by Bert Williams

The plan of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) to create digital talking books for disabled readers may be in jeopardy. According to the May 2007 issue of Braille Monitor, funding for the program is not assured, and the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a study questioning the program.
 
     “Though the GAO study has been circulated among those who will determine NLS funding in future budgets, it is not being published,” wrote Barbara Pierce, editor of the Braille Monitor. The Monitor is a publication of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB).
 
     The NLS has spent several years developing the new digital system, which will offer a digital player and cartridge specially designed for durability and ease of use by blind and physically impaired readers. The NLS is requesting nineteen million dollars of additional funding each year for the next four years to take the project from the drawing board into the living rooms of visually impaired readers.
 
     Christian Record Services for the Blind, publisher of Connected magazine, has been closely monitoring the progress of the NLS digital conversion program, and has recently hired a full-time employee to spearhead the conversion of its lending library from analog tape to digital format.
 
     NFB President Marc Maurer wrote a letter on March 28, 2007 to staff members of the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations, part of the House Committee on Appropriations. In the letter Maurer wrote, “The NLS has conducted a multi-year program of study to devise a new system. Part of the problem addressed by the NLS is the need to protect the intellectual property of the copyright holders . . . The delivery system must [also] be not only robust but simple to use. Apparently the Government Accountability Office did not consider the nature of the population to be served when drafting its report.”
 
     If Congress does not provide ongoing funding, years of development costs could be wasted. Worse, the ability of the NLS to continue effectively offering audio books for the blind could be jeopardized.

For more information, visit: http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm07/bm0705/bm070503.htm.

Those wishing to contact members of the US Congress regarding the NLS digital conversion program may direct communication to their own congressional representatives and/or to any of the following committee members:
Senate Committee on Appropriations:
Sen.  Robert C.  Byrd (D-WV), Chair
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 228-0002
Phone (202) 224-3954
Sen.  Thad Cochran (R-MS), Ranking Minority Member
113 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 224-9450
Phone (202) 224-5054
Senate Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch:                                                                                                                                                                                 Sen.  Mary L.  Landrieu (D-LA), Chair
724 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 224-9735
Phone (202) 224-5824
Sen.  Richard J.  Durbin (D-IL)
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 228-0400
Phone (202) 224-2152
Sen.  E.  Benjamin Nelson (D-NE)
720 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 228-0012
Phone (202) 224-6551
Sen.  Wayne Allard (R-CO), Ranking Minority Member
521 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 224-6471
Phone (202) 224-5941
Sen.  Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 228-3398
Phone (202) 224-4944
House Committee on Appropriations:                                                                                                                                                                                              Rep.  David R.  Obey (D-WI), Chair
2314 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-3240
Phone (202) 225-3365
Rep.  Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Ranking Minority Member
2112 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-6498
Phone (202) 225-5861
House Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch:                                                                                                                                                                                 Rep.  Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Chair
118 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-8456
Phone (202) 225-7931
Rep.  Barbara Lee (D-CA)
2444 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-9817
Phone (202) 225-2661
Rep.  Tom Udall (D-NM)
1410 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 226-1331
Phone (202) 225-6190
Rep.  Mike Honda (D-CA)
1713 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-2699
Phone (202) 225-2631
Rep.  Betty McCollum (D-MN)
1714 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-1968
Phone (202) 225-6631
Rep.  C.  A.  Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
1730 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-3094
Phone (202) 225-3061
Rep.  Zach Wamp (R-TN), Ranking Minority Member
1436 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-3494
Phone (202) 225-3271
Rep.  Ray LaHood (R-IL)
1424 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-9249
Phone (202) 225-6201
Rep.  John T.  Doolittle (R-CA)
2410 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax (202) 225-5444
Phone (202) 225-2511

 Bert Williams is editor of Connected magazine