BARD

Braille and Audio Reading Download

Registered NM State Library for the Blind & Print Disabled patrons can download digital books through BARD onto their iOS or Android smart phone or tablet, or onto a USB flash drive for free! BARD provides access to thousands of special format books, magazines, and music scores. Set up your BARD account here or by contacting our library at 505.476.9770 or 1.800.456.5515.

Digital Players and BARD

Download books from BARD onto your computer and place onto a USB flash drive (not provided by library) or a purchased digital cartridge to use with your player. Windows users are encouraged to download BARD Express to streamline the process. The digital player has been pre-programmed to play the downloaded audio books. Due to digital rights management restrictions, BARD digital books will not play on your computer or an unauthorized player.

Requirements

Computer with high-speed internet access
An active and registered email address
Your LBPD digital player or purchased third party player
USB flash drive or purchased digital cartridge (not provided by the library) with at least one gigabyte (1GB) of storage. Note: if an error is encountered, other files like photos or documents on the flash drive may disrupt playback.

Third Party Players:
The BARD mobile app is available on iOS and Android devices from the App Store and Google Play. Kindle Fire users can also download the BARD mobile App from Amazon. BARD is compatible with iOS 11 and above and Android 7 and above. Users may also download books to any of the following devices after they’ve authorized it in their BARD account:

Apex BrailleNote/VoiceNote
APH BookPort DT
APH BookPort Plus
HIMS Blaze ET
HIMS Blaze EZ
HIMS BookSense
HIMS BookSense DS
HIMS BookSense XT
HIMS BrailleSense U2
HIMS Sense Notetaker
Humanware VictorReader Stratus
Humanware VictorReader Stream
Milestone 212
Milestone 312

Authorizing a Third Party Player
Smartphones and tablets are authorized automatically. To authorize any other purchased third party player, after receiving your BARD user ID and password from NLS, you should receive an email from your player’s manufacturer that included one or more files needed to authorize your player, along with instructions on how to do so. Generally, you’ll need to sign into BARD from a web browser. Scroll down to My BARD and then click on “Account Settings.” In “Update Account Settings” click on “add a purchased player.” Your information should have automatically filled in the form. Make sure it is accurate, then use the drop-down menu to select your player. Click “Next.” You’ll need the device’s serial number or key code which can be found in the device’s manual or menu options. After typing in the number/key code, click on “Submit Player Request.” After our library has approved the device, you’ll be able to start downloading and reading books.