TBBC Named 2023 Regional Library of the Year by the Library of Congress

Published on September 7, 2023

The NJ State Library (NJSL), an affiliate of Thomas Edison State University, is pleased to announce that it’s Talking Book and Braille Center (TBBC) has received the 2023 Regional Library of the Year Award from the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS).

Deputy State Librarian and TBBC Director, Adam Szczepaniak, and TBBC Associate Director, Elizabeth Burns, accepted the award at a luncheon on September 7th, in the historic Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, attended the luncheon and praised TBBC’s “24/7 commitment to ensuring that disability stops no one from experiencing the lifelong joy of reading.” She said TBBC is an “outstanding example of the service that NLS and its network of libraries provide to hundreds of thousands of people from coast to coast.”

TBBC, one of nearly 100 libraries in the nationwide NLS network, serves nearly 14,000 patrons throughout New Jersey. In addition to loaning materials in audio and braille to children, teens, and adults, TBBC manages NFB-NEWSLINE, the National Federation of the Blind’s audio news service, for more than 3,300 subscribers in New Jersey. It also manages the state Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired’s Technology Loan Program and Library Equal Access Program, providing accessible technology, support and training to residents with print disabilities.

Learn more about TBBC’s services and how to enroll at www.njstatelib.org/tbbc.

Photo Gallery

Deputy State Librarian and TBBC Director, Adam Szczepaniak, and TBBC Associate Director, Elizabeth Burns accept the award

Adam Szczepaniak speaking on behalf of TBBC

Adam Szczepaniak, Elizabeth Burns, Jason Broughton, Director of NLS, and Dr. Carla Hayden, Library of Congress

Adam Szczepaniak, Jason Broughton, and Elizabeth Burns

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