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Listening Books: The Audiobook Lending Service for UK Residents

Listening Books is a national UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service, for children and adults who have a learning difficulty, physical or learning disability, illness, or mental health condition, which impacts on their ability to read or hold books in the usual way. Our audiobook collection has over 10,000 fiction and non-fiction audiobooks to choose from, including bestselling authors such as David Walliams, Judith Kerr, Michael Bond, Holly Webb and many more. We also have set texts and study guides supporting the national curriculum, many of which are recorded in our professional digital studios and are not available anywhere else! Members can borrow our titles by downloading and streaming them through the Libby app, on computers, laptops, smartphones or tablets, or receive MP3 CDs sent through the post (no postage or late fees).

Who to contact

Contact Name
Claire Bell
Contact Position
Deputy Membership and PR Manager
Telephone
E-mail
info@listening-books.org.uk
Website
Listening Books website

Where to go

Name
Listening Books
Address
12, Lant Street
London
Postcode
SE1 1QH
Notes

We are a national UK charity and our office is based in London. We have free memberships available for people who cannot afford our membership fee of £20 - £45 per year.

Time / Date Details

When is it on
Office and membership support is available Monday to Friday (9am - 5pm). Our online streaming and downloading service is available 24/7 through our website or app.

Other Details

Costs

Table of costs
Table of costs
AmountCost Type
Membership starts from £20 per year. We have FREE memberships available for anyone who would find it difficult to cover our usual annual membership fees of between £20 and £45
Details
No financial proof is required for our free memberships, just a self-declaration that the membership fee would be a barrier to joining. We are a charity and there are NO hidden costs involved in our free memberships. Our paying memberships are heavily subsidised, costing between £20 - £45 per year, and there are no additional costs, regardless of how many books you borrow.
Offering Tax Free Childcare.

Availability

Referral required
No
Referral Details

Become a member by:

  • visiting https://www.listening-books.org.uk/join and filling in our short online application form 
  • emailing our support team at support@listening-books.org.uk 
  • calling: 020 7407 9417
  • Filling in our free membership application form which you can either return by email to the email address above, or by post to our freepost address: Freepost LISTENING BOOKS
Other notes

Listening Books is a national UK charity that provides an audiobook lending service, for anyone with a learning difficulty, physical or learning disability, illness, or mental health condition, which affects their ability to read or hold books in the usual way. We currently have a number of free memberships available for people living in Merseyside, who would like to join but would find it difficult to cover the usual membership fees (between £20 to £45 per year) for any reason. 

The service is available to children and adults and is not just for people with a visual impairment, but many other conditions such as: dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, learning disabilities, anxiety, cerebral palsy, problems with manual dexterity, global developmental delay and many others. We believe that books should be accessible to everyone and audiobooks can be a wonderful source of entertainment, comfort and relaxation for those who are missing out on the enjoyment of reading. 

Our library has over 10,000 fiction, non-fiction and educational titles, including bestselling authors such as JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, Judith Kerr, David Walliams, Jaqueline Wilson, Michael Bond and many more. Our educational titles support the National Curriculum from Key Stage 2 to A Level and many are recorded in-house, in our professional digital studios and are not available anywhere else. Members can borrow our titles in three easily accessible ways:

  • sent directly through the post on MP3 CD with no postage costs or late fees.
  • download audiobooks through the Libby app to smartphones, tablets, computers, laptops.
  • stream audiobooks online through your computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.

A free membership covers both online and postal CD services, so members can choose what works best for them.  

We don’t require any financial proof for these free memberships, just a self-declaration that the membership fees would be a barrier to joining the service. Please be assured that we are a charity and there are no hidden costs involved in our free memberships.  

If you would like to find out more about Listening Books or have any questions, please visit our website or get in touch.

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