The Alaska State Library Talking Book Center held their 3rd Annual Open House Celebration on June 19. Attendees celebrated the arrival of summer with ice cream sundaes and an “old-time” melodrama performed by Lynn Cragholm.
The center is a federal-state partnership bringing audio book and magazines free of charge to people whose visual or physical disabilities prevent them from reading standard print. The National Library Service supplies the book and magazines plus the playback equipment. State libraries across the country provide staff and space for the regional library that serves patrons in their state.
In 1972, the Alaska State Library began operating its library for the blind and physically handicapped in Juneau as Alaska’s regional library. This program was subsequently moved to Anchorage and renamed the Alaska State Library Talking Book Center. It is part of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums.
The library, which is located at 344 W Third Ave., Suite 125 in Anchorage, is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. To obtain an application for this free library service, call (907) 269-6575 or send an e-mail to tbc@alaska.gov.
To check out the website go to http://talkingbooks.alaska.gov.
