New York State Library
New York State Talking Book and Braille Library logo

Audio Magazines

photo of three magazine containers, one open to show the cartridge

All magazines produced by the National Library Service (NLS) are circulated to patrons on digital cartridge. See the NLS alphabetical list of titlesexternal link icon for the most up-to-date list of magazines in braille and digital formats.

Digital magazines come in red containers and the cartridges are light blue. Raised lettering and braille on the container provide another indication that a magazine is inside.

Institutions: At this time, only individual patrons may receive cartridge magazines from NLS.  Institutional patrons may sign up for a BARD account to download magazines and books, but cannot receive them in cartridge format from NLS.

 

Return Your Magazine Cartridges

Please promptly return your magazine cartridges when you have finished reading your magazines. NLS reuses the cartridges to continue to provide audio magazines to NLS members.

The address sticker on your red magazine cartridge container indicates the return address to Potomac Talking Book Services in Maryland (not TBBL in Albany).

Please contact TBBL at (800) 342-3688 if you have questions about your magazine subscriptions.

Talking Book Topics

Please remember that Talking Book Topics, if received on digital cartridge, is considered a magazine subscription that must now be returned to the producer.  Online versions of current and previous Talking Book Topics catalogexternal link icon are also available.

Loan Period

The loan period for digital magazine cartridges is NOT the same as for books. The loan period for cartridges with weekly publications on them is one week after you receive them. The loan period for cartridges containing monthly, bimonthly, and/or quarterly publications is one month after you receive them, even if they also include weekly publications.

Please return your digital cartridge magazines promptly, so that you will remain in good standing and continue to receive your audio magazine subscriptions.

Use BARD to Download Your Magazines

Magazines may also be downloaded via BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download). Consider signing up for a BARD account if you:

  • don't want to wait for your cartridge magazines to arrive;
  • want to keep issues of NLS magazines for future reference;
  • want to access back issues of a magazine; or
  • are an institutional patron.

Use "Bookshelf" to Access Multiple Magazines

Each of the cartridges may have one or more magazines on it. If there are multiple magazines loaded on a cartridge, the player should tell you how many there are as soon as you push in the cartridge.

The digital talking book player has a Bookshelf feature to let you access multiple magazines. Learn more about using Bookshelf.

Complete audio instructions for using the Bookshelf feature are also included at the beginning of all cartridges that contain more than one magazine issue.

Contact Us

Contact the Talking Book and Braille Library at tbbl@nysed.gov or 1-800-342-3688 if you wish to discontinue or change any of these magazine subscriptions, or if you need more information about magazines or other Talking Book services.

Last Updated: November 29, 2021