Every day, staff at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library have the pleasure of working with a diverse group of patrons who all have something in common: they don’t want to deal with virtual clutter in order to have access to digital books. Fortunately, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) recently accepted the donation of a computer application for Windows that helps library patrons download braille and talking books and magazines in just a few steps.  
 

What are NLS & BARD?

NLS was established in 1931. It runs the program that loans braille and recorded books and magazines, music scores in both braille and large print, and specially-designed book players at no cost to residents of the United States who are unable to read or use standard print materials because of visual or physical impairment. The National Library Service offers the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) website, which gives qualified patrons access to the digital catalog of thousands of books and magazines produced by NLS. This is also free of charge.

BARD Express

Sounds good, right? Well, it gets better! In December 2016, NLS unveiled a new tool to make downloading audio and braille books easier than ever. It’s called BARD Express and it is a Windows-based application which simplifies the use of the NLS BARD service. The downloadable software is completely free to NLS patrons, but there are some requirements. You must have an active BARD account and a personal computer running Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, or 10.

Inspired by his wife and son, who are patrons of the NLS braille and talking book program and users of BARD, software developer Kirk Saathoff created BARD Express to streamline the process of accessing BARD materials for patrons who find the website time-consuming or confusing to navigate.

"For years, I watched my wife sometimes become a bit annoyed with her computer, and I know [most] software is designed without regard for people with disabilities," Saathoff said. "My hope in developing this software was that it would allow more people to enjoy books while minimizing the time and frustration involved in accessing them.”

BARD Express aims to make browsing, searching, downloading, and transferring audio materials from the BARD website to a cartridge or USB flash drive a more intuitive experience. It does this via a menu-based interface which makes the moving of books from a PC to a patron's chosen digital device easier, faster, and stress-free.

Don Olson, BARD Operations Manager at NLS said, "BARD Express enables patrons to more easily unzip the books they download from BARD. Gone are the days of having to carry out multiple file management steps in order to place a book or magazine on an NLS cartridge or a USB drive."

NLS director Karen Keninger added, "We hope it will make the thousands of books available on BARD readily accessible to more patrons."

Download Now

So what are you waiting for? Download BARD Express. Once you’ve downloaded BARD Express to your PC, all you’ll have to do is enter your BARD user name and password to log in. If you do not have a BARD account, please contact your regional library or apply for one.

You can check out the BARD Express User Guide, and there is also a comprehensive BARD Express How-To Series.

We wish you many hours of happy and easy listening!