The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS)—the Library of Congress’ talking-book and braille program— was created by an Act of Congress on March 3, 1931. The concept of a national library for the blind was developed in 1897 by John Russell Young, the Librarian of Congress, when he established a reading room for the blind with about 500 books and music items in raised characters. In 1913, Congress provided that one copy of each book in raised characters made for educational purposes under government subsidy by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky, was to be deposited in the Library of Congress. In 1930, identical bills were introduced in Congress by Representative Ruth Pratt (H.R. 11365) and Senator Reed Smoot (S. 4030), to provide adequate service on a national scale through an appropriation to be expended under the direction of the Librarian of Congress. The Pratt-Smoot Act became law on March 3, 1931. The Librarian of Congress was authorized to arrange with other libraries "to serve as local or regional centers for the circulation of such books, under such conditions and regulations as he may prescribe." On the following day a Joint Resolution was passed appropriating $100,000 for fiscal 1932 to carry out the provisions of the act to provide books for blind adults and the program that would become the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS/BPH) was established. The basic Act was amended several times, not only increasing appropriations, but also deleting the word "adult," on July 3, 1952, thus opening the service to blind children. And in 1962, the program was authorized by Congress to collection and maintain a library of musical scores and instructional texts for the use of blind residents of the United States. 1966, Congress passed Public Law 89-522 authorizing the Library to provide talking-book services to all persons who could not read standard print because of visual or physical disability. The revised law brought an immediate need for an expansion of program activities. To accomplish this, the book collections in NLS/BPH and those in the more than forty established regional libraries were strengthened by building a reserve collection of books and increasing the number of copies of recorded and braille titles produced. All procedures were reexamined and, where necessary, revised to permit rapid growth in service with a minimum expenditure of time and manpower. An amendment to the Library Services and Construction Act in 1966 (Public Law 89-522) aided in the establishment of additional regional libraries. (from http://www.loc.gov/nls/about_history.html)