The Grande Prairie Public Library offers special collection for patrons with print disabilities – it is called DAISY book collection.

Our DAISY book collection includes fiction and non-fiction titles. Fiction genres include mysteries, romances, adventures, westerns, family sagas and more. Non-fiction section has biographies, self-help, history, etc. 

What is a DAISY book?

DAISY book is a type of a talking book which is simply a sound recording of a reading of a book (our library has CD format).

What is the difference between Talking Books and DAISY books?

Talking books became quite popular these days and they can be borrowed by any of our patrons who just for some reason prefer this way of ‘reading.’

DAISY books are recorded in DAISY standard (stands for Digital Accessible Information System). This is a global standard and is the 'next generation' audio format for people who are blind or visually impaired, providing a better talking book experience. DAISY books are easy to navigate and to jump from one page to the other. They enable readers to move from heading to heading, page to page, paragraph to paragraph, phrase to phrase and/or word to word.

A single DAISY CD contains a complete book. These books require a DAISY player that is available for loan from our library. For more information on this format, refer to the CNIB site at www.cnib.ca.

How can I borrow DAISY books?

While Talking books can be borrowed by anyone, DAISY books and DAISY books players can be borrowed only by people who have difficulty reading print due to a visual, physical or learning disability.

Patrons wishing to use this collection must register with us as a DAISY book user.

Registration forms are available at the Circulation or Information desks or you can call us at (780) 357-7455.

You can browse our DAISY Book collection. It is shelved in our audio-visual section.

You can also call us and place a hold on a book. Staff would be pleased to select items on your behalf, and have them ready for you to pick up. Call (780) 357-7455 to arrange for this service.

How long can I borrow a DAISY book for?

The loan period is three weeks.

Does the library provide DAISY Players?

We have a limited number of desktop and portable DAISY book players that can be borrowed for 84 days at a time.

Can I place an Interlibrary Loan on a DAISY book?

Yes! The Grande Prairie Public Library is a member of the Visunet Canada Partners Program of CNIB (Canadian National Institute for Blind). This program provides local library access to Canada's largest collection of DAISY books and online resources for people with print disabilities.

As a Visunet partner our library can request any title from the CNIB catalogue and bring it in for our patron.

Visunet provides registered borrowers with on-line access to the CNIB Digital Library (http://visunet.cnib.ca or http://webcluster.cnib.ca), which includes selected information databases, digital audio books, e-magazines, electronic Braille books, web sites, and newspapers.  Borrowers may access these resources at our library or from home. 

Registration is required for this service. Please, ask our staff or call (780) 357-7455.

Can I place a Hold on a DAISY book that is on loan to another person?

Yes. You can easily place a hold on a talking book by using our online catalogue or by phoning us.

How will I know what DAISY books are available?

Lists of our new Daisy book titles are available at the library.  Titles and authors are listed as well as a brief description of the story or subject of each book. All DAISY book titles are listed in our online catalogue