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The telephone number for WYPL is (901) 415-2752.
Since March, 1980, the Library's radio station has provided information
in the radio reading format, originally as WTTL, the West Tennessee
Talking Library, satisfying the need to know for the visually impaired
population of its service area. The station now known as WYPL FM 89.3
presents daily readings of The Commercial Appeal, USA Today and other
newspapers and magazines as well as a variety of fiction and non-fiction
books, author interviews and specialty programming.
The radio station was first made possible by a grant from the State
Library and Archives, with additional funding from the West Tennessee
Lions' Clubs (who continue their support today), Holiday Inns and
others. When WTTL first went on the air, from studios in the Main
Library on Peabody, listeners had to have a special receiver to get
the signal. When the receivers were bought, each one had to be tuned
by radio station staff to effectively receive the signal. Many of
the station donations went for the purchase of the receivers. The
station was so successful that the 1980-81 annual report stated that
WTTL had 1,823 listeners with a waiting list for service of more than
1,400. In that same period, WTTL was chosen by the American Foundation
for the Blind as the Model Radio Reading Service. WTTL's volunteers
received the honor of Volunteer Program of the Year.
In 1991, the station was granted an FM signal and listeners were
able to hear the station on any radio. The call letters were changed
to WYPL, for Your Public Library. Until recently, WYPL FM89.3's effective
radiated power was 2,750 watts, with a transmitting antenna that was
150 feet high. Good quality reception of WYPL's signal was obtainable
mostly in midtown Memphis and the surrounding area. However, in the
summer of 2004, WYPL FM89.3 began broadcasting from its new transmitting
facilities with a radiated power of 100,000 watts. Located 30 miles
northwest of Memphis, WYPL's antenna sits atop a 1,260-foot high tower,
(20 feet higher than the Empire State Building!). With both increased
power and antenna height, the station now covers an area more than
ten times greater than the older system would allow. From North Central
Mississippi to the boot heel of Missouri and from Central Arkansas
to the Tennessee River, the voice of the Library comes in loud and
clear.
A vital component of WYPL radio has always been the
volunteers who do the reading. It is their commitment to the station
that has allowed it to continue and to expand its programming. They
come in to read at all times of the day, including weekends and holidays.
There are currently 185 radio volunteers who last year contributed
4,500 hours.
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