WTBBL closed to public

Starting July 1, 2025, the library building will be open by appointment only and phones will go to voicemail due to loss of funding. Services continue as usual. Learn more about the library budget shortfall.

For Schools and Teachers

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Services for Schools & Districts

WTBBL services are available for free for schools and school districts to support eligible students. Registered school and school district accounts can receive books in digital audio cartridge, braille, large print, print/braille, board books, and downloadable materials via BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) including magazines, web-braille, and downloadable digital audiobooks. Full desciptions of materials and equipment available to patrons can be found here: www.wtbbl.org/materials.

If requested, registered schools and school districts will receive the Digital Talking Book Player to play the digital audio cartridges. For a list of other approved and compatible players for the digital audiobooks visit our Audiobook Resources page. 

Getting Started

Schools and school districts are eligible to register for an account with WTBBL if at least one of the students needing service at school is currently registered with WTBBL or the student meets the eligibility requirements for registration with WTBBL. A registered student is one who already has an application on file. If you are unsure, please contact the library at 206-615-0400 or 1-800-542-0866.

Applications

An application for an individual account should be submitted for students who are not currently registered but eligible for service. A school or school district should submit an application for institutional service.

The school and school district account should have a contact person who is a staff member, not the student.  The responsibilities of the contact person or the teacher who is coordinating the school account are to:

  • Ensure that only eligible students use materials from WTBBL.
  • Ensure that books are returned in accordance with WTBBL’s loan policy.
  • Ensure that all unused books and/or equipment are returned to WTBBL as soon as possible for use by others.

Every school year, all school and school district accounts are required to submit the Annual Identification of Schools & Students Using WTBBL Services form. Please submit to WTBBL following the instructions on the form.

Collection

While we do not have textbooks in our collection, WTBBL offers thousands of fiction and nonfiction titles in audio, braille, and large print.  Our youth collection spans board books for children under three, print/braille & large print picture books, early chapter books, elementary & middle school chapter books, and young adult & teen materials. Most of our materials are provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), a program administered by the Library of Congress. To supplement the national collection, our WTBBL volunteers have recorded & transcribed hundreds of books, with special attention given to Pacific Northwest topics, settings, and authors, as well as young adult & children’s titles.

How to Order

Schools and school districts can receive books in one of two ways:

  1. WTBBL can send titles automatically, based upon the topics, reading level, and format that was listed on the registration form, or send titles automatically from a wish list that the account holder creates and adds to from the online catalog or by contacting WTBBL. We will automatically send a replacement book each time a book is returned.
  2. The holder of the account can request specific titles by contacting WTBBL or ordering from the WTBBL catalog.

Schools and school districts can borrow books for 90 days.

Our Reader Services staff is ready to assist you in finding books for your students. The staff can look up authors and titles or search subject areas. When you call, please indicate that you are calling for a school account and identify the school. There are three ways to order books:

  • By telephone: If you wish to place your order directly with a staff member, call WTBBL at 1-800-542-0866 (toll-free in Washington) or at 206-615-0400 (in Seattle).
  • By email: Here again, we need the name of the school and contact person with each message. You may send requests other than book orders as well to our email address: [email protected].
  • By ordering online: The WTBBL catalog is available for you to search for titles, authors, and subjects and submit orders for books. A WTBBL login and password is required to submit orders. If you do not have or do not know your WTBBL login, please call WTBBL.

If a student needs a machine or books at home, have his or her parents call Reader Services to request equipment for the student’s individual account.

Catalogs are provided upon registration. These catalogs include books released during the year or month listed on the catalog. You may use the order form in the catalogs or call WTBBL to order.

Classroom & School visits

Let WTBBL come to you! The Youth Services Librarian is available to visit schools and education centers to present about the WTBBL service or related educational topics to both individual patrons and groups of students, parents, and school staff. Other educational topics include multisensory storytimes, presentations for accessible research resources for students, booktalks and book suggestions in alternative formats for classroom assignments, etc. Contact Erin Groth at [email protected] for more information.