From Talking Book Program, this month's spotlight nonprofit:
Since 1931, the Texas Talking Book Program (TBP) has provided access to reading material in audio, braille, and large print format to Texans with a visual, physical, or reading disability. Over 20,000 patrons across the state rely on TBP for education, entertainment, and connection. Our mission is simple: That All May Read.
Our Volunteer Recording Studio has produced over 2,000 audiobooks on Texas topics for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), and records three magazines regularly: Texas Highways, Texas Monthly, and Texas Parks & Wildlife. Volunteers record, narrate, and review the audiobooks, which are then professionally mastered before being submitted to the national library collection.
TBP is a division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and a regional library of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, part of the Library of Congress.
How to Get Involved
If you love audiobooks, spoken word, or producing and recording, we have a position for you! TBP’s Volunteer Recording Studio, located at the Lorenzo de Zavala building in downtown Austin, is looking for volunteers in the following areas:
- Monitor: Operate the recording equipment; follow along with the text to correct any mistakes the Narrator might make in the moment; monitor audio quality and document the recording session (no previous experience with recording equipment needed)
- Reviewer: Listen along to finished audiobooks, tracking any mistakes in pronunciation or any accidental background noise; pay attention to details; listen for consistency and clarity in the narration
- Narrator: after volunteering for 40 hours as a Monitor or Reviewer, a volunteer can audition to become a Narrator.
We are particularly seeking Spanish-speaking volunteers for all positions, but all are welcome to volunteer with us. Email TBP.services@tsl.texas.gov for more information or to schedule a tour of the recording studio.
For general information about TBP, or to find out if you or a loved one qualify, visit us online at www.TexasTalkingBooks.org, email TBP.services@tsl.texas.gov, or call 1-800-252-9605.
