Arizona Talking Book Library

11/25/2025

The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), supported by the National Library for the Blind Endowment, has launched a paid internship that offers individuals who are legally blind the opportunity to gain work experience and explore career options working in the areas of collections building, program delivery and business oversight and management.

Application details can be found at www.loc.gov/nls/about/internship-program

The deadline for the summer 2026 session is March 1. All interns will have an opportunity for in-person or virtual employment.

11/20/2025

November is Native American Heritage Month! We have great books in our catalog centering indigenous voices in our catalog year round, but if you want to celebrate Native American Heritage Month with your book list, check out these titles on BARD or request them from your librarian today!

Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava (DB 131259) - Pop singer Avery Fox has become a national joke after posing sc****ly clad on the cover of Rolling Stone in a feather warbonnet. With threats coming from every direction and her career at a standstill, she escapes to her estranged grandmother Lottie’s ranch in Oklahoma.
Red Fox Ranch has been home to Lucas Iron Eyes since he was sixteen years old. He has lived by three rules to keep himself out of trouble: 1) preserve the culture, 2) respect the horses, and 3) stick to himself. When he is tasked with picking up Lottie’s granddaughter at the bus station, the last person he expected to see is the Avery Fox. Lucas can’t stand what she represents, but when he’s forced to work with her on the ranch, he can’t get her out of his sight—or his head.

Squanto: A Native Odyssey by Andrew Lipman (DB 130470) - American schoolchildren have long learned about Squanto, the welcoming Native who made the First Thanksgiving possible, but his story goes deeper than the holiday legend. Drawing from a wide range of evidence and newly uncovered sources, Lipman reconstructs Squanto's upbringing, his transatlantic odyssey, his career as an interpreter, his surprising downfall, and his enigmatic death.

Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky: Modern Plant-Based Recipes using Native American Ingredients by Lois Ellen Frank (DB 116321 or BR 25218) - James Beard Award-winning author and chef Lois Ellen Frank introduces the splendor and importance of this Native culinary history and pairs it with delicious, modern, plant-based recipes using Native American ingredients. Along with Native American culinary advisor Walter Whitewater, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares more than 100 recipes organized by each of the foundational ingredients in Native American cuisine as well as a necessary discussion of food sovereignty and sustainability.

11/11/2025

We are closed today, November 11th, in observance of Veterans Day. We thank veterans for their service, and are proud to serve Arizona veterans.

Our normal business hours will resume on Wednesday, November 12th, at 8 AM.

11/03/2025

Join us on Friday, November 14th, at the VRATE Vision Rehabilitation and Technology Expo!

This free event offers individuals, families, and professionals from across Arizona free access to educational seminars on best practices in vision loss and includes emphasis on the intersectionality of other disabilities such as hearing loss.

Presentations and workshops will include topics such as using assistive technology; job readiness, advocacy, specialized learning modalities, defining independence, developing critical thinking skills, engaging in the social fabric of the community, and fostering self-determination for sustainable success.

A comprehensive set of exhibitors and vendors will be on hand to provide information, resources, and the opportunity to test out technology designed to be accessible to those living with vision impairments of all abilities.

For more information about the event and to complete registration, visit https://vrate.org/expo

10/31/2025

Today, October 31st, is Halloween! We hope you have a scary great day - and if you want a spooktacular read to celebrate, find these titles on BARD or request them from your librarian today!

Haunted Nights : a Horror Writers Association Anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton (DB 128333) - Here are sixteen chilling, never-before-published tales that explore every aspect of our darkest holiday, Halloween, coedited by Ellen Datlow, one of the most successful and respected genre editors, and Lisa Morton, a leading authority on Halloween. In addition to stories about scheming jack-o'-lanterns, vengeful ghosts, otherworldly changelings, disturbingly realistic haunted attractions, masks that cover terrifying faces, murderous urban legends, parties gone bad, cult Halloween movies, and trick-or-treating in the future, Haunted Nights also offers terrifying and mind-bending explorations of related holidays like All Souls' Day, Día de los Mu***os, and Devil's Night.

The Nightmare Before Dinner: Recipes to Die For by Zach Neil (BR 24347) - Get your goth on with 60+ recipes from Beetle House restaurant, where "every day is Halloween" and guests indulge in a deadly delicious menu inspired by the works of Tim Burton and all things dark and lovely. If you delight in ghoulish frights and movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, and The Evil Dead; then you'll love the official cookbook of Beetle House, the Halloween-inspired restaurant with locations in New York and Los Angeles. Plus if you're vegan or vegetarian, The Nightmare Before Dinner has your spooky side covered, too-it offers a vegan alternative or ingredient swap for each and every recipe in the book!

For more information about us and the services we offer, call us at 602-255-5578 or visit azlibrary.gov/tbl

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10/29/2025

Today, October 29th, is National Cat Day! Life is better with a furry friend, so check out these fiendishly good feline picks from our catalog on BARD or request them from your librarian!

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida (DB 124064) - Tucked away in an old building at the end of a narrow alley in Kyoto, the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul can only be found by people who are struggling in their lives and genuinely need help. The mysterious clinic offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. As the clinic's patients navigate their inner turmoil and seek resolution, their feline companions lead them toward healing, self-discovery, and newfound hope. Unrated.

Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat by Jackson Galaxy (DB 89932) - The star of TV's My Cat from Hell provides a comprehensive guide to cat care. Explains how to eliminate common problems cat owners experience by understanding instinctive feline behaviors. Includes arcane facts, science, animal psychology, and illustrative anecdotes.

For more information about us and the services we offer, call us at 602-255-5578 or visit azlibrary.gov/tbl

10/24/2025

Episode 5 of From the Booth: The Arizona Talking Book Library is now live!

Join hosts Cassidy and Sara as they interview fellow Arizona Talking Book Librarian Elizabeth! From our amazing Culture Pass program to their journeys to librarianship and an ever-expanding TBR, tune in as they paint a picture of all the amazing things the Arizona Talking Book Library has to offer!

You can listen for free at the links below:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/TLJzQhnHM6E?si=x8PHi0IIhY9Wyhvf

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KezdculoKvGbO3pSsnxNQ?si=_Sp74ZDESjmGG4fn78J4sA

To learn more about us and the services we offer, call us at 602-255-5578 or visit azlibrary.gov/talkingbooks

10/23/2025

Have you ever wondered what other Arizona Talking Book Library patrons are reading? Well, look no further than the most circulated books of the 2025 fiscal year! From October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, these were the five most popular books checked out on our book cartridges and sent out to our patrons!

1. Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham (DB 124686) - 216 circulations
2. Joy: A Novel by Danielle Steel (DB 123511) - 168 circulations
3. Partners: A Rogue Lawyer Short Story by John Grisham (Db 128075) - 152 circulations
4. Triangle: A Novel by Danielle Steel (DB 124842) - 148 circulations
5. Never Say Never by Danielle Steel (DB 126914) - 144 circulations

If you want to join your fellow patrons in exploring these titles, you can find them on BARD or request them from your librarian today!

For more information about us and the services we offer, call us at 602-255-5578 or visit azlibrary.gov/tbl

10/22/2025

Are you looking for a fun fall crafting activity? Check out this awesome idea from our friends at the Perkins Library to learn how to make your own wooly web!

Celebrate Halloween while practicing fine motor skills and experimenting with different textures and materials by making a cute "wooly web!"

Spiderweb instructions 🕸️

1️⃣ Gather cardboard pieces, craft foam, or clean/sterilized produce trays. Form into a square or any shape you want.

2️⃣ Using scissors, cut small V-shaped notches about a half inch apart around the edges of the base. Assistance from an adult might be necessary.

3️⃣ Wrap or wind yarn around the base. When you are finished, secure the loose yarn end with tape.

Spider instructions 🕷️

1️⃣ Cut four pieces of pipe cleaner in half.

2️⃣ With the help of an adult, carefully push the pipe cleaners through the middle of a pom pom.

3️⃣ Spread out the pipe cleaners and wrap the ends around strands of the yarn to attach the spider to the web.

Subscribe to PerKIDS for more craft ideas: https://bit.ly/40Hq4Gj

10/17/2025

Today, October 16th, is National Pasta Day! If you are looking for more pasta-bilities to spice up your recipe index, find this title on BARD or request it from your librarian today:

Bugialli on Pasta by Giuliano Bugialli (DB 29957): The author, known as the master pasta-maker, introduces recipes from all of Italy's regions. Bugialli includes detailed recipes that combine pasta with beans, fish, meat, vegetables, and assorted other ingredients in dishes that can appear anywhere from soup to dessert.

For more information about us and the services we offer, call us at 602-255-5578 or visit azlibrary.gov/tbl

10/10/2025

Today, October 10th, is World Mental Health Day! World Mental Health Day aims to educate on and bring awareness to mental health issues and reduce the stigma around them.

Despite being such a significant part of human experience and everyday life, much about mental health remains a mystery. Mental health encompasses how someone feels, acts, interacts with other people, perceives the world, and thinks. In recent decades scientific and medical research has enabled more to be understood about mental health, but many questions remain. The Science of Mental Health by the editors of Scientific American (DB 124893) explores various aspects of mental health, including the factors that help shape it, lifestyle choices and treatments that may help improve it, and the research being done by scientists and doctors to offer a clearer understanding of mental health.

Find this title on BARD or request it from your librarian today! For more information about us or the services we offer, call us at 602-255-5578 or visit azlibrary.gov/tbl

10/09/2025

We will be closed next Monday, October 13th, in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day/Columbus Day. Our normal business hours will resume Tuesday, October 14th, at 8 AM.

For more information about us or the services we offer, call us at 602-255-5578 or visit azlibrary.gov/tbl