TRENTON, Ga. — Holly Keller said she knows more people with disabilities would benefit from the Cherokee Regional Library’s Talking Book service if they knew it existed.
Her job is to tell them.
“This is for those who are blind, visually impaired, those who can’t hold a book and those with disabilities,” said Ms. Keller, outreach services coordinator for the Talking Book program.
She said at least 6,178 people, about 1.4 percent of the population in the 10-county North Georgia region, have one or more of those conditions.
But so far only about 1,000 people in the region are taking advantage of it, said Cherokee Regional Library director Lecia Eubanks.
“We’re underserved,” she said.
Ms. Keller said she’s created a list of North Georgia nursing homes, civic clubs and optometrists to start spreading the word about the library’s Talking Book services.
She’s also working on slogans — one is “Reading Never Sounded So Good” — to help people remember the Talking Book Library.
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress produces books and magazines in recorded and Braille formats that are lent to disabled readers.
They may borrow the books on tape, machines to play them and accessories, all at no charge. Patrons also pay no postage fee to have the books and machines mailed to them.
Books also are available in large print.
Ms. Keller also puts the Walker County Messenger newspaper on tape each week for North Georgia newspaper readers. About 10 to 15 of them use the service daily, she said.
There hasn’t been much outreach about the service in the past because there was no time to do it, Ms. Eubanks said.
The person who had the job before Ms. Keller spent most of his time distributing and receiving books on tape, she said.
In November 2008, the Rome and LaFayette area Talking Book libraries consolidated. Instead of receiving or keeping books on tape at the libraries, residents are asked to send the books to the Georgia Library for Accessible Services in Atlanta.
Not having to distribute and receive the books frees up time for outreach, Ms. Keller said.
Traditional tape recorders for books already are available to residents, but digital recorders are expected to be available before the end of the ear.
Veterans will have first right of refusal for the recorders. People age 100 and older will have second choice, officials said.
