Print Disabilities Collection

The Print Disabilities Service offers audiobooks to adults, young adults and children who have a print disability. Borrowers can access the collection through participating libraries, special needs teachers and school libraries.

What’s in the print disabilities collection?

We hold audiobooks on CD for adults. We have eBooks, eAudiobooks and physical audiobooks for young adults and children.

Books for adults

Our audiobooks on CD are mainly fiction and non-fiction titles for adults. The collection supplements audiobooks available from public and school libraries.

The adult collection covers a wide range of subjects and types, including:

  • saga
  • crime
  • humour
  • biographies
  • general fiction
  • science fiction
  • thriller
  • travel
  • western
  • poetry and plays
  • romance
  • short stories
  • historical fiction
  • fantasy.

You can use the words in this list when you are searching the Print Disabilities Collection to help find genres you are interested in.

Books for young adults and children

We hold several thousand young adult and children's eBooks, eAudiobooks and physical audiobooks.

The young adult and children's titles are mostly popular fiction. The collection also has some titles which are suitable for English NCEA.

Who is the service for?

The Print Disabilities Service caters to adults, young adults and children, who are unable to independently read, hold or turn the pages of a standard book because they:

  • are blind or vision impaired
  • have physical disabilities which limit their ability to hold or manipulate information in a printed form
  • have perceptual or other disabilities which limit their ability to follow a line of print or which affect their concentration.

For example, adults and children with the following may be eligible to use the Print Disability Service:

  • Arthritis
  • Dyslexia
  • Hospitalisation
  • Learning difficulties
  • Medication causing blurred vision or lack of concentration
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Paralysis
  • Side effects of treatment
  • Stroke

Access items in the Print Disabilities collection

You can access the collection through public libraries, school libraries, and teachers with special needs responsibilities, registered for the Print Disabilities Service.

Search the catalogue for something you are interested in. Then talk to your local librarian to organise to borrow it.

Libraries can register by emailing us. We do not lend to individuals directly.

Email us audiobook.request@dia.govt.nz

Search for items in the collection

There a couple of ways to search the Print Disabilities collection, either:

  • use the search box at the top of this page, or
  • search the National Library catalogue for audiobooks by selecting the ‘Print Disabilities Collection’ under the drop-down with the heading ‘All published collections’.
National Library catalogue search box
Screenshot of National Library catalogue search bar highlighting the drop-down for limiting a search to a particular collection.

National Library catalogue

New Zealand schools access to the Print Disabilities collection

All New Zealand school students who struggle to use a regular book may be eligible to use the Print Disabilities collection.

Audiobooks and eBooks for students with dyslexia or other print disability

Access to Blind Foundation digital collection

The Blind Foundation has extended access to its digital collection to include people with other print disabilities, not just those who are blind.

The collection has a strong focus on New Zealand material and has titles suitable for adults and children. Access is free via BookLink.

Find out more on the Blind Foundation website

Any questions?

Get in touch if you have any questions about the Print Disabilities service. We're always happy to hear from you.

Email — audiobook.request@dia.govt.nz
Phone — 04 474 3001
Freephone — 0800 474 300, extension 3001