Membership Options
Joining Bookshare offers a number of benefits
- Access to the world’s largest online library of accessible reading materials (books, textbooks, newspapers and magazines) for people with print disabilities.
- An unlimited library card, providing a steady flow and variety of new reading materials anytime you want, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
- Free access technology for reading books in the DAISY format.
Membership in Bookshare® is available to individuals with qualifying print disabilities and to organizations supporting those individuals.
Through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Bookshare offers free memberships to U.S. schools and qualifying U.S. students. Read more about the OSEP award.
Individual Memberships
An individual membership allows any individual with a qualifying print disability to download books from Bookshare. Individuals can have their own individual membership and can also be listed on an organization’s membership.
Students under the age of 18 need permission from a parent or guardian to sign up with Bookshare.
The default number of downloads per month is 100 books. Individuals wanting more may increase this default by contacting Bookshare.
| Membership Type | Cost |
|---|---|
Qualifying U.S. students:
| Free ( Currently funded by OSEP) |
| All other U.S. individuals | $75 ($25 one-time set up fee + $50 annual fee) |
| International individuals | Generally same as U.S. individuals, but some countries (e.g. India) have lower fees. Visit the International page for more information. |
Organizational Memberships
Organizations that serve adults and students with print disabilities may register for organizational memberships.
Organizations that might want to register for membership include: schools at all levels, libraries, rehabilitation agencies, resource centers, retirement communities and group homes both inside and outside the U.S.
With this type of membership, teachers and/or staff members (Sponsors) download books for their students and/or clients (Members). These organizations provide Bookshare with:
- Roster of Sponsors: teachers and/or staff members who will download the books
- Roster of Members: students and/or clients with qualifying print disabilities who will read the books
Organizations can also recommend that their Members sign up for individual memberships so they can download books on their own.
Currently, memberships for U.S. educational institutions are funded by OSEP, and are therefore free. Other organizations can purchase memberships as described in the table below.
U.S. public K-12 schools with memberships have access to Bookshare’s NIMAC-sourced (National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center) textbooks and can download these books for students who are Chafee qualified and have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Organizational Memberships Options
| Membership Type | Cost |
|---|---|
U.S. schools:
|
Free for all U.S. schools (Funded by OSEP) |
| All other U.S. organizations | By Number of Books
by Funding Individual Memberships $75 ($25 one-time set up fee + $50 annual fee) |
| All international organizations | Generally same as U.S. organizations, but some countries (e.g. India) have lower fees. Visit the International page for more information. |
Gift Memberships
You can purchase a Bookshare membership for someone with a qualifying disability. You can also order a Braille book as a gift. Learn more about gift memberships.
