General FAQ

  1. How do I join Bookshare®?
  2. How can I subscribe to the Bookshare discussion lists?
  3. What if I can't find the book I'm looking for on Bookshare?
  4. What is Bookshare?
  5. What is Benetech and how can I find out more?
  6. How is Bookshare different from NLS or Learning Ally (formerly RFB&D)?
  7. Isn't it illegal to share copyrighted material on the Internet?
  8. Who can become a Member?
  9. Is Bookshare only for students?
  10. How much does it cost?
  11. What types of books are available through Bookshare?
  12. How do I search for books in the Bookshare library?
  13. What types of newspapers and magazines are available from Bookshare?
  14. In which formats are the books available?
  15. Where does Bookshare get books in digital form?
  16. Can I share my Bookshare books with other people?
  17. What is adult content?
  18. How can I order embossed Braille books?
  19. How do I report errors I find in a book?
  20. I keep getting an incorrect password message when I try to log in. What's wrong?
  21. I work at a school. How can I get books for my students?
  22. How can I volunteer?
  23. I have scanned books, but I didn't proofread them. Does Bookshare want them?

1 How do I join Bookshare®?

There are three steps to becoming a Bookshare Member:

  1. Register online. Select Sign Up at the top of the page and fill out the online registration form.
    • If you are a U.S. student or a U.S. educational institution, your membership is free, through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Read more about the OSEP award. Be sure to fill out all the student/school information so you can qualify.
    • Hadley students and alumni: Current Hadley students can enter “Hadley student” in the Promo Code field to request verification of student status and disability. Hadley alumni can enter "Hadley alumni" in the Promo Code field to request verification of disability.
    • Read through and accept the Bookshare agreement.
    • Upon completion, you will receive a welcome email that contains a link to create a password. You'll see email and login fields on the website. You can use these to login after you set your password using the link in the welcome email Bookshare will send you.
  2. Provide proof of disability. Once you have your password, you can log in with your email and password.
    • Students of schools with Organizational Memberships: If your school has already submitted your proof of disability to Bookshare as part of its account, your teacher or sponsor at the school can log in and print a special registration form specifically for you that will register you for individual membership without the need for additional proof of disability.
    • National Library Service (NLS) patrons: Select My Account, go to the Proof of Disability tab and complete the online Disability Verification Request form.
    • Learning Ally (formerly RFB&D) members: Select My Account, go to the Proof of Disability tab and complete the online RFB&D disability verification form.
    • CNIB patrons: Patrons with a current CNIB Identification Card can mail or fax a copy of their card to Bookshare.
    • All others: Please complete the Proof of Disability form, have it signed by your doctor or a certifying professional and fax or mail it to:
      Bookshare
      480 South California Avenue, Suite 201
      Palo Alto, CA 94306
      Fax: 650.475.1066
  3. Pay membership fee. There is a one-time $25 initiation fee and a $50 annual membership fee. If you are a U.S. student or a U.S. educational institution, your membership is free, through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Read more about the OSEP award.

If you have any questions about completing the online registration form, email the Membership Department.

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2 How can I subscribe to the Bookshare discussion lists?

These are very active lists, with dozens of messages each day. You can subscribe to these lists in digest form, which typically means one email a day containing all of the emails sent to the list that day.

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3 What if I can't find the book I'm looking for on Bookshare?

If you don’t find what you are looking for in the Bookshare library, you can always request a book.

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4 What is Bookshare?

Bookshare is an online library that makes print material available for people with print disabilities. It is designed exclusively for the use of the blind and other individuals with print related disabilities. Bookshare has been in operation since February, 2002 and was created by Benetech® (formerly Arkenstone).

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5 What is Benetech and how can I find out more?

Bookshare is an initiative of Benetech, a nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of technology to meet important social needs. Benetech delivers these benefits using the innovative model of social enterprise, which combines market forces with philanthropic capital and entrepreneurial drive. It is the nonprofit successor of Arkenstone, which developed reading machines for people with visual and learning disabilities. To find out more about Benetech, please visit Benetech's website at www.benetech.org. There you can browse information about Benetech's vision, implementation, and ongoing projects.

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6 How is Bookshare different from NLS or Learning Ally (formerly RFB&D)?

The Bookshare library serves people with disabilities in a new way, providing a vast collection of downloadable books in digital text formats. Other libraries provide mainly human narrated audio or hardcopy Braille. Bookshare books can be easily used with access technology using synthetic speech, large print and/or Braille. One major difference is that the Bookshare library is primarily created by its Members. If one Member thinks a book is worth scanning, Bookshare will add that book to the collection so it is available to all Members.

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7 Isn't it illegal to share copyrighted material on the Internet?

In general, it is illegal to share or distribute copyrighted works of literature. However, there is a special provision in U.S. copyright law that explicitly gives qualified nonprofit companies such as Bookshare the ability to distribute copyrighted materials in a specialized format for use only by those with disabilities. Section 17 U.S.C. § 121 of the copyright law states in part:

"... it is not an infringement of copyright for an authorized entity to reproduce or to distribute copies ... of a previously published, nondramatic literary work if such copies ... are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities."

Find out more about why Bookshare is legal.

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8 Who can become a Member?

Bookshare membership is available to people who provide proof of a print disability, such as blindness or low vision, a reading disability or a physical disability that makes it difficult or impossible to read standard print. Learn more about membership.

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9 Is Bookshare only for students?

No. Bookshare is for any qualified individual. The requirements for qualification are very similar to those required for access to other accessible media sources such as Learning Ally (formerly RFB&D) or the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a division of the Library of Congress (NLS). Bookshare is available to those who provide proof of their print related disability. This certification may come from a doctor, rehabilitation counselor or other authorized professional. Learn more about qualifications.

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10 How much does it cost?

Students and schools in the U.S. have had their memberships paid for thanks to the generous support of the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. federal Department of Education. The cost for an annual individual membership for non-students is $25.00 to sign up and $50.00 for the annual membership, with no per-book download charges. Non-educational and international organizations can purchase book blocks at varying cost levels. International pricing varies by country. Visit the International page.

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11 What types of books are available through Bookshare?

Bookshare offers a range of material in numerous genres for Members of all ages. From children’s books to New York Times Best Sellers, from textbooks and technical books to science fiction, Bookshare has something for everyone. Use the quick search and browse links in the navigation bar to find the book you want. Or select the Advanced Search link to narrow your search by title, author, publisher, language, category, ISBN, etc. You can browse and search the library without becoming a Member.

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12 How do I search for books in the Bookshare library?

Bookshare’s powerful full text search capability searches for a word or phrase in the titles, authors’ names, and contents of all books in the library. Just enter a word or phrase in the search box at the top of any page. For more details on searching, see the Find Books page.

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13 What types of newspapers and magazines are available from Bookshare?

Leading national and some metropolitan newspapers, as well as some popular magazines are available through Bookshare, in partnership with the National Federation of the Blind through its NFB-NEWSLINE© service. Browse newspapers and magazines. Newspapers and magazines may not be available in your state or country. 

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14 In which formats are the books available?

Books from Bookshare are available in two specialized formats specifically designed for people with disabilities:

  • BRF (Braille Refreshable Format) - digital Braille for use with refreshable Braille devices and Braille embossers.
  • DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) - a digital book file format. DAISY books from Bookshare are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of access technology that reads text, such as screen readers, self-voicing synthetic-voice DAISY players, Braille notetakers, portable self-voicing DAISY Players, and scan-and-read software such as Kurzweil K1000 and K3000, and WYNN and OpenBook. Learn more about DAISY format. Currently Bookshare is reprocessing all books in the collection to ensure compatibility with DAISY 3.0.

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15 Where does Bookshare get books in digital form?

The primary source for Bookshare books is the community of Members and Volunteers. There are many people who routinely use a computer to scan a book or other text into machine-readable form to make it accessible for their own use. Converting a book in this way can take up to several hours. Often, many people end up scanning a popular book, needlessly repeating many hours of work. Bookshare seeks to maximize the efficiency of this process by making a work scanned by only one or a few people available to thousands of people with qualifying disabilities.

Bookshare also receives books from publishers and authors who provide original digital copies with permission for Bookshare to make them available to people with disabilities, typically around the world. In addition, schools and universities submit books and textbooks they’ve scanned.

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16 Can I share my Bookshare books with other people?

Members are permitted to use Bookshare books for their own personal use. Bookshare uses Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology and contractual agreements with Members to maximize personal access to books and minimize abuse of this privilege. Bookshare copyrighted books are not available to the general public, and cannot be shared with individuals other than the Member for whom the book was downloaded, regardless of whether or not the other individual would qualify for service.

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17 What is adult content?

Books with adult content might contain topics that are inappropriate for minors. These topics may include graphic violence, obscenities, or sexual content. Members over 18 can opt in or out of seeing adult content in search results at their account preferences. Members under 18 who wish to download adult content can have a parent or guardian mail or fax a signed note to Bookshare, requesting the minor's account be allowed access to books marked as containing adult content.

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18 How can I order embossed Braille books?

You can order embossed Braille books for yourself or others through TechAdapt Inc. Please provide the book title, author, and ISBN number, if available. TechAdapt will contact you with embossing options and pricing information. Only books that are "excellent" or "publisher" quality can be embossed. Newspapers and magazines are not available in embossed Braille. Please email: sales@techadapt.com

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19 How do I report errors I find in a book?

If you find a book with significant errors or a book that does not match its quality label, please submit a quality report by using the “Report book quality issue” link on the specific book information page. For example, see Emma, by Jane Austen.

Bookshare will fix the errors as quickly as possible and replace the book in the library. NIMAC-sourced textbooks will be completed within a week. Educational and general reading books will be fixed as soon as possible.

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20 I keep getting an incorrect password message when I try to log in. What's wrong?

The password field may have extraneous data in it from a previous attempt to log in. Before entering your password, press the backspace key repeatedly until you are sure the field is blank. If you continue to receive the invalid password error, check the username field to be sure it contains the correct username.

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21 I work at a school. How can I get books for my students?

Schools can register for organizational memberships and download books for their students online. You can also request individual memberships for students who want independent access to the library. For schools and students in the U.S., membership is free through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Learn more about membership options.

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22 How can I volunteer?

Bookshare welcomes anyone over 15 to volunteer and help build the Bookshare library. You don’t have to be a Member or provide proof of disability. Learn how to sign up to volunteer.

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23 I have scanned books, but I didn't proofread them. Does Bookshare want them?

Yes! Please sign up as a Volunteer so you can submit your scanned books. The Bookshare Volunteer community will proofread your books as long as you did a careful job of scanning the complete book. Textbooks, however, must be carefully proofread before Bookshare can accept them.

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