Hear A Book was founded in Hobart in 1972 by Barbara Sattler, with assistance from Tasmanian Apex Clubs, as a community service dedicated to serve through public libraries the reading needs of people classified as having disabilities preventing the reading of print, or holding or turning pages of books and magazines. This was the first service of its type in Australia (though Talking Books had been available for many years through organisations dedicated to serving the blind). Volunteers read books on to cassette tapes, which are checked by monitors. Volunteer narrators and monitors operate in all states, and the operation is co-ordinated at Hobart Headquarters.