The Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille (, NLB) is a public library organization based in Oslo, Norway. It produces and loans out audiobooks and braille books. Its services are aimed at people who have difficulty reading printed texts, for example because of dyslexia, visual impairment or other disabilities which making reading difficult. The library serves users across the whole country and the service is free of charge. Audiobooks are sent free by post on CD and can also be downloaded or streamed from the library's website. Users can also use the library's app to listen to audiobooks on smartphones or tablets. The library is Norway's largest producers of audiobooks and braille books. In 2014, its collection was made up of 18,000 audiobooks and 7400 braille books. The library also produces and loans out study materials for students with difficulties reading printed texts. Norwegian law permits the library to produce audio books and braille books from material subject to copyright. The library has about 29,000 users.
History
The Norwegian Association of the Blind () established the country's first braille library in Bergen in 1910. Further branches were opened in Oslo (1913) and Trondheim (1916). The association owned and ran the libraries until 1989, when responsibility for supplying library services to those with visual impairment and reading difficulties was transferred to the state in the form of the Ministry of Culture. The library's offices in Bergen and Trondheim were closed in 2007. All production and loaning activities now take place from the library's premises in Oslo.
Organisation
The library had 55 employees in 2014. A further 40 people are employed as narrators. Øyvind Engh is the library's director. Members of the library's board, currently headed by Trygve Nordby, are appointed by the Department of Culture.
Library services
The library is both a public library and an academic library. Registered users have access to the entire collection. The collections holds both works of fiction and non-fiction aimed at adults, young people and children. It also holds magazines and newspapers. People with visual impairment are entitled to have works they require produced. Students with dyslexia or other reading difficulties may borrow audiobooks which have already been produced by the library or other libraries in other countries which the library cooperates with.
Users can search for materials on the library's website, from where registered users can either download or stream content. They can also listen to content using the library's app.
The library provides services to anyone who can document that they have difficulties reading printed text. To register with the library, users have to provide a document signed by a competent person (for example a doctor, teacher, nurse, or speech-language pathologist) which confirms that the user needs access to the library's materials. Users already registered as blind or partially sighted with the Norwegian Association of the Blind do not have to provide such a document. Schools with schoolchildren who have reading difficulties may also borrow materials, as do institutions with users who have reading difficulties. Such schools or institutions are registered as users through a contact person.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks produced by the library are recorded by professional narrators at the library's studios. The library also purchases audiobooks produced by commercial publishers. The books are transferred to DAISY format before being loaned out. DAISY is a digital format which makes it possible to navigate through an audiobook in a similar fashion to a printed book. To be able to use all the features of a DAISY book, users are recommended to use a DAISY player or to use the EasyReader Express PC software which is on all the library's audiobooks. The audio files of DAISY books are in mp3 format. The books can also be listened to any MP3 player, but with reduced navigation capabilities. Users with visual impairment can borrow DAISY players from the Norwegian county administration where they live. In 2008, the state and copyright holders signed a new audiobook agreement. The agreement allows the library to lend an unlimited number of copies of materials produced by the library itself, so that there are never waiting lists for such materials.