About TBBL
What is the NYS Talking Book and Braille Library?
The New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) lends braille and recorded books and magazines, and the necessary equipment, to residents of the 55 upstate counties of New York State who are unable to read standard printed materials because of a physical disability.
TBBL is the Regional Library for the upstate region of New York in the nationwide
program coordinated by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped
(NLS), a division of the Library of Congress, in Washington
DC. TBBL is also a unit of the New York State Library, which is in turn
a part of the New York State Education Department.
The Talking Book and Braille Library is located in the Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York.
Directions to the Cultural Education Center.
History of TBBL
- 1896: Established the New York State Library for the Blind, providing embossed books to blind adults.
- 1931: Became one of the original Regional Libraries in the Library of Congress' national program. "Talking" books on long-playing record were introduced.
- 1952: Extended Library services to blind children.
- 1966: Extended Library services to physically disabled and reading disabled individuals.
- 1974: Renamed the New York State Library for the Blind and Visually Handicapped.
- 1995: Renamed the New York State Talking Book and Braille Library.