Welcome to the Illinois KidsZone!

TALKING BOOK GUIDE FOR SCHOOLS: GUIDE TO SERVICES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

In a Nutshell: We loan library books on tape (or braille) and cassette players for use by individuals who find it very difficult or impossible to read standard print due to visual or physical limitations, or reading disabilities. All of our services are free. The Illinois Network of Talking Book Centers is part of the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS).

What Talking Books Can Do for Students

We give students access to books they may otherwise not be able to read and/or comprehend.

Listening to books will expose kids and teens to books they'll have fun with and enjoy. Once they have fun with books and begin to feel good about reading, they'll begin to read more, develop more language skills, and do better in school.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (November 1999), listening to stories increases vocabulary, stimulates the imagination, and introduces the components of stories (character, plot, dialogue, sequence). Listening provides kids and teens with information about the world around them and fosters a love of reading.

Our summer reading program will help students retain their skills, knowledge and enthusiasm with fun rewards throughout the summer.

Kids can check Illinois KidsZone for fun games, booklists and homework help.

The Talking Book program is free!

What Talking Books Can Do for Teachers

Our collection includes leisure reading, magazines, many commonly assigned books such as classics and Newbery award winners, as well as non-fiction needed for research and reports. We have a growing collection of over 15,000 braille and cassette titles for kids and teens!

We can give you a user ID and password to order books directly from our online catalog.

All of our books are complete and unabridged, so they may be used in conjunction with the printed version of the same title. If you have books, perhaps from your public or school library, feel free to call your Talking Book Center, or check our online catalog to see if the same books are available on tape.

Our reader advisors are happy to help you choose books. Feel free to call with inquiries about any subject, title, or author.

If you send your Talking Book Center a list of subject areas and/or books (other than textbooks) that the student may be using for the semester, we will let you know which books are available on tape or in braille.

We will motivate your students to read throughout the summer. We reward students for reading books and magazines in print, on cassette, or in braille with our Summer Reading Program for kids and teens.

Teachers can go to Illinois KidsZone to download applications, access our online catalog, find booklists and other resources, and locate textbook providers.

Service and Registration

Two types of school service:Teacher participation, in which cassette players and materials are loaned directly to the teacher; student participation, in which cassette players and materials are loaned directly to the student.

Textbooks: Our library does not carry any textbooks. Recorded textbooks may be acquired through Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFBD): 1-800-221-4792. We are not affiliated with RFBD, although their cassette books are compatible with our cassette players. Click here for a list of more textbook providers.

Teacher Participation

Up to two cassette players (along with cassette or braille books) may be loaned directly to any teacher serving print-impaired students.

Cassette players are registered to a specific teacher at a specific school. The teacher is held responsible for all cassette players and materials on loan directly to the teacher and/or his or her students.

Teachers must use these materials only with print-impaired students.

Teachers are expected (for each school year of participation) to register at least one individual student for service at school and/or, if the family desires, at home.

To remain active with the program a teacher must borrow books from the Talking Book Center. If no books are borrowed all cassette players on loan to the teacher must be returned.

If the teacher is no longer assigned to the registered school all cassette players on loan to that teacher for use in his or her classroom must be returned.

Teacher registration: To begin service for an individual teacher we must receive an application matching that teacher with his or her current school. Complete an orange institutional application to begin service. Multiple teachers within the same institution should apply separately. On the orange application please include:

Name and address of the school on page 1

Signature of the administrator on page 3 (principal in most cases)

Name of the teacher taking responsibility for the equipment, etc. on page 3

Individual Student Participation:

Any individual student who has a valid application on file with a Talking Book Center may borrow one cassette player for use at school, and/or a second cassette player for use at home.

The teacher is held responsible for all cassette players and materials on loan directly to his or her student's for use at school.

The student's family is held responsible for any cassette player and materials on loan to him or her for use at home.

All cassette players on loan to an individual student at school must follow that student to his or her classroom each year, or be returned to your local Talking Book Center. We will contact teachers toward the end of each school year, asking for information to facilitate this process.

A cassette player on loan to a student is intended for use by that specific student and is not to be used with students who are not print-impaired.

To remain active with the program a student must borrow books from the Talking Book Center. If no books are borrowed the cassette player(s) on loan to the student must be returned

Student Registration:

To qualify for service an individual student must be print-impaired due to a visual or physical limitation or an organic reading disability (such as dyslexia). Please complete a yellow individual application to register a student for school and/or home service. On the yellow application please include:

Include student's name, date of birth, home address and phone (even if service is only wanted at school).

Mark the applicable box or boxes at bottom of pg. 1: Blindness; Visual handicap; Physical handicap; or Reading disability.

Please write the name of the school and teacher on page 3 of the application.

Please write home service; school service; or home and school service; on the application so we will know where to send cassette players.

Mark student's preferences & reading level on page 3.

Include the original signature and address of a certifying authority on page 3. For visual or physical handicap a teacher, librarian, or other social service, medical, or educational professional can sign. In the case of a reading(learning) disability federal regulation (Public Law 89-522) requires the signature of a medical doctor (MD, DO, or psychiatrist, NOT psychologist). We are required by law to process only applications which have been signed by the proper certifying authority.

Illinois Talking Book Centers:

copyright statement for the illinois network of libraries serving the blind and physically handicapped