Federal Government Resources: Special Services Division

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Donna Calvert

Special Services Director

304-558-4061

         or

1-800-642-8674

As part of the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), Library of Congress, the Special Services Library loans recorded materials and Braille materials to state residents who are unable to read or use standard print due to impairment, visual or physical, or reading disability.

If you or someone you know are unable to use standard printed materials due to an impairment, please complete the application form. Print it and send the completed form to:

West Virginia Library Commission
ATTN: Special Services Library
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305

A list of eligible professionals who may certify the application is provided. Please keep in mind that it is a federal requirement that all individuals with a reading disability have their application signed by a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy.

Through a national network of cooperating libraries, NLS administers a free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail.

The world’s largest audio information service for the blind, NFB-NEWSLINE®, is free to anyone who is legally blind. NFB-NEWSLINE® makes over four hundred newspapers and magazines, as well as TV schedules, localized emergency weather alerts, and job listings, available on demand to blind readers by telephone, online, or via an iPhone/iPad app.

BARD is a free library service of recorded and braille books and magazines for residents of the United States and to American citizens abroad who are unable to read or use standard printed material because of visual or physical disabilities. To use the Bard Recorded Book Collection you must be a Special Services Library patron and be signed up to use BARD.  To register, contact the Special Services Library.

Welcome to Braille Bug, an interactive channel on the American Foundation for the Blind's website created to teach sighted children about braille, and to encourage literacy among all children, sighted and visually impaired

For more resources and links, please visit our homepage.