the current year's appropriation. It was then about the first of March, and the current appropriation would lapse on the thirtieth of June.

The author, realizing that Senator LaFollette might also oppose future legislation on behalf of the Talking Book, called on him and asked for an opportunity to demonstrate the machine to him. Senator LaFollette said he was not interested and was too busy. However, he never did oppose any future appropriation for Talking Book records.

The Talking Books were received with so much enthusiasm by readers that the librarians in the various departments for the blind were swamped. Formerly the lending time for braille books in most libraries had been a month, with renewal privilege for another month, and often no objection was raised to still further extension of time. Talking Books, on the other hand, were often read and returned within two days. This set a speed for the librarian which was breath-taking. Unfortunately, the local libraries had their budgets pretty well set and there seemed to be no way of getting relief from this new pressure. The librarians, however, met this situation cheerfully, as they usually do, and worked long hours to satisfy the demands of their readers. As a matter of fact, most of them were quite enthused over the sudden burst of interest in their departments.

Unfortunately, library managements have never fully recognized that the Talking Book has not only doubled and sometimes trebled the circulation, but that Talking Books also require more attention than braille books. When a Talking Book is returned, it must be inspected for damage, scratches, etc. and the records placed in consecutive order, before the books are put back on the shelves. Sometimes if a reader has borrowed two books at a time he mixes up the records, and librarians must be on the lookout to see that the records of the Imitation of Christ are not mixed with those of Goodnight, Sweet Prince as has been known to happen.

When the Pratt-Smoot bill was passed authorizing the appropriation of $100,000 annually to the Library of Congress for braille books it was up to the librarian of that establishment to work out a plan for easy and rapid distribution. Either the Library of Congress could handle the circulation itself or it could, as the law permitted, set up depositories throughout the country. The latter plan was chosen.

Then came the question of how many depositories should there be; what libraries would be willing to assume responsibility for circulation of books provided by the Federal Government; what cooperating libraries would be in a satisfactory geographic location to give prompt service?

Now that books were to be provided freely by the Federal Government, progressive librarians saw certain public relation advantages in having a department for the blind which, as they saw it, would cause them little additional expense. It was then up to the Librarian of Congress to select the regional libraries. It was at first believed that fifteen regional libraries, properly located, would be the optimum number. However, there was so much pressure for depository assignments that the Librarian of Congress finally authorized twenty-seven, in addition to the Department for the Blind of the Library of Congress itself. This resulted in such anomalous situations as two depositories in Washington, D. C., two in the state of New York, two in Ohio, two in Illinois, two in California, and only one in the region south of the Ohio River and east of New Orleans.