Our History

Serving the blind and visually impaired

for more than a quarter century.

In 1968, Recording for the Blind, a national agency that produced audio textbooks for schools, outgrew its Louisville facilities on Haldeman Avenue. So Ruth Drennan Carmichael, a long-time supporter of the blind, paved the way for a satellite recording facility to be set up in her church just east of Louisville, in Anchorage, Kentucky. And for the following 13 years, the Anchorage Presbyterian Church provided rent-free space for teams of volunteer narrators and monitors to turn out the much-needed textbook recordings for blind students and other reading disabled individuals.   

Then, in 1981, Recording for the Blind announced plans to shut down this satellite facility and consolidate its production operations. Carmichael and her volunteers weren't about to let the doors close in Anchorage. They saw the continuing need for custom recordings covering a wide range of subjects not available from other sources: novels, magazines and periodicals, newsletters and newspapers, instructional manuals, product brochures and a myriad of written materials that are part of everyday living. The key word is "custom."  

The group formed the nonprofit Anchorage Studio for the Handicapped, purchased the very equipment we had been using in the church and went right on offering our much-needed service. Anchorage Presbyterian Church Pastor John Ames continued to allow us to use his church rooms rent-free. This generous arrangement continues to this day and is vital to our on-going operation. In 1990, the name of the Studio was changed to the Audio Studio for the Reading Impaired to better reflect our mission and the variety of narration and recording services we provide. Today more than 90 volunteers narrate, monitor and proofread the diverse materials our clientele requests. 

From the beginning, the majority of the recorded work produced by Studio volunteers was distributed—at no charge—through the Talking Book Libraries in Kentucky. Other projects produced to meet individual requests were priced low to assure that they were affordable to all—even those least able to pay. 

Many outstanding Kentucky organizations have used our services. Included are the Filson Club, Kentucky Historical Society, Jefferson County Public Schools and the Southern Baptist Convention. Other groups include TARC, the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and, most recently, the Better Business Bureau. 

As the struggling volunteer group built a reputation, we began to attract financial support from community-minded organizations and companies. Among them were Younger Woman's Club, the GE Employee Fund, the GE Foundation, the Al Schneider Foundation and several Lions Clubs. Other key supporting groups were the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, AARP, The Gheens Foundation, the James Graham Brown Foundation, Brown & Williamson, Chase Bank and numerous church organizations and individuals.   

In 1988, the Studio expanded its services to the blind when we set up an operation to repair the tape players used throughout the Library of Congress Talking Book network in Kentucky. Dave Berg, a retired General Electric engineer and one of the Studio's original repair team volunteers, headed up the new service and soon widened it to include Braille typewriters.

And while this type of equipment is still vitally important, digital technology is providing new and better ways for the recorded word to reach our clients. The Audio Studio is currently undertaking a major program to install digital recording equipment. We're looking forward to having our new system operational in the near future.