Volunteers Share Good Books with the Blind

You can walk into the Southbury Library at any given moment and find plenty of people immersed in a book, computer research, or studying for a class. Particularly during these dog-days of summer, the library has been a welcome refuge. There's one group of hard workers, however, who go unnoticed.

Upstairs, beyond the teen section, a room holds the Recording for the Blind studio; a place where volunteers record book after book for people who are handicapped or blind.

A narrator sits in a soundproof booth, reading book aloud. A person monitors just outside the booth, following the reader's words and checking the recording equipment.  Later, a reviewer will listen to the recording and point out mistakes.

The three-man operation is simple, but time-consuming; an actual book of 250 to 350 pages can take anywhere from six months to 1 1/2 years to complete.

"It's a commitment," said Grace Lewis, the program's coordinator. "All volunteers have to be trained, and monitors probably have the most training. The narrator has to audition, and then those auditions are sent to Oliver Wolcott Library in Litchfield."

There are only five recording studios in Connecticut -- Southbury, Ridgefield, Milford, and East Hartford-- and Litchfield is the "mother unit," according to Lewis.

A review panel in Litchfield will accept or decline a narrator. "Sometimes they'll ask the person to repeat the audition and ask for them to watch certain things," Lewis said. "Sometimes I'll suggest a volunteer be a reviewer or monitor. The public doesn't realize what it's like to record for two hours. The quality of voice changes over that time and you can't always pick the exact same tone when you return. The recording has to be consistent."

Lewis estimated that her 10 to 13 teams might complete about ten to twelve books each. Since the Southbury unit started in 1985 they have probably completed 400 books. Lewis had worked in the Ridgefield unit before moving to Southbury. She started volunteering in Southbury in 1987 and became coordinator in 1990.

Other volunteers say they enjoy the process though it often leads to reading books they don't enjoy.

Alan Taylor and Connie Heckendorf, who were recording last week, found themselves reading what they classified as a "truly awful English mystery."

Once a team finishes a book, it is evaluated by an independent panel. Then it goes to Litchfield where it is duplicated, usually six times, and then on to the Connecticut Library for Blind and Physically Handicapped in Rocky Hill. From there, any of Connecticut's 10,000 qualifying patrons can request the books, up to ten at a time, and they are delivered free of charge.

All the Recording for the Blind studios work under the auspices of the Library of Congress. Each patron gets a catalogue, and is assigned a reader/advisor who can help them make selections. Sometimes patrons request that certain books are recorded, and otherwise selections come from a book list created by the Library of Congress.

The Southbury unit was originally started by residents of Heritage Village who had been involved in the program in New York City. Every state has a similar program. They had bake sales and fundraisers and installed the booth in the old library building. When the new library was built, the Southbury Lions took on the responsibility of setting up the new recording studio, a $25,000 commitment according to Lewis.

"Southbury Library has been very generous to us," said Lewis. "My job here is to keep the teams balanced and when it runs smoothly, it's wonderful."

Everyone, at every site, is a volunteer. If you are interested in helping out, call 203-267-6911.