CASE study number 70 is 50-year-old Antoine Reeves, from Salendine Nook.

He's one of 4,000 users in the Yorkshire region alone of the Royal National Institute of the Blind's remarkable Talking Book Service which this week celebrates its 70th birthday. Nationally there are thousands more like him.

It is immediately obvious why the RNIB chose Antoine as a spokesman for their customers: he's an actor/musician who is not at all phased by the limelight, he's also a university graduate who is intelligent, articulate, non-pc and with a very agreeable personality.

It is equally clear why Antoine agreed: he is a passionately enthusiastic advocate of the cause.

Antoine was born a twin. His twin brother died four days after being born. For that matter Antoine also died but was resuscitated yet, as a result of receiving too much oxygen, he became blind.

Most people are gobsmacked to hear Antoine describe this as a "gift". He is a very positive character.

Antoine, who has been a RNIB Talking Books member for about 20 years, says: "I'd heard of RNIB Talking Books before a social worker first recommended them to me.

" They have had an immense impact on me and completely opened up a whole world of `bookism'. Reading Braille is fine but bears no comparison to the wonder of Talking Books. I become immersed - it's a truly wonderful experience.

"The new CD technology system is easy and a pleasure to use. The sound quality is very good. Most of the readers are truly accomplished. The books are like companions. Steven Fry reading Harry Potter is just out of this world - you have to hear it to believe it.

"I would recommend RNIB Talking Books to anybody who isn't using them now. The service has done me the world of good, and I intend to keep receiving Talking Books forever."

The Royal National Institute of the Blind was itself founded in 1868 by Dr Thomas Rhodes Armitage as the British and Foreign Society for Improving Embossed Literature for the Blind. The society was dedicated to producing Braille so that blind and partially-sighted people could read and so have the chance of a better education and an independent and fulfilling life.

It was the First World War that triggered first thoughts of talking books. Many soldiers were blinded in action and when they returned home found Braille too difficult to learn.

In December 1920 the RNIB began testing different formats and methods.

By 1926 they were testing the possibility of using long-playing records for this purpose - it was largely due to their pioneering efforts that these records were developed for playing music.

Eight years later Ian Fraser, the chairman of the project, wrote that they were "conducting a series of experiments to see if Talking Books would be useful to the blind and if they can be produced at a reasonable cost."

He added; "I do not wish to excite undue hopes, but I think that in the future it may be possible to establish a library of Talking Books."

In just over a year he was proved right. On November 7, 1935 the RNIB sent out the first Talking Books to blind and partially-sighted people. Among them was Agatha Christie's The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd and Typhoon by Joseph Conrad.

The books were recorded on 12in discs and were recorded at 24rpm so that each side lasted 25 minutes and a typical-length book would fit on to 10 of these double-sided records.

They got an enthusiastic reception. The Society of Authors and the Society of Publishers gave their support to overcome copyright problems, the Post Office granted special postage rates and one blind soldier told The Times: "The person who thought of the Talking Book ought to have a monument three times the size of Nelson's."

The service survived the vicissitudes of the Second World War, when the recording studios were twice bombed. The American Foundation for the Blind - also producing Talking Books - sent war aid of half a million gramophone needles. And when they were destroyed in dock over here by enemy action, offered to do the same again.

After the war the pace of technology increased. Magnetic tape with a cassette so big it would not fit into a postbox, then quarter inch tape all the way up to digital format in the 1990s.

In 1985 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited the Wembley distribution centre to mark the 50th anniversary.

Little did she know that later, when recovering from an eye operation, she would become a customer, along with another former PM in Harold MacMillan and other personalities like Lady Churchill, Rex Harrison, Sir John Betjeman, Sir John Mills, Eric Sykes and Sue Townsend.

* It costs £70 per year to become a member of the Talking Book Scheme. This includes unlimited loan of books from a library of over 10,000 Talking Books and the loan of a talking books player. Or £50 per year using your own talking books player.

* All books are posted free of charge to the member's home.

* The RNIB encourages blind and partially-sighted people to contact their local council about having the membership fee paid by the the local authority. Or call the RNIB on 0845 762 6843 about becoming a member.

* Nationally on average RNIB sends around 8,000 talking books each day, over two million a year.

* On average it takes five days and costs up to £2,500 to produce a Talking Book.

* The most popular author is Catherine Cookson and the most borrowed book is her Fenwick Houses.

* The youngest member of the scheme is six years old and the oldest members are over 100.