Hachette UK donates audiobooks to substantially increase RNIB’s library collection
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has received hundreds of new audio books that will be available to lend to people with sight loss.
Hachette UK is donating the audio books to RNIB and will make a selection available to RNIB’s Reading Services customers each month. This will substantially increase the Library Collection.
The books, which are donated from the entire Hachette Audio catalogue, include customer favourite authors Michael Connelly, Andy McDermott, Maggie O'Farrell and Elly Griffiths.
James Bartlett, RNIB’s Senior Reading Services Manager, said: “RNIB Library is delighted to be working with Hachette UK. Hachette’s generous donation of audiobooks will be enjoyed immensely by RNIB Talking Book customers. For our readers to be able to have the books they want to read is superb for their independence and personal choice.”
Hachette UK’s Accessibility Network co-chairs, Jasmine Palmer and Siobhan Hughes, and its Accessible Content Subgroup co-chairs, Anthony Simnica and Cecilia Rushton, said: “This partnership is completely aligned with Hachette UK’s mission to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity. The values of the mission are never more relevant than in the context of reaching those who rely on the great work of partners such as RNIB. We are proud to contribute to a reading experience that continues to enhance accessibility and remove barriers.”
RNIB produced its first audio book, or ‘Talking Book’, in 1935. Since then, the charity has provided Talking Books in various formats to blind and partially sighted people across the UK free since 2014, recording them in its own studios in Camden, London. In 2020, RNIB launched a new online library offering people with sight loss instant access to thousands of free books in formats they can read, including audio. The library now has 39,000 Talking Books in its collection.
To become an RNIB Online Library member, please visit www.readingservices.rnib.org.uk or call RNIB’s Helpline on 0303 123 9999.
Notes to editors
All media enquiries to RNIB’s PR team at [email protected] or 020 7391 2223. For urgent enquiries out-of-hours, please call 07968 482812.
RNIB is able to offer this essential service for blind and partially sighted people thanks to generous donations from the public. To donate and help us continue to deliver vital services like these, please visit the RNIB website, or call the RNIB helpline on 0303 123 9999. For information about sponsoring a talking book, please visit https://www.rnib.org.uk/donations-and-fundraising/sponsor-talking-book
About RNIB
We are the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
Every six minutes, someone in the UK begins to lose their sight. RNIB is taking a stand against exclusion, inequality and isolation to create a world without barriers where people with sight loss can lead full lives. A different world where society values blind and partially sighted people not for the disabilities they’ve overcome, but for the people they are.
RNIB. See differently.
Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk
About Hachette UK
Our mission at Hachette UK is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity. We are one of the UK’s largest publishing groups, with 12 autonomous divisions and over 50 imprints with a rich and diverse history. We are the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest growing part of our business.
We publish thousands of new books across the group every year and our authors include Michael Connelly, Alice Oseman, John Grisham, Val McDermid, Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Nelson Mandela, Stephenie Meyer, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai.
Our award-winning adult publishing divisions are Little, Brown, Orion, John Murray Press, Dialogue Books, Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, Quercus, Bookouture and Octopus. Hachette Children’s Group publishes a diverse range of books for children of all ages and Hodder Education is a market leader in resources for both primary and secondary schools. In 2022, we welcomed Paperblanks, the second-largest premium stationery brand in the world, to our group.
We have offices around the UK, including our headquarters in London and the Hely Hutchinson Centre (HHC) for distribution in Didcot. We have subsidiaries in several other regions, including Australia, India, Ireland, Jamaica and New Zealand.