Libraries and leisure

Cassettes for Blind People

Cassettes for Blind People is a free service, which lends books and information on audio cassette to people living in Hertfordshire who are visually impaired, or whose condition makes reading an ordinary book impossible.

People who are Registered Blind or Partially Sighted can receive tapes via the free postal service provided by the post office. Those with vision of N12 or less are also entitled to this service, but must have their condition confirmed by an optician or doctor.

If you are unable to read a conventional book, but do not qualify for the free postal service, then we can send the cassettes to your local library for collection.

The stock of over 3,500 title includes fiction, biography, poetry, plays, humour and children’s tapes. We do not supply music.

Applying for the service
If you are a Hertfordshire resident, then you can apply for the Cassettes for Blind People service. Call into your local library or contact us for further information:

From area codes 01923 0r 0208
Telephone: 01923 471333
Fax: 01923 471334
Minicom: 01923 471599

From all other areas
Telephone: 01438 471333
Fax: 01438 737334
Minicom: 01438 727599

Or use the Contact Us page on this website.

How the service operates
When we receive your application form, a member of staff will contact you by telephone. We will explain the service in more detail and have a chat with you about the sort of stories you enjoy and about your interests. We will use this information to choose titles for you from our stock. We will then send you your first set of tapes. These are standard cassettes, and must be played on a normal cassette player. All the tapes are marked to enable you to identify the correct order in which to play them by touch.

There is no set loan period . When you have finished with the cassettes, you should return them to us – either by post or via your local library depending upon how you receive them. We will then send you another set of tapes. We aim to send out new tapes within three days of receiving your returned set.