NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville Public Library volunteer is lending his voice and his personal story to a program that helps Nashvillians with barriers to traditional reading access the written word.
The Nashville Talking Library connects volunteers who read aloud from newspapers, magazines and other publications with residents who cannot read in a conventional way. That includes people who are blind, have neurological conditions that prevent them from holding a book or turning pages, or face cognitive, comprehension or decoding challenges.
David Williams is one of those volunteers. A retired software professional, he records his readings inside a booth at the Nashville Public Library.
"The Nashville Talking Library is Nashvillians reading to other Nashvillians," Williams said.
Williams said the program made immediate sense to him when he first looked at options to volunteer.
"Looked at the list of how everybody could sign up to be a volunteer and saw the Talking Library and that made a lot of sense for me in a couple of personal ways," Williams said.
Those personal reasons run deep.
"My biological family, who I reconnected with about 15 years ago, they all struggle with age-related macular degeneration," Williams said.
"For me, the Talking Library is a resource that I can give to now and a service that I will more than likely use in the future," Williams said.
Williams said the program is about more than the technology that makes it possible.
"Besides the technology that we use, which, we use a lot of technology and that's grown over the years, that's really about connection," Williams said.
"Technology might be the way that we do it, but this is really about community building," Williams added.
To find out if you qualify for the Nashville Talking Library, call the Nashville Public Library at (615) 862-5874.
The Nashville Public Library says this program is intended for individuals who cannot read conventional print due to a disability.
If you have internet access, you can borrow an Amazon Echo for free from the Equal Access office. You can also listen online. If you do not have internet access, a specifically tuned radio receiver is available to borrow from the office as well.
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