Welcome from Carl Augusto, AFB President & CEO

Carl Augusto: Hello, I'm Carl Augusto, President and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind. Welcome to this special web site celebrating 75 years of AFB's involvement in the Talking Books Program. I'd like to thank the Carnegie Foundation and the New York Times Foundation for their generous support in our efforts to preserve the Talking Book archives, and to make them publicly available on our web site.

I invite you to browse our archives and the illustrated history of our Talking Books initiative. Don't miss the section dedicated to our world-renowned narrators. I know you'll enjoy the audio clips of several of them.

If you're a user of the National Library Services Talking Books Program, take a minute to post your personal thoughts about what Talking Books have meant to you.

As I was losing my vision in grade school and high school, it became increasingly difficult for me to read the printed word—it became a struggle. I turned to audio textbooks in college. By the time I graduated from college, I had no interest in reading books again, especially for leisure time activities. But in my late twenties, my sister and a good friend of mine suggested I read a book. I asked him what it was about. And they said, "rabbits." And I said I didn't want to read about rabbits. And they said, "Well, read it anyway, it's a really good book." So I succumbed, enrolled in the Talking Books Program, and read my very first book not connected to college. It was Watership Down. The narrator was Alexander Scourby, AFB's most prolific narrator. I was hooked. I've been a constant reader since then. I hope this web area will introduce new users to this wonderful program.