75 Reasons to Love Bookshare

Celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind

Earlier this month, members of the Bookshare team traveled to Orlando, Florida, to attend the 2015 Annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Founded in 1940, the Federation is the largest organization of blind and low-vision people in the United States with over fifty-thousand members. Thousands of members and supporters celebrated the NFB’s 75^th anniversary and are a living testament to the NFB’s motto: You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

The Bookshare team was excited to have the opportunity to talk to attendees in the exhibit hall, meet with industry leaders, and participate in seminars. In the spirit of the 75^th anniversary, the Bookshare team conducted an informal survey and asked Bookshare members to contribute “75 Reasons to Love Bookshare.”

Bookshare members have spoken! Here is a sample of some of the seventy-five reasons:

“I love Bookshare because…

…having access to new releases right away is amazing.”

…it helps me feed my book addiction (inexpensively).”

…I can pick any book I want and read it quickly.”

…it makes my PhD possible.”

…I eat books for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!!”

…It helps me to write PHP after downloading all kinds of computer science books.”

…it’s an easy way to get what I need in a format I need it.”

…one of my top goals in life is to read at the same time as my sighted friends, and Bookshare will help me accomplish that.”

…it feeds me with everything I need.”

…it’s a jackpot of information for blind people. I felt like I won the jackpot when I joined!”

…it allowed me to help plan our trip to France.”

…it has such an extensive library, they get the books out quickly, and they work on the iPhone.”

…it is helping me succeed in the computer science program at my university.”

…for a long time I said, ‘I don’t want to pay the $50.’ But it is so worth it. I’m in book heaven! Where else can you get 347,000 titles?”

…Read2Go from Bookshare helps me follow along with my classmates both visually and auditorily and I like that.”

As you can see, Bookshare means many things to many people. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who shared their feedback. We are thrilled that Bookshare is helping blind and low vision members “live the life they want.”

Can Bookshare help you? A special promotion for NFB conference attendees is still available. Get 50% off a Bookshare membership for anyone renewing or joining Bookshare. Send an e-mail to promo@bookshare.org.