Press Release

RECORDING FOR THE BLIND & DYSLEXIC® VOLUNTEER "POTTER-THON" PUTS HARRY'S ADVENTURES IN THE HANDS OF MEMBERS WITH PRINT DISABILITIES
National nonprofit, Telex Communications and Scholastic team up for
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

July 18, 2005 (Princeton, NJ) - The recording booths at the national headquarters and New Jersey Unit of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D®) were alive with wizards, muggles and Pottermania as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was recorded and made available to RFB&D members within 72 hours of the book's international release. RFB&D, a nonprofit organization, is the nation's educational library of recorded textbooks for students with visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disabilities that make reading print difficult or impossible.

In all, nearly 100 volunteers at both locations were able to get their wizardry accomplished even under the watchful eye of the television cameras, newspaper photographers and reporters who covered this unique event. RFB&D's efforts were highlighted in stories by the Associated Press, Trenton Times, Star-Ledger, Home News Tribune, WCBS 880 Radio in New York and News 12 New Jersey. Volunteer readers included WCBS-TV/2 New York reporter Jay Dow and reporter John Klekamp of News 12 New Jersey. Also lending her voice was Linda Kinsey, mother of RFB&D staff member Michael Kinsey, who adopted the book and made a generous donation to RFB&D.

In recording booths at RFB&D's National Headquarters and New Jersey Unit, more than 80 readers and directors read the book's 672 pages and sometimes-tricky pronunciations to finish recording in less than eight hours. Following four hours of post-production, RFB&D's accessible audiobook was made available on RFB&D's AudioPlus® CDs and RFB&D's Classic Cassettes™ so that members were able to read the bestseller at virtually the same time as their friends and peers. At the time of recording, 700 pre-orders of the book had been placed. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been added to RFB&D's CV Starr Learning through Listening® Library alongside the other five books in the Harry Potter series published by Scholastic.

"Once again RFB&D's dedicated volunteers and staff have taken the adventures of Harry Potter from the written page and magically transformed them into audiobooks for our members," said RFB&D President & CEO John Kelly. "This very successful marathon recording ensured that the digitally recorded version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was available nearly simultaneously with the release of the printed version."

RFB&D and longtime partner Telex Communications are working collaboratively on this project by offering the compact and portable DAISY-compatible Telex Scholar CD player at a special price of $199 for members who order Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on RFB&D's AudioPlus CD through July 31, 2005. That's $50 off the regular retail price of $249. In order for RFB&D members to receive their Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince CD and Telex Scholar CD player at the special promotional price, they must call in their order to RFB&D's Member Services Department at 800-221-4792. For members ordering the book only (and not the CD player), they may order it online at www.rfbd.org.

RFB&D serves more than 137,000 students from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond with its
one-of-a-kind collection of more than 104,000 educational titles on CD or four-track cassette. RFB&D's AudioPlus digitally recorded textbooks on CD provide unprecedented navigation, ease of use and proven effectiveness as learning tools for students with print disabilities. Students rely on RFB&D's unique accommodation to access the printed page and to achieve educational success. All of RFB&D's accessible titles are recorded by volunteers working in 29 RFB&D recording studios nationwide.

Telex Communications, Inc. is a worldwide industry leader in the design and marketing of professional sound and communications equipment. The Telex Scholar Digital Talking Book Player provides RFB&D members with instant access to specific page numbers and chapters and includes a full numeric keypad with bookmarking feature.

Scholastic is the largest publisher and distributor of children's books and is the largest operator of school-based book clubs and bookfairs in the United States. Scholastic publishes more than 750 new hardcover, paperback and novelty books each year and has a corporate mission supported through all of its divisions of instilling the love of reading and learning for lifelong pleasure in all children.

additional media inquiries:
RFB&D News Desk 1-800-803-7201
media e-mail inquiries

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Links to articles on Harry Potter and RFB&D in other publications:

Trenton Times
Princeton Packet
Home News Tribune
The Star Ledger