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Works in Translation: Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Marrakesh Treaty
As part of our celebration of ten years of the Marrakesh Treaty, enjoy these books across some of the languages in our collection.
The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) was adopted on June 27, 2013, in Marrakesh, Morocco, and was ratified by the United States in February 2019. The Treaty is an international agreement amongst agencies from all over the globe to facilitate the provision of audio and braille materials to blind and print disabled individuals living in any of the nearly 100 countries that have ratified the Treaty. The Treaty is administered through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC). This collaboration is making significant strides in ending the “book famine” of accessible materials for people around the world. The United States through the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled of the Library of Congress has contributed over 100,000 English language audio and braille titles to the ABC collection, and we, in turn, are benefitting by gaining access to thousands of audio and braille books in other languages.
We are pleased to bring you this selection of titles that will demonstrate the range of audio and braille books in various world languages that are now available to our patrons. If there is a language you don’t encounter on this list, don’t hesitate to contact us as there are titles available in 39 languages!
Digital book (DB, DBC, DBF, DBG), braille (BR), and large print (LT) copies of these titles are available from the Perkins Library or the Worcester Talking Book Library. Please contact the library to order any of these books.
Prepared by James Gleason
Deputy Director/Special Services Librarian
Perkins Library
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
DB 37602, DBG 16738 (Vietnamese), LT 11609, Available as BARD Download
Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, longs to see the world and dreams about a treasure hidden in the Egyptian pyramids. He sells his flock and leaves his home in Spain, sails first to Tangiers, crosses the desert, and eventually reaches Egypt. Along the way, he is led by a series of spiritual guides, perhaps the most important of whom is the alchemist who advises him to follow his heart. 1988.
Along Came a Spider
by James Patterson
DB 35894, DBG 17516 (Spanish), Available as BARD Download
At 5 a.m. Deputy Chief Alex Cross, detective and psychologist, is investigating a brutal triple murder in southeast Washington. Later that day, Washington Day School teacher Gary Soneji kidnaps two students. Secret Service agent Jezzie Flanagan is called in to work with Cross. They realize the killer of more than 200 people may be a psychopath with a split personality. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 1993
Born To Run
by Bruce Springsteen
DB 86228, DBG 18479 (Croatian), BR 21718, available as BARD Download
New Jersey’s most famous son tells his story. Covers his youth, how seeing Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show made him want to become a musician, his early bands in Asbury Park, his life touring with the E Street Band, and the personal stories that fueled his music. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2016.
Download Born To Run, DB 86228
The Call of the Wild
by Jack London
DB 49486, DBG 16743 (Vietnamese), BR 12582, LT 581, Available as BARD Download
Buck, a St. Bernard mix, is stolen and trained to be a sled dog in the Alaskan gold fields. Abused by both men and dogs, Buck learns to fight ruthlessly until he finds a master, John Thornton, whom he loves and respects. For senior high and older readers. 1903.
Download The Call of the Wild, DB 49486
Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul
by Jack Canfield
DB 59815, DBG 16979 (Vietnamese), Available as BARD Download
Accounts of people who have lost a loved one. Each story details the particular death and explains how the author dealt with grief and found the courage to go on. Sections include “Final Gifts,” “Coping and Healing,” “Special Moments,” and “Living Again.” 2003.
Download Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul, DB 59815
Download Vietnamese, Dành cho những tâm hò̂n bá̂t hạnh, DBG 16979
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
DB 58842, DBG 12753 (French), BR 12265, Available as BARD Download
Follows two black sisters–Nettie, a missionary, and Celie, raped by her father and married to a cruel man. Nettie’s letters do not reach Celie, and Celie’s shame is so great that she writes only to God. 1982.
Download The Color Purple, DB 58842
Green Hills of Africa
by Ernest Hemingway
DB 49481, DBG 18384 (Italian), BR 12659, Available as BARD Download
Account of an African big-game-hunting expedition in 1933 that included Hemingway and his wife, Pauline. Describes their adventures on the Serengeti Plain near Mount Kilimanjaro. 1935
Download Green Hills of Africa, DB 49481
The History of Tom Jones
by Henry Fielding
DB 65165, DBG 16934 (German), LT 11609, Available as BARD Download
Modernized edition of English comic, picaresque epic. Tom Jones, an orphan taken in by Squire Allworthy, is expelled from Allworthy’s country estate for his wild indiscretions. Thus begins a series of adventures in which Tom loses his money, joins the army, and pursues his beloved to London. 1996 introduction. 1748.
Download The History of Tom Jones, DB 65165
Download German, Tom Jones: Die Geschichte eines Findlings, DBG 16934
Irish Hearts
by Nora Roberts
DB 50504, DBG 18320 (German), Available as BARD Download
The stories of cousins Adelia Cunnane and Erin McKinnon. Each independent young woman comes to America and finds success, love, and happiness with a neighboring Maryland horse farm owner. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. Bestseller. 2000.
The Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling
DB 63091, DBG 13236 (French), BR 16413, LT 12784, Available as BARD Download
Eight stories about the adventures of Mowgli, a boy reared by a pack of wolves in a jungle in India. Presented in Kipling’s preferred arrangement. Includes a ninth non-Mowgli tale “Rikki-tikki-tavi,” about a valiant mongoose. For grades 4-7 and older readers. 1894.
Download The Jungle Book, DB 63091
Killing Floor
by Lee Child
DB 54358, DBG 18662 (Spanish), LT 11609, Available as BARD Download
Transient Jack Reacher, a former military cop, is arrested in Margrave, Georgia, as a suspect in a double homicide. He learns that one of the victims is his brother, a U.S. Treasury Department agent. After being cleared he stays in town to seek revenge. Violence and strong language. 1997. Violence and strong language. 1997.
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle
DB 43001, DBG 10630 (French), DBG 16744 (Vietnamese), Available as BARD Download
Doyle offers eleven more tales of Holmes and Dr. Watson, including Holmes’s meeting with Moriarty, the Napoleon of crime. In a final note, Doyle explains Holmes’s demise. Includes a chronology of Doyle’s work and an introduction by editor Christopher Roden. Doyle offers eleven more tales of Holmes and Dr. Watson, including Holmes’s meeting with Moriarty, the Napoleon of crime. In a final note, Doyle explains Holmes’s demise. Includes a chronology of Doyle’s work and an introduction by editor Christopher Roden. 1994
Download Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, DB 43001
Message in A Bottle
by Nicholas Sparks
DB 46179, DBG 18467 (Croatian), BR 15466, LT 1476, Available as BARD Download
Beautiful, single mother Theresa Osborne, a syndicated columnist, is vacationing at Cape Cod. Finishing an early morning jog on the beach, she finds a corked bottle with a love letter to an elusive Catherine from Garrett. Believing that Garrett is a sensitive and caring man, Theresa decides to find him. Some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 1998.
Download Message in A Bottle, DB 46179
A Murder Is Announced
by Agatha Christie
DB 33786, DBG 9717 (French), Available as BARD Download
Residents of the English village of Chipping Cleghorn are intrigued by an advertisement in the morning paper. It announces that a murder will take place that evening at the home of a neighbor. Thinking it a game, townspeople gather at the appointed time, only to be shocked by an actual murder. Visting the village, elderly Miss Marple is given the chance to do some amateur sluething to assist Inspector Craddock with the case. Violence. 1985
My Brilliant Friend
by Elena Ferrante
DB 80509, DBG 17396 (Spanish), LT 20583, Available as BARD Download
Set in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, depicts the friendship between feisty Lila and bookish Elena, who grew up together in Naples and then took different paths. Originally published in Italian from 2011 to 2013 and translated from 2012 to 2014. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2014.
Nevada
by Zane Grey
DB 53492, DBG 18495 (Croatian), Available as BARD Download
Jim Lang, known as Nevada, kills three men in a gunfight. The men had falsely accused his good friend Ben Ides of rustling. Although he has cleared Ben’s name, Nevada is forced to flee and hide out until such time as he can prove that the gunfight was just and that it was a case of self-defense. Some strong language. 1977
The Secret Place
by Tana French
DB 79576, DBG 17406 (Spanish), BR 21752, LT 17273, Available as BARD Download
Dublin detective Steven Moran gets his chance to work with the murder squad when Holly Mackey brings him a student’s anonymous note about a stalled investigation–a year earlier, a boy was found dead on the grounds of her private girls’ school. Moran and Detective Antoinette Conway reinvestigate. Strong language. 2014.
Download The Secret Place, DB 79576
Stay Close
by Harlan Coben
DB 74435, DBG 17371 (French), Available as BARD Download
Soccer mom Megan hides–and misses–her former stripping career. The cause of Megan’s identity change still torments her ex-boyfriend Ray. Meanwhile, Detective Broome continues searching for Megan’s long-vanished customer. The three are brought together by a new missing-person case. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. Commercial audiobook. 2012.
The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
DB 55883, DBG 18186 (French), BR 14704, LT 5355, Available as BARD Download
The restored classic autobiography of an exceptional young woman and her companion, originally published in 1903, with 2003 commentary by editor Roger Shattuck. Helen Keller’s own account of her transformation is followed by her teacher Anne Sullivan’s record of their early years together and insights from Anne’s husband, John Macy. 1903.
Download The Story of My Life, DB 55883
Download Braille, The Story of My Life, BR 14704
Download French, Sourde, muette, aveugle : histoire de ma vie, DBG 18186
