Search Help Center
You may scan any book you choose, so long as it follows the guidelines on this page. The book should not be in the collection * and must be a physical book that is manually scanned.* See exceptions here.
Yes. Bookshare volunteers must use their own scanner and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software. The scanner may have built-in OCR software, or the person scanning may have the OCR software as part of a computer program.
When I request a book to be added, when will it be ready?Converting books into accessible format is a complex process, and we can't guarantee a specific turnaround time. For books that are available in the NIMAC, we can usually add them to the collection within 1-2... more
Student book requestsIf your request is on behalf of a U.S. student, it gets added to the Student Request queue, which is maintained by Bookshare’s Collection Development staff. If the book is available from the NIMAC, we'll pull a copy directly or as assigned to us... more
It's easy to volunteer for Bookshare!Scanning: You can make virtually any book accessible if you are willing to scan the file and submit it to Bookshare. If you have a computer with internet access, a scanner with scan-to-text software, basic computer skills, and a... more
Benetech owns and operates the Bookshare website. Benetech works with the Daisy Forum of India (DFI) to make Bookshare available to qualified individuals in India under Section 52(1)(zb) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, or under agreements between Benetech and... more
Bookshare cannot accept:eBooks (even if they have been printed and scanned)standardized teststeacher editions of textbookscopyrighted dramatic works (plays or screenplays)
Click here for instructions on how to file a book quality report, and to see a list of books that have been reported for problems and are being fixed.
Bookshare will fix the errors as quickly as possible and replace the book in the library. NIMAC-sourced textbooks will... more
Over 850 U.S. and International publishers contribute digital content to Bookshare. Their generous support helps in many ways. Click on the link to see a complete list of who is involved.
Yes! The Wish List is a list of books that have been requested by our members for reading outside of the classroom. We encourage volunteers to check this list regularly and choose titles to scan and proof. Adding a Wist List title guarantees that you will make... more
Image Description volunteers advance the accessibility of the Bookshare collection by describing images in textbooks and childrens' books, using our open-source Poet Image Description tool developed by our DIAGRAM Center. Since we launched Poet in 2012, our volunteers... more
When a volunteer's scanned or proofread book is approved into Bookshare®'s collection, both the scanner and the proofreader automatically earn Volunteer Reward Credits. These credits can be used to reduce the cost of a Bookshare membership* for a person with a... more
When we receive books from publisher partners or the NIMAC in digital formats, images are included.When we need to manually convert a print book into accessible format, images are not retained. We do not have the resources currently required to retain all images,... more
Can I restrict my child's access to certain titles?Bookshare tags some books as "adult content," which depict extreme violence or explicit sexual content. Those books are not available to readers under 18, or adult readers who "opt out" of seeing adult content in... more
Bookshare tags books that depict extreme violence or contain explicit sexual content as "adult content." These books are not available to readers under age 18, or to adult readers who "opt out" of seeing adult content in their searches.Members under 18 who wish to... more