Milestones in Our History

1940s

• 1948: Anne T. Macdonald first envisioned RFB&D (or Recording for the Blind as it was then known) when soldiers who had lost their sight in combat sent letters to the New York Public Library’s Women’s Auxiliary requesting textbooks.

  • The newly passed GI Bill of Rights guaranteed a college education, but the textbooks were inaccessible to the soldiers.

  • Profoundly moved by the soldiers’ letters, Macdonald led the Women’s Auxiliary to record textbooks for the servicemen on SoundScriber vinyl phonograph discs. And thus, RFB was born.

1950s

• Demand was so great that by 1951, our organization had incorporated as the nation's only nonprofit to record textbooks. Mrs. Macdonald then traveled across the country to establish recording studios in seven additional cities.

1960s

• Reel-to-reel tapes and then cassette tapes replaced the vinyl discs.

1970s

• By 1970, the organization began to serve an increasing number of people who had learning disabilities, while additional studios of willing volunteers sprang up around the nation.

1980s

• In 1983, RFB headquarters moved to a new building in Princeton, NJ, computerized operations and developed high-speed tape duplication, thereby tripling the number of books circulated.

1990s

• 1990: Electronic text (E-Text) provided computer disks for members to use with adaptive computer equipment.

• 1995: In recognition of our expanded member population, we changed our name in 1995 to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, to serve increased membership of individuals with learning disabilities.

• 1996: A pilot program for digital recording began to ultimately produce textbooks on CD and other multimedia.

2000s

• Our membership — which includes students in kindergarten through graduate school, as well as working professionals — now includes more than 75% of individuals with learning disabilities.

• 2002: RFB&D released DAISY CD (AudioPlus^®) digitally recorded textbooks.

• 2007: RFB&D transitioned to an all-digital Learning Through Listening^® Library.

  • RFB&D launched educator support site at www.LearningThroughListening.org.

• 2008: RFB&D introduced WMA Downloadable (AudioAccess^SM), allowing our titles to become downloadable directly to computers and portable media players.

• 2009: RFB&D introduced Downloadable DAISY (Downloadable AudioPlus)

• 2010: RFB&D introduced ReadHear by gh, enabling users to access content on Mac and Windows computers.

2010s

• 2011: RFB&D Audio App is launched, making content accessible on Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

• April 11, 2011: RFB&D changes its name to Learning Ally.