Eligible individuals and/or institutions residing in Kent, Ionia or Montcalm counties must complete and return an application form to the KDL Service & Meeting Center in order to enroll in TBBC services. Applications are available at any KDL branch, on our website or can be mailed to the patron's home upon request.
The application must be signed by a certifying authority in order to be considered. A typed, handwritten or electronic signature is acceptable as long as all certifying criteria is complete.
Once the application has been received and approved, service will begin. Please allow 1-2 weeks for processing. Materials are mailed to and from patrons free of charge via the U.S. Postal Service. Patrons that need assistance are encouraged to contact the KDL Talking Book & Braille Center via telephone, mail, email or in person.
Service can be provided on a temporary or permanent basis. If an individual moves out of the KDL TBBC service area, the service is transferred to the appropriate cooperating library in the National Library Service network. Please let staff know immediately of any address or phone number changes.
Eligibility
The following people are eligible for service: residents of the United States, including territories, insular possessions, and the District of Columbia, and American citizens living abroad, provided they meet one of the following criteria:
- An individual who is blind or has a visual impairment that makes them unable to comfortably read print books.
- An individual who has a perceptual or reading disability.
- An individual who has a physical disability that makes it hard to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move the eyes as needed to read a print book.
Please visit the National Library Service for the Blind & Print Disabled, opens a new window (NLS) website for the full eligibility terminology.
This service is available to both individuals and/or institutions (e.g. adult foster care facilities, retirement centers, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.) that have eligible individuals among their regular clientele.
Service to schools is provided directly from the Braille & Talking Book Library, opens a new window in Lansing. Please contact BTBL at 1-800-992-9012 for more information.
Who is a "certifying authority"?
In cases of blindness, visual disability, or physical limitations, "certifying authority" is defined to include:
- Doctors of medicine and osteopathy
- Ophthalmologists
- Optometrists
- Registered nurses
- Therapists
- Professional staffs of hospitals, institutions, and public welfare agencies such as an educator, social worker, case worker, counselor, rehabilitation teacher, certified reading specialist, school psychologist, superintendent, or librarian.
- In the absence of any of these, the form can be signed by a professional librarian or by any person whose competence under specific circumstances is acceptable to the Talking Book & Braille Center or by NLS.
