Join us on Saturday, July 19, 2025 to learn about the important work of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) during our monthly Family Day program.
Activities during the drop-in program (10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) are primarily designed for kids and their families but all ages are welcome—so please join us however old you are! The event is free of charge, although you will need free building tickets to enter the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building. A limited number of tickets are available on the day, but registering in advance is the best way to guarantee entry at your preferred time. Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at 202-707-6363 or by emailing [email protected].
Visitors will enjoy a variety of presentations, hands-on activities, and crafts while discovering the services NLS offers for the public. Stop by the “tech petting zoo,” explore tactile representations of the Thomas Jefferson Building, and complete a braille activity sheet. Learn how international materials are made available for patrons and chat with representatives from NLS to learn more about their work. Attend narrator demonstrations at 11:00 AM, 12:30 PM, and 2:00 PM to learn how these skilled performers turn text into audiobooks.
Join in From Home
Whether you can make it onsite or not, you can still learn more about this important division of the Library. Started as a reading room for the blind in 1897, today’s National Library Service is a free, national program that provides braille and recorded material to people across the country. In preparation for this month’s Family Day program, ILO staff interviewed NLS staff Dawn Ursula-Rachal and Mark Layman. Keep reading to learn more about NLS and the work that goes on behind the scenes!
Question: Can you describe NLS in your own words?
Dawn Ursula-Rachal: NLS stands for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. We provide books, magazines, and music scores in talking-book/audio and braille formats. There’s a national network of cooperating libraries that circulate these materials, postage-free! Most materials are available on instant download, and did I mention that our services are absolutely free?! If someone has temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or a physical, perceptual, or reading disability that makes using regular print difficult, they can reach out to their state or locality’s NLS network library and start receiving this wonderful service. We even have currency reader devices. I encourage everyone to go to www.loc.gov/nls for more information.
Mark Layman: There’s not much I could add to Dawn’s description, but here’s what some of our patrons have told us: “This was a lifesaver for my mother-in-law who suffered from macular degeneration.” … “[The NLS talking-book player] was the door to knowledge for my daughter when she was little.” … “When I could no longer read due to my eye disease, it was really difficult. I am so grateful to NLS.” Patrons often say our audio and braille books are their lifeline, a way to stay engaged with the world. It’s so rewarding knowing the impact we have on their lives.
Question: How did you join NLS, and what do you do here?
Dawn Ursula-Rachal: NLS was hiring Narrator/Monitor/Reviewers for their in-house talking-book production studio, the Media Lab. The application process included submitting recordings of myself narrating both fiction and non-fiction, a panel interview, and then a cold reading in one of the recording booths working with the Studio Head. I’ve been here since 2013, and I narrate all types of materials, but I also work as an audio engineer (or monitor) for other narrators when they’re behind the microphone, and I review the recorded material of my colleagues. Our work also includes special projects and collaboration with other departments and divisions within NLS and across the Library. The American Foundation for the Blind created the first recorded books (what we now call audiobooks) for the Library of Congress/NLS in 1934, and the Media Lab continues that spirit of innovation.
Mark Layman: The Library is my second career, after 25-plus years as a newspaper reporter and editor. The migration of news and advertising from print to the internet decimated newspapers, and I was laid off from my last newspaper job in 2009. Later that year I was hired as a writer/editor in what’s now called the Communications and Outreach Section at NLS.
A big part of the job is telling the public and potential patrons about NLS, which we do through our website, social media, newsletter, outreach campaigns, promotional materials and in person at conferences, exhibits and other events. We produce bimonthly publications that highlight new audio and braille books in the collection. And we edit NLS’ communications with the network of our cooperating libraries and the broader Library of Congress community. Over the years I’ve had a hand in all those things.
Question: What kind of research do you do for your job?
Dawn Ursula-Rachal: What a great question! This is one of the most interesting and varied parts of my job. I must be able to pronounce correctly every word I read aloud and understand its meaning in context of the material. I’ve researched words in such diverse areas as flower botany, mathematical equations, medical diagnoses, recipe ingredients, and pharmaceutical drug names. I’ve researched accents for fictional texts written in English and had to pronounce words as a person from France, Germany, and some places that aren’t real! There’s tons of research because we write a lot of image descriptions. Many times you look at an image and you know what it is, but when you have to describe it, you realize how much you assume you know, then realize how much you don’t. “That’s a bug” becomes, what kind of bug, what are those hairs on its leg called, isn’t there a specific term for the part of it that’s being magnified in the picture? One of the most challenging descriptions I wrote recently was for an illustration of the electromagnetic spectrum. It’s a good thing the Science and Business Library is two floors above me!
Mark Layman: I have to keep up with all aspects of the program—the development of new products like our Braille eReader and next-generation audiobook player, updates to our public-facing and internal operating systems, policy changes that impact the network of our cooperating libraries, and so on. So I’m always talking to people throughout NLS, asking how it’s going, what’s the latest—all with the goal of eventually communicating that information to our various stakeholders. I also dig through old newsletters and other NLS publications to unearth information from our past—the NLS program began in 1931—that puts our current work in perspective.
Question: What is one thing you’d like people to know about NLS/your job?
Dawn Ursula-Rachal: About NLS – what an incredibly indispensable service we provide. Although there are many people who benefit from this service, I want people to know we still need to spread the word! There are more people out there who don’t know we’re here for them. As for what I’d like people to know about my job, it’s that my colleagues and I bring a combination of technical expertise, experience, talent, and an irreplaceable humanity to the art of storytelling and are dedicated to ensuring access for all individuals to consume as much knowledge as they can. Thank you for this opportunity to share with you!
Mark Layman: When you work for a newspaper, you know that sometimes a story is going to rile people up or cause someone pain. That’s just the nature of news: it’s not always good. Sometimes you’re OK with that—let the chips fall where they may—and sometimes it keeps you awake at night. But at NLS, we’re all about helping people—making their lives better, more meaningful, more enjoyable. It’s all good. And I like that very much.
We hope you join us in person on July 19th, but if you can’t make it we hope you’ve enjoyed learning about this important Library service. Check out NLS’s Resources for Children and Summer Reading Program for additional information and activities.