Download Books, Magazines and Newspapers at Bookshare.org

Even though braille and recorded books have existed for decades, supply is limited, production costs are high and using them can be cumbersome.

Many sight-impaired people use inexpensive scanners to prepare their own reading material for computer-synthesized speech. The page-by- page process often takes two to three hours per book.

The high-speed machine used by Bookshare.org can scan an entire book in 10 minutes. The technology can scan both sides of a page simultaneously after a book's binding has been removed.

With Bookshare.org, members submit their own scanned books for the collection and download as many as they like for use with Braille printers, computer-synthesized speech programs or other reading aids. Members pay a $25 initial setup fee and annual $50 dues.

Word about Bookshare.org has spread to students and teachers who prompted the organization to add a staff member dedicated to working with schools.

About 95 percent of Bookshare.org members are legally blind or dyslexic, while the remainder live with physical disabilities that prevent them from turning the pages of a book.

Driven by member submissions, the popular collection leans toward romance and science fiction. Volunteers search the files for errors and add titles, like the complete set of Pulitzer Prize winners or college reading lists.

Some Bookshare.org members even convert files to the MP3 format so they can load them onto an iPod.

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Disabled, operated by the U.S. Library of Congress, has offered Braille and recorded books since the 1930s, but it often takes two to three years for a best-seller to be made available to the public via that service.

While the service distributes books to a network of libraries around the United States, users can face a months-long waiting list to receive a book. Bookshare.org offers quicker satisfaction.

Another advantage over recorded books is the ability to skip chapters or search for keywords, especially helpful with textbooks, news or nonfiction material.

The organization has appealed to publishers to donate digital copies to Bookshare.org when books are released, in keeping with the 1996 federal law that requires digital textbooks to be made available to disabled students at the same time as print versions.

Bookshare has been completely rebuilt with state-of-the-art web technology to make it easier for individuals with print disabilities to access digital books.

The new design provides improved support for Bookshare's rapidly growing collection of over 43,000 digital books comprising general fiction and non-fiction, educational books, children's literature, textbooks and best sellers. The new Bookshare library implements current best practices for website accessibility and simplifies the reading experience for those who have a print disability and the staff who assist them.

The improvements in accessibility and ease of use include a streamlined Google-like interface for search functions, better account management tools, easier navigation from a keyboard or with a mouse, and more Braille options for Bookshare members who are blind.

The new library also offers two complimentary ebook readers (software applications that read text in synthetic speech). The Victor Reader Soft Bookshare Edition from HumanWare is intended for people who are blind or have low vision. The Read:OutLoud Bookshare Edition from Don Johnston Incorporated is designed to support people with learning disabilities with a variety of study tools that help students read with better comprehension.

In 2007, Bookshare received a $32 million five-year award from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to give all students in the U.S. with qualifying print disabilities, regardless of age, free access to the Bookshare library. Since the award, hundreds of schools have signed up their qualified students for Bookshare and many parents have registered their children with qualifying disabilities for individual Bookshare memberships. The number of new Bookshare school and student members increased tenfold in 2008. More than 43,000 people with print disabilities now subscribe to the Bookshare library.

The growing collection of digital textbooks, including U.S. K-12 textbooks from the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center (NIMAC), helps students with print disabilities keep up with their classmates and encourages independent study. Bookshare works with state education agencies, schools, and universities to provide students with print disabilities timely access to the books they need for school.

Bookshare was originally built by a community of volunteers and now adds over 1,000 books and textbooks a month with the additional support of worldwide nonprofit partners who assist with scanning and proofreading. Many publishers and authors also contribute digital content with global permissions to make books available to print disabled readers worldwide. Bookshare continues to rely on invaluable volunteer assistance to build the collection. To assist these essential efforts, the new library provides improved functionality for volunteers to scan, submit and proofread books more efficiently.

Click this link to visit the bookshare.org website.

Click this link to watch YouTube - Eye To Eye: An Online Library For The Blind featuring Jim Fruchterman, founder of bookshare.org.