Official State of Rhode Island website

State of Rhode Island Office of Library & Information Services An agency of the Department of Administration

Questions? 

Contact Talking Books Staff at (401) 574-9310 or email us at talking.books@olis.ri.gov.

You can also contact:

Alicia Waters
Library Services Coordinator
alicia.waters@olis.ri.gov

Neshmayda Calderon
Information Services Technician: Talking Books
neshmayda.calderon@olis.ri.gov

Kelley Lima
Information Services Technician: LORI Services
kelley.lima@olis.ri.gov

Players For NLS Digital Talking Books

Two machines are available as a free loan for members of Talking Books Library:

  • DS1 (NLS Digital Talking Book Machine)

    Basic model, 6 by 9 by 2 inches, weighs slightly over two pounds. Machine has Play, Rewind and Fast Forward controls. Rewind and Fast Forward moves through the book more quickly the more times they are pressed and give audible feedback about how far ahead or back the user is moving. The Sleep button turns the player off thirty minutes after it is pressed. Volume, Tone, and Speed controls also give audible feedback, e.g. "tone lower," "tone higher," "tone middle.” The Speed control changes the speech from 50% to 300% of normal, with no change in pitch.
  • DA1 (NLS Digital Talking Book Machine)

    Same size and weight as DS1, but has additional controls. The advanced controls are for setting and retrieving bookmarks and for navigating through the structured levels of a NISO standards compliant book.

For more detailed descriptions, please visit the National Library Service (NLS) Digital Talking Book Player web page.

NLS Compatible Players Available from Commercial Vendors

All Talking Books Members are eligible to receive one free digital player, as described above. The following players will also play NLS recorded books and are provided by commercial vendors for a fee.

More commercial players are listed on the NLS Compatible Digital Talking-book Players web page.

Cartridges

Talking Books Library will provide one free cartridge and cable to members when they sign up for a BARD account. The cartridge is 4 GB and will hold approximately 386 hours of reading material.