• Talking Books
• Digital talking books: moving towards a better way to read
• Find out more about the transition to digital talking books
• Audio magazines

The RNZFB records talking books in its studios in Auckland. A narrator reads an author's text and the producer makes sure the reading is accurate.

The RNZFB Library lends talking books on audio cassette. Each cassette plays at half the speed of a regular cassette and contains four tracks. This means that a 90-minute cassette holds up to six hours of sound. This four track format was originally developed by the Library of Congress in the USA.

Cassettes are played on four-track players known as talking-book machines. The Foundation lends these to its members.

Talking Books

Talking books were introduced in New Zealand in 1937, soon after they became available in Britain and the United States of America. These books were in the form of slow-playing gramophone records (24 revolutions per minute). Trial machines to play the talking books were bought from England just before Easter 1936, and a plan was developed to purchase at least one copy of each talking book published under the auspices of the British Sound Recording Committee.

The Board of what was then The New Zealand Institute for the Blind was informed that "the average talking book will occupy about six records, costing about four shillings each in New Zealand currency". In May 1936 the Institute's Director, Clutha Mackenzie, made arrangements to order for New Zealand the bulk of the records already published by the American Foundation for the Blind (assisted by a grant from the Library of Congress). The standard price for an American talking book was one dollar. The Director also arranged with the broadcaster Uncle Scrim to broadcast information about talking books on his popular Friendly Road programme. These broadcasts were designed to win public support for the fledgling talking book programme and did bring in some donations. In early 1936 the first 137 records and two players arrived from England but unfortunately without needles!

By January 1937 only 31 machines had been delivered and a further 30 on order had been delayed. The British Sound Recording Committee had decided to limit the number of machines in England to 500 because it "did not regard the gramophone principle as necessarily being the final form of the reading machine, and is engaged in research work on other systems" (Director's report, December 1937). Of course, records could be easily damaged in transit and through rough handling.

An excerpt from the minutes of the meeting held at the Institute on Thursday 18 March 1937 reads: "24 Talking Book Machines have been delivered to blinded soldiers and paid for by the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association Blinded Soldiers' Fund, at a cost of 5 pounds and 2 shillings each."

Over time the Library investigated and introduced different types of machine, eventually creating its own technical department to ensure that readers got the best possible service. All the talking book machines were gramophone record players but the models varied. Some were electric and semi-automated, some had a permanent needle or stylus; some models could be run through a radio speaker, while others featured a speaker adjacent to a very accessible control panel. A Pillotone unit allowed the reader to turn off the main speaker on the unit and use a quieter speaker placed beneath a pillow or cushion.

Wartime and post-war shortages held up the supply of new machines and replacement parts, but by the mid-fifties the Library was phasing out all non-electric machines (which sometimes damaged the newer, softer records), and had appointed a full-time tester of records to ensure that returned records could be sent undamaged to the next reader.

By the start of the 1960s the Foundation had decided to replace its hard-to-handle records with talking books on tape, and the new players and books were in use by the end of 1961. Initially the cassette was a metal canister squared at one end and rounded at the other. It measured about 9 inches by 10 inches and was over 2 inches deep. The machine that played it was the size of an old gramophone, but of course had spindles to wind the tape rather than an arm and needle.

In 1969 the Foundation decided to take advantage of the smaller and lighter oblong cassette England had begun using the year before. The old and new cassettes and their respective machines were for a period in use side by side. This newer cassette could still hold up to six tracks and offer up to twelve hours reading, but allowed faster copying and enabled the tape to be pre-indexed at the start of sections in the text.

A key figure in the introduction of the tape-based technology was Cyril White. He started his working life as a piano tuner, learning his trade at the Foundation's piano tuning school.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Mr White had already been the designer and maker of locally produced gramophone-style talking book machines. Mr White was a Foundation trustee, and would later become the head librarian (a post his sister had already held for many years).

In May 1961 Cyril White travelled to London as the technical advisor charged to guide the change from record to cassette. He spent time at the RNIB recording studios, dubbing room, and engineering section before going on to the Nuffield Talking Book Library. Mr White saw the whole operation from selecting titles to be recorded, assigning suitable narrators, copying books from master tapes to cassettes, the allocation, distribution, and repair of talking book machines, and the general circulation of the books themselves. Mr White also visited the Clarke and Smith factory which made the machines and cassettes.

Mr White found that in England blind people hired their talking book machines (then called "reproducers") at two pounds per annum. Whereas outright purchase would have been beyond many users, the annual charge was a contribution to the cost of getting more machines into use and meeting maintenance costs. From the outset Mr White could see that differences in the New Zealand welfare system and the comparatively high cost of collecting an annual fee "may lead us to adopt some other system".

The big innovation was the copying machine. The ability to copy at high speed up to one dozen copies of a book meant that for the first time a library for the blind might hope to meet the demand for its most popular titles. The Foundation bought a variable speed copier, rewinding machine, and other accessories at a price of just under 800 pounds. That price did not reflect the thousands of pounds that had gone into developing the technology. Copying machines were custom-made in London for use in Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Mr White was able to observe the testing of these machines, and in fact suggested the means by which formerly visual displays (e.g. the revolutions counter and the recording level meter) were made audible on the machine destined for New Zealand.

The Foundation's initial order was for the copier and accessories, over 400 talking book machines, and cassettes and tapes for almost 2,000 books.

In moving to the cassette reading system, the Foundation showed its commitment to improving the experience of its members who read through sound. The technology formed one part of the solution; equally important was the relationship between the Foundation and other complementary agencies. Mr White made invaluable contacts and indeed had input into ensuring that copying equipment could be operated by a blind person.

Digital talking books: moving towards a better way to read

The RNZFB produces talking book masters as DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) talking books. The reading for digital talking books is still provided by a human narrator. For more information about DAISY talking books see the DAISY Consortium website.

In the future, DAISY books will let readers navigate by page number or chapter, and insert bookmarks in much the same way that sighted people handle print books. Digital talking books may also contain text and pictures that some readers are able to see using the magnification programs on their computers.

Find out more about the transition to digital talking books

The RNZFB is moving towards replacing its audio cassettes with digital talking books.  Find out everything you need to know on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Audio magazines

RNZFB members throughout New Zealand may borrow recorded selections from a number of popular magazines.

Titles include Listener, North & South, TIME, New Zealand Woman's Weekly, Cuisine, New Zealand Gardener, Mana, Reader's Digest, National Business Review, New Zealand Musician, and a range of newsletters from consumer organisations in the blindness sector.