BOOKS have always had a novel way of 'speaking'' to us, but, thanks to the wonders of technology, the written word has literally been given a voice.
Talking Books opened up a new world for blind and visually-impaired people and this year marks the 70th anniversary of the valuable service provided by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).
Originally developed following the First World War after thousands of soldiers were blinded in action, the first gramophone-style devices played spoken books on a turntable.
These then developed into smaller machines which used cassettes and advances in technology have produced a portable slimline CD player, which is easy to use with large buttons, comfortable headphones and a new bookmark function, which allows you to find an exact spot in a novel.
A range of machines from through the years has been on display in the Forth Valley Sensory Centre in Falkirk, with users young and old going along to talk about how they benefit from the service.
Like Talking Books, Kenneth Cockburn is 70, and has been using the service for six months.
He suffers from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a brain disease which causes rapid deterioration of vision and problems with balance, meaning he now has to use a wheelchair.
He has limited sight and relies on his wife Jane to get out and about.
Jane (65) said: "He has been registered blind for three years and Talking Books has really made such a difference for him.
''He loves books and the machine means that I can get on with other things in the house while he is listening to a novel on the headphones."
The Talking Books library has over 10,000 titles but the RNIB is campaigning for more to be available as only around five per cent of published titles are converted into audio format. The current catalogue includes thrillers, travel, romances, comedy, and children's books and Kenneth particularly enjoys autobiographies.
Jane said: "There are lots of titles in the catalogue and we can specially request a book or just be sent new ones at random.
''He doesn't pay for the service and it's so easy to use. We just pop a CD in the post once he's finished it, and we're sent a new one for free. It's a great system."
Spoken word CDs are also available from Falkirk Council library services and, while they don;t offer the listening devices, audio book CDs and cassettes can be used on regular stereos.
Irene McIntyre of Falkirk Council library services said: "We offer around 7500 titles in the library and the service is very popular with our mobile and housebound library services.
''It is free for people to come and hire out audio books and we allocate some of our budget to it.
''We added over 1000 new titles last year and it is treated as another format of literature, so that people can request certain titles if they're not available.
''It's not only visually-impaired people that use the service, it is popular with commuters as well, who listen to the audio books while they are driving."