BY TOBA SINGER
The Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB) currently carries 48 Pathfinder titles, reported Ellen Ogdin, the organization's director of public affairs. Ogdin recently helped gather facts and figures on RFB's Pathfinder holdings.
The most requested Pathfinder titles are Cointelpro: The FBI's Secret War on Political Freedom, by Nelson Blackstock; Malcolm X Talks to Young People; and Fidel Castro: Nothing Can Stop the Course of History. Each has been taken out at least six times in the last two years.
Other popular titles include To See the Dawn: Baku, 1920-First Congress of the Peoples of the East; The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-class Politics and the Trade Unions by Jack Barnes; and Socialism on Trial by James P. Cannon.
The 48 titles have been requested 75 times between July 1993 and June 1995. Only 14 of the Pathfinder titles have not been asked for at all in this period. The remaining titles have been requested an average of two times.
RFB furnishes borrowers with tapes within 48 hours of a request if the title has already been recorded. If a book has not yet been recorded on tape, RFB sends out each tape as it is completed. The company mails the tapes in postage- free material-for-the-blind containers which borrowers can return mail to RFB when they have finished using the tapes.
In order to play the tapes borrowers must use four-track tape player machines. These are available free from local library systems through the Library of Congress (the borrower must supply certification of disability by a doctor). They can be purchased from RFB for around $200.
In addition to blind and low-vision borrowers, 61 percent of RFB members are dyslexic, a disability which is not considered visual. Other subscribers have learning disabilities, are autistic, or have multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy.
RFB also offers library reference searches for free, and offers some reference tools for sale on compact disk. These include Stedman's Medical Dictionary and Black's Law Dictionary. Nearly 200 workers staff 30 studios in 16 states and the District of Columbia to serve members all across the United States. RFB has one of the largest collections of recorded books in the world-some 80,000 master cassettes from which tapes are recorded.
What if RFB doesn't have the book you want to hear? A member may send two copies of the book of their choosing to RFB, which will then consider it for recording. The more requests, the more likely it is that your selection will be recorded. Ogdin stressed that RFB needs volunteers to record books.