BARD Instructions

Nebraska Library Commission Website

BARD logo BARD Log In
×

Stay Active on BARD

You must log in to BARD at least once every six months and download at least one book a year.

Locked out of your BARD account?

What is BARD?

BARD, or Braille and Audio Reading Download, lets patrons of the Talking Book Libraries download braille and audio books. The program was introduced by the National Library Service (NLS) branch of the Library of Congress. NLS updates and maintains the main collection.

Download and read (almost) instantly! You no longer have to wait for a book to be mailed from the library.

What You Need

Patrons need the folowing to download books and magazines from BARD:

Downloading from BARD does require some basic computer skills including navigating the Web, filling out online forms, downloading, unzipping, and transferring files. If you have experience with these processes, downloading from BARD is not difficult.

Unable to download or just not interested? We are happy to send you reading materials through the mail.

BARD Mobile for iPhone and iPad

  1. Contact your Readers Advisor and let them know you'd like to try downloading from BARD

  2. They'll send an email with the subject line "Welcome to BARD"

  3. Don't download the app yet!

  4. Click the link in the email to create a password.
    Passwords must include:

    At least one letter
    At least one number
    Between 8 and 32 characters
    NO special characters
    No "triple letters" ("aaa", "zzz")

  5. Accept the National Library Service user agreement

  6. Download BARD Mobile for free from the App Store

  7. Accept the user agreement on the app

  8. Enter your login credentials. Your username is your email address

BARD Mobile for Android

  1. Contact your Readers Advisor and let them know you'd like to try downloading from BARD

  2. They'll send an email with the subject line "Welcome to BARD"

  3. Don't download the app yet!

  4. Click the link in the email to create a password.
    Passwords must include:

    At least one letter
    At least one number
    Between 8 and 32 characters
    NO special characters
    No "triple letters" ("aaa", "zzz")

  5. Accept the National Library Service user agreement

  6. Download BARD Mobile for free from the Google Play Store

  7. Accept the user agreement on the app

  8. Enter your login credentials. Your username is your email address

BARD Mobile for Kindle

  1. Contact your Readers Advisor and let them know you'd like to try downloading from BARD

  2. They'll send an email with the subject line "Welcome to BARD"

  3. Don't download the app yet!

  4. Click the link in the email to create a password.
    Passwords must include:

    At least one letter
    At least one number
    Between 8 and 32 characters
    NO special characters
    No "triple letters" ("aaa", "zzz")

  5. Accept the National Library Service user agreement

  6. Download BARD Mobile for Kindle

  7. Accept the user agreement on the app

  8. Enter your login credentials. Your username is your email address

BARD Express

BARD Express offers an in-program player to listen to your books with from your computer. You also have the option to download to cartridge for use with your Talking Book player.

  1. Contact your Readers Advisor and let them know you'd like to try downloading from BARD

  2. They'll send an email with the subject line "Welcome to BARD"

  3. Click the link in the email to create a password.
    Passwords must include:

    At least one letter
    At least one number
    Between 8 and 32 characters
    NO special characters
    No "triple letters" ("aaa", "zzz")

  4. Accept the National Library Service user agreement

  5. Download BARD Express

  6. Follow the NLS instructions to install BARD Express

BARD on the Web

You'll need to borrow a Talking Book Player and an empty cartridge to download this way.

  1. Contact your Readers Advisor and let them know you'd like to try downloading from BARD

  2. They'll send an email with the subject line "Welcome to BARD"

  3. Click the link in the email to create a password.
    Passwords must include:

    At least one letter
    At least one number
    Between 8 and 32 characters
    NO special characters
    No "triple letters" ("aaa", "zzz")

  4. Accept the National Library Service user agreement

  5. Go to the BARD Website

  6. Enter your log in credentials

  7. You may be asked to accept the NLS user agreement again

  8. You should now be on the BARD main page. You can search the collection under the header that says "Find Books". Your reader advisor can also help you search for books.

  9. When you have selected a book, click "download"

  10. Go to the destination folder for your download and find the downloaded file. It should have the same file name as the link you clicked to start the download from BARD. The download should be in the form of a zip file. To unzip, or extract the files you must right-hand click your mouse on the file, then click "Extract All"


    If you are not using a mouse, or do not have a right-hand click button on your mouse, then you can click or otherwise select the file then simultaneously press the Shift key and F10 key on your keyboard. Doing either will bring up a pop-up menu.

  11. You will be asked to verify the location for the unzipped files. You may change location if desired. Click "Extract"

  12. Now you can copy and paste the files onto your external drive

BARD on the Web

You'll need to borrow a Talking Book Player and an empty cartridge to download this way.

  1. Contact your Readers Advisor and let them know you'd like to try downloading from BARD

  2. They'll send an email with the subject line "Welcome to BARD"

  3. Click the link in the email to create a password.
    Passwords must include:

    At least one letter
    At least one number
    Between 8 and 32 characters
    NO special characters
    No "triple letters" ("aaa", "zzz")

  4. Accept the National Library Service user agreement

  5. Go to the BARD Website

  6. Enter your log in credentials

  7. You may be asked to accept the NLS user agreement again

  8. You should now be on the BARD main page. You can search the collection under the header that says "Find Books". Your reader advisor can also help you search for books.

  9. When you have selected a book, click "download"

  10. Go to the destination folder for your download and find the downloaded file. It should have the same file name as the link you clicked to start the download from BARD. The download should be in the form of a zip file. To unzip, or extract the files you must right-hand click your mouse on the file, then click "Extract All"


    If you are not using a mouse, or do not have a right-hand click button on your mouse, then you can click or otherwise select the file then simultaneously press the Shift key and F10 key on your keyboard. Doing either will bring up a pop-up menu.

  11. You will be asked to verify the location for the unzipped files. You may change location if desired. Click "Extract"

  12. Now you can copy and paste the files onto your external drive

Get Reading Material on BARD

On BARD, you can search and browse a few different ways. There are also ways to search and browse for reading material outside of BARD. Find them here.

Search for Books

  • By title
  • By Author
  • By Keyword
  • By Series

If you can't find what you're looking for, contact your Reader Advisor.

Browse

  • Popular Books
  • Recently Added
  • Magazine issues

Reader Advisors are able to put books into a wish list for you to download without searching. Let them know what books you would like, whether it's a specific book or a broad subject.

How to Play Downloads

Note: These instructions are primarily based on the NLS Digital Players and may not be applicable to your situation. If necessary, please contact your Readers Advisor for further instructions.

  1. If you are using an NLS cartridge, you will want to insert the cartridge into the opening at the front of your NLS Digital player. Push it forward until it clicks into place. If your player is on, it will automatically wake up and begin playing your downloaded book.

  2. If you are using a flash drive, you will want to check the right-hand side of the player for a USB data port. It may have a small piece of plastic in it to keep dust out of the port, but you may pull that plastic out and insert the USB stick into the port. As with the NLS cartridge, your player should automatically start up and begin playing the downloaded book.

  3. If you have multiple books on your external drive, you will need to use the Bookshelf feature on your NLS Digital Player to listen to all the downloads.

  4. To get to a different book on a cartridge, use the Bookshelf on your player:
    • Hold down the square, green, play/stop button at the top lower edge of your player for a few seconds. You may let go when the voice announcement says "bookshelf".
    • Use the fast-forward and rewind arrow shaped keys on either side of the play/stop button to move between titles. When a title that you would like to hear is announced, press the play/stop key again to listen to that book.

Troubleshooting

The Nebraska Talking Book and Braille Service staff is always happy to try to answer technical questions about BARD. You can reach our staff via email and phone at 1-800-742-7691 and 1-402-471-4038.


We recommend calling the office to speak with a reader advisor directly and having your equipment on hand in order to work through your issue. If we cannot solve your issue in-house, we will submit a tier-2 support ticket.


If you decide BARD isn't for you, you can still get service through the mail.


Open BETA: My Talking Books on the Smart Speaker

NLS is currently testing a "My Talking Books" skill for use with Amazon Alexa and Amazon Echo.

Click here to learn more about participating. You must register with the library before using the skill.