8/2/2006

Bill Carduff is forging a volunteer partnership with books
By Dolores E. Pike

In 1963 when Bill Carduff and his wife Jane were living in Baltimore he saw an ad in "Better Homes and Gardens Magazine," placed there by the Library of Congress.  It was seeking people with tape recorders and asking if they would like to volunteer to read for the blind.  And that sounded like something Bill thought he would enjoy doing.

"They sent me a tape and I auditioned on the tape.  I read about five or 10 minutes of anything I wanted to and they accepted me," said Bill, who went on to note that successful readers need to be free of regional accents.

For the next several years Bill followed the same procedure.  The Library of Congress would send him the book, he would record it and send them the tape, which would be critiqued and returned to him for corrections.  He would make the corrections and again mail the tape.  Because this was a service for the blind, there were never any mailing charges involved.  The downside of the free mailing was that the post office would let the "free" mail sit for a couple of days while they processed the revenue producing mail.

There are many free services offered to blind and physically handicapped people by the Library of Congress that most people are not aware of including, according to Bill, doctors who treat patients with disorders of the eye.

Upon the presentation of a doctor's certificate the Library of Congress will send individuals (legally blind or physically handicapped and cannot pick up a book or turn pages) a recorder that plays the cassettes that are reproduced from master tapes.  These are 88 minute tapes (as opposed to an approximately 60 minute commercial tape) and cannot be played on a commercial tape player.  If the tape players need to be serviced a group of retired technicians are on hand to voluntarily repair the machines transferring all equipment through the mail at no charge to anyone.

Over the course of Bill's volunteer work with the Library of Congress he recorded 150 books, receiving a note of thanks each time he completed a book.  During this time some of the titles he recorded were "Tender is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald along with many Westerns written by Louis L'Amour.  In the categories of mystery and adventure he recorded authors Mickey Spillane, Agatha Christie, Rex Stout and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

It came as a complete shock to Bill when the Library of Congress suddenly notified the volunteer readers that their services would no longer be required because the readings would be done in the future by professionals.

Bill searched around for organizations offering services to the blind so he might continue with his reading.  For a while he worked with a group located in New York State.  Then he worked for the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped with offices in Baltimore.  A lot of that work was school book readings which were tough because the state organization often times did not get enough advance notice of which text books would be used for the upcoming semester, requiring completion of many readings on short notice.

Eventually Bill became involved with the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ASB) in Philadelphia and now records solely for them.  During this time he has recorded over 700 titles (including several books) for them, currently being assigned to the magazine section, reading "Popular Mechanics," "The Civil War Times" and "Fortune," which he records every other week. 

"I find over the years I can't read more than an hour at a time and I might read two times a day, tops.  'Fortune' magazine takes seven hours.  We do not read the ads, just the articles.  'Popular Mechanics' takes probably five to six hours," said Bill.

A small subscription fee is charged by ASB to members, many of whom are professional people, depending upon the magazines subscribed to.  According to CEO and President Pat Johnson, originally from Ocean City, the most popular magazine among the members is "The New Yorker Magazine."

About a year ago the recording method changed to digital and delivery of the work no  longer hinges on the U.S. Postal Service.  The material then has to be transferred to analog because the Library of Congress has not switched its recorders to digital, something that has been in the planning stage for three years.

The Carduffs have lived in Ocean Pines since 1994 and he is a lector for the Catholic churches of Ocean City along with his volunteer reading for the blind about which he says, "I have never been paid for this and I don't want it.  It is its own reward, just doing for other people what they can't do for themselves."

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