By Theresa Knapp 

The Bancroft Memorial Library has purchased “VOX Books” with a recent donation made by the Seven Hills Foundation. 

VOX Books are different from a traditional audiobook. They are created by VOX Publishing, a Library Ideas company, and are billed as “the world’s first audio books that live in print books,” according to the School Library Journal. 

For a demonstration, visit bit.ly/youtube_VOXbooks.  

“It turns on on the side, and then you just press ‘play’ and it reads the story with prompts on when to turn the page,” said Library Director Tricia Perry at a June meeting of the library trustees. “They are well-regarded in libraries.” 

Perry told trustees she had “put in an order for about 25 [books] at different age levels including some Spanish/English versions.” The books were approximately $40 each. 

The mission of the Seven Hills Foundation is to “promote and encourage the empowerment of people with significant challenges so that each may pursue their highest possible degree of personal well-being and independence,” according to www.sevenhills.org. Seven Hills Pediatric Center has a facility in Hopedale. The Seven Hills Foundation grant also funds Hopedale’s “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program in which “50 or 60 families are actively meeting with their children,” according to Library Director Tricia Perry.

  At a recent library trustees meeting, Perry said statistics show that children’s book circulation had increased 61% in May over May 2022, due largely to the 1,000 Books program.