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Lend Your Voice: Recording For The Blind And Dyslexic

by Helen Bennett
10/17/2007

A banner reading “Lend Us Your Voice” hangs from the one-story brick building, where inside volunteers read aloud textbooks in eight recording booths.

In 1948, Anne T. MacDonald of the New York Public Library’s Women’s Auxiliary founded the program Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic to aid World War II veterans who were blinded or physically disabled seeking an education who could not read Braille.

RFB&D volunteers began recording textbooks on six-inch vinyl sound scriber phonograph discs that played only 12 minutes of material on each side. Today the textbooks are digitally recorded onto CDs, and serve anyone who is found disabled by any medically qualified professional.

The Georgia unit of RFB&D began in April of 1953 in Athens, and began recording sessions for textbooks in the University of Georgia’s main library on campus.

From there, the organization moved around on campus until 1967 when it settled on 120 Florida Ave, near the UGA Student Learning Center.

The studio is the only one in Georgia, and one of 29 locations scattered across the country.

The organization has a group membership deal with all public university support systems in the U.S., such as the Disability Resource Center at UGA.

By obtaining a membership with RFB&D, a borrower gains access to the database of over 500,000 circulating textbook titles.

The Athens location is open Monday through Friday, and records about one book a day. According to Fred Smith, production director of the Georgia site and retired UGA professor, this is made possible due to the 220 volunteers who come in weekly and donate 1.5 hours of time per session. The combined efforts result in recording 20 textbooks a month.

The RFB&D studio puts out half of that monthly figure, about 10 books, during their annual Record-A-Thon that lasts five days.

Every April for the past 15 years, the studio has held the Record-A-Thon where guest readers, including novelists and public figures, such as UGA President Michael Adams, donate their time.

Smith says 20 percent of students today suffer from some form of learning disability that prevents them from performing their best in school.

The need in Georgia alone for a learning tool is 36,000, yet only 6,500 people are registered with RFB&D as borrowers.

“Our biggest obstacle is trying to serve those that just don’t know about us,” says Smith.

The organization has over 7,000 volunteers nationwide, yet only serves about 180,000 members.

There are many more students with disabilities who could benefit from the organization, but are unaware that a program like RFB&D even exists.

For more information on RFB&D, or if you would like to get involved, visit the RFB&D website.

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