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Oklahoma Library for the Blind Records First High Quality Local book Accepted by National Library Service

Click here to listen to a sample of "When Turtle Grew Feathers"

Library for the Blind staff use a computer audio-editing program to improve quality of recordings by volunteer narrator Nancy Cheper.

Studio Director Jill Streck monitors narrators during recording.

Volunteer Nancy Cheper is the narrator of the first locally produced digital book accepted to be distributed through the National Library Service.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped has produced the first locally recorded audio book accepted by the National Library Services (NLS) in digital format.

NLS, a component of the Library of Congress, will begin replacing analog audio cassette books with digital technology in 2008. OLBPH, which has a professional quality digital recording studio in Oklahoma City, is ready for the transition and advises other states regarding the new recording process.

Now children with a vision impairment anywhere in the United States can check out a copy of Oklahoma's first digital book submitted to NLS “When Turtle Grew Feathers,” by Oklahoman Tim Tingle. The book is narrated by volunteer Nancy Cheper of Ada and produced by OLBPH Studio Director Jill Streck.

It’s a major step for us,” Paul Adams, OLBPH director said. “NLS uses paid actors and commercial studios. They have five or six commercial studios that they contract out to create their book collection.”

So how does a local library compete with a commercial grade? Commitment to the book and its author. Commitment to the library patrons.

“We have some great narrators. Nancy brings life to this children’s book that I think only she could do,” Streck said. “It was a perfect match and her going the extra mile to actually call Tim Tingle and talk to him about it really proves her dedication.”

Cheper contacted Tingle to discuss the correct pronunciation of certain Choctaw words to ensure the quality and integrity of the narration. “Because this service is so needed by the patrons, we want it to be good. Also, if you’re quoting someone else’s words, simply the etiquette of quoting it, had better be perfect,” Cheper said.

Producing an audio book that gets accepted to the NLS catalogue is a rigorous and stringent process. Not only does the recording have to be word for word with no slips, omissions or mispronunciations but the audio level must be right. As well as, there must be a proper amount of silence after sentences or paragraphs and other intricate and complex audio details. What the general public would call nit-picky, NLS calls normal.

The audio production of “When Turtle Grew Feathers” was sent to the Quality Assurance program for acceptance in December 2007, and during the next eight months the OLBPH staff and Cheper made recommended edits and re-recordings. In August 2008, OLBPH was notified that their production of the book had been accepted to the NLS catalogue.

It’s about quality production, and the blind deserve nothing less. “We want to be up to [NLS’s] standards because we know we can be. That’s what they ask of us, and we’re going to do it,” Streck said.

Adams concluded, “We do it on a local level to give our patrons Oklahoma material. The Library of Congress focuses on bestsellers, so they’re going to record what the biggest demand will be because of the cost.

"For the 6,000 Oklahomans we serve, there’s a lot of good books about Oklahoma by Oklahomans that aren’t put on audio on a national level, and that’s why we do it. We want our patrons to have the widest variety of material available,” Adams said.

For information on services offered by the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, phone (405) 521-3514 in Oklahoma City or (800) 523-0288 toll free. To inquire about volunteer opportunities, contact Library Director Paul Adams , or Volunteer Coordinator, Jay Doudna, at their e-mail address or the phone numbers listed above.

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