03 Mar Reading for the Blind

This program, launched in 1988, employs offenders at a modest wage to make audio recordings of books for the visually impaired. Reading for the Blind is part of a broader organization — the Program for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Utah State Library Division, which serves patrons both locally and nationally. The program is housed in a donated facility that has reading rooms and editing stations equipped with tape duplication machines. Reading for the Blind employees read hundreds of books each year, which are then added to the State Library’s collection. Some offenders continue volunteering to read books for this program at the Utah State Library even after they are released from prison.