[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 154 (Friday, October 14, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE 
 AND IN HONOR OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE BRAILLE AND TALKING BOOK LIBRARY

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                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 14, 2011

  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of The National 
Library Service, as they celebrate their 80th anniversary, and in honor 
of the California State Braille and Talking Book Library. As staff, 
patrons and supporters gather to celebrate this milestone, I ask all my 
colleagues to join me in honoring their leadership and dedication to 
the blind and physically handicapped.
  When the National Library Service was formed in 1931, the ``Blind 
Books'' program found a welcome home at the California State Braille 
and Talking Book Library. To this day, the National Library Service and 
the California State Braille and Talking Library continue to provide 
books in Braille, audio books, digital talking book machines and 
digital talking books to over 12,000 individual patrons and 542 
institutions across Northern California.
  This year has been proclaimed as ``Talking Book Awareness Year'' as 
new digital talking book machines and digital talking books hit the 
market. The services that the National Library Service and the 
California State Braille and Talking Book Library provide are vital to 
those who are not able to read by conventional methods. The book 
collection at the library contains thousands of fiction and nonfiction 
titles, as well as a collection of books by California authors and 
about California's history on cassette.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to the National Library 
Service, and the California State Braille and Talking Book Library. The 
past 80 years have been tremendously successful and I am confident that 
they will continue to enjoy success in the future. While the National 
Library Service and California State Braille and Talking Book Library 
staff, volunteers, patrons and supporters gather together to celebrate 
the 80th anniversary, I ask all my colleagues to join me in honoring 
their outstanding work in providing the community with necessary 
services for the blind and the physically handicapped.

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