The inspiration began 30 years ago, when Louis Braille introduced a system that would forever change the lives of the visually impaired throughout the world.

Braille was then complemented by record disks, then cassettes, followed by CD’s, giving those with low vision and blindness access to the written word in audio form.

In today's digital era, the upgrades to audio materials for the visually impaired have improved greatly, and the National Library Service has developed a system that makes things more easy to use than ever before.

Said Christie Briggs, regional librarian, "What's happened is they've taken a flash memory card, like what we find in our digital cameras these days, and used that and encased it in a plastic cartridge that has a USB port on one end and a thumb hole or finger hole on the other, so that our patrons can tell tactilely where that is."

This morning at Great Falls Public Library, four veterans were given a digital machine of their own by the Montana Talking Book Library. For them, it was a welcome gift.

"With my bad eyesight, and my bad hearing, these talking books are my whole life. And it's the best service of any government agency that I've ever been contacted with," explained Carter Williams, who was one of the veterans receiving a digital player today.

For visually impaired veterans like Carter, who has read 3,727 books to date, this service makes it easier than ever before to access everything from fiction to magazines.

"The other player, you have to flip sides - they're on cassettes. This here, you just have to put the tape in the player and it'll play the whole book,” said veteran Richard Howse.

These digital talking book players are so user friendly that no computer knowledge is necessary. With large buttons in different shapes, and convenient features like the ability to "bookmark" your spot, this is a true blessing for the approximately 12,000 Montanans with visual, physical and reading disabilities.

Dolores Lynch, the wife of one of the veterans, agrees, "This program that's putting on these books on tapes is fantastic for giving so many things to the people who can't see. And I really appreciate them.. And I know he does, too."

Veterans literary needs were first recognized in a bill introduced by Senator Kennedy back in the 1970's, when vets were coming back from war blind or with low vision..

Said Christie Briggs, “They've served our country, it's the least we can do to serve them."

And when it comes to the future of this program, the possibilities are endless.

“As our younger generation comes into needing this service, they will be able to download books onto an iPod that is a little bit bigger, has more tactile buttons and that the National Library Service has approved,” Briggs said.

All materials are provided free of charge for patrons, who can check out two books at a time.

For more information, visit http://msl.mt.gov/tbl or call toll free at 1-800-332-3400