LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - The Kansas Audio-Reader Network sold every piece of audio equipment featured Thursday evening, during its 2nd Facebook Live fundraising event. The big audio sale included vintage speakers, receivers, turntables and other audio gear. Twenty-one items, all modestly-priced between $22 and $175, went up for sale Thursday. An hour-and-a-half later, every item had been sold. In all, the sale raised nearly $1,300 for the radio reading service for the blind and vision-impaired. During its first Facebook Live sale July 16, not every item sold, but Audio-Reader still managed to raise more than $1,200.
A series of Facebook Live events is replacing Audio-Reader's "For Your Ears Only" event, an annual audio sale at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. That two-day event became Audio-Reader's single-biggest fundraiser and drew hundreds of audiophiles and vinyl record fans to the fairgrounds each September. But the coronavirus pandemic forced the sale to go online. All audio equipment, vinyl records, CDs and musical instruments sold by Audio-Reader is donated throughout the year. Due to the ongoing threat from COVID-19, the radio reading service is no longer accepting donations, but it still has a virtual warehouse of vintage audio gear, records and CDs in storage that it is hoping to sell during the Facebook Live fundraisers.
Based at the University of Kansas, Audio-Reader has been broadcasting since 1971. It's the nation's second oldest radio reading service for the blind and vision-impaired. In 2018, KU announced plans to phase out the university's financial support over a three-year period. Audio-Reader employs a half dozen full and part-time staff members and relies on more than 450 volunteers. The free service operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing reading services for the blind and vision-impaired in Kansas and surrounding states. The service is accessible on special radios, over the telephone and online. Audio-Reader also provides live audio description services at theater performances.
The next Facebook Live event, set for August 27, will feature vinyl records, including many rare and collectible LPs. The August 27 sale will also feature CDs, DVSs and other media. For more information on Audio-Reader or its upcoming audio sale events on Facebook Live, visit reader.ku.edu..
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