Washington Talking Book & Braille Library



Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

Administered by the Washington State Library

& the Office of the Secretary of State

Reading Matters

 

Fall/Holiday 2008

 

A Message from Danielle King, WTBBL Program Manager

This fall the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library is highlighting our Patron Advisory Council (PAC). The PAC is a group of 15 members representing WTBBL’s more than 10,000 library patrons. Membership on the Council is representative of the individuals and organizations that have a direct interest in library services to blind, visually impaired, physically disabled, and learning disabled individuals. PAC membership includes representatives from the Washington Council of the Blind, the National Federation of the Blind of Washington, a learning disabled patron, a patron with a physical disability, an adolescent or parent of a child who is a patron of the Library, and one member who is a veteran. We also take into consideration geographic representation, age, and use of WTBBL services.

The mission of the PAC is to give advice and make recommendations to the Library on practices, policies, and goals of library service. The Council shall further serve as an advocate for all print disabled patrons in the promotion and further development of library services. In short, the PAC is a conduit between WTBBL patrons and the Library administration and staff. Part of the PAC’s mission is to help represent you and your concerns! Please see page 5 for a list of current PAC members and their contact information.

The PAC met on September 13, 2008, and is seeking five new members. During the week of September 29, WTBBL sent a call for new PAC members via letter to our large print patrons and made it available on our website and

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A Message from Danielle (continued)

through our listserv, with braille copies available on request. This included an application to be returned by November 15.  Thank you to those who applied to be part of the PAC. I look forward to introducing our new members in the next issue of Reading Matters.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tom Gillespie, George Newberry, and Margaret Blomberg for their incredible dedication to WTBBL and their service over the years on the Patron Advisory Council. The September meeting was the last for these members. The remaining ten members are looking forward to welcoming new members, operating with new staggered terms, and a great and productive year. A big “thank you” is also in order to the PAC members who have elected to continue for another one- or two-year term in support of the Library. Again, thank you all!

I encourage you to feel free to contact the PAC members and talk to them about what is working for you as well as what isn’t working. We want your feedback! Of course, you are always welcome to contact me or the Library directly - whatever method of communication you choose, we want to hear from you. Enjoy the newsletter and happy reading!

All the best,

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dking@secstate. or (206) 615-1588

Machine Tips by Alan Bentson and Sally Jo Hagen

Here are eight pieces of expert advice on prolonging the life and improving the performance of your cassette player:

1.) It is OK to leave your cassette player plugged in; that way the battery can recharge over night.

2.) Tape down the speed toggle. It feels and looks too much like the side switch and doesn’t need to be used. The speed can still be changed and better controlled by using the sliding speed toggle.

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Machine Tips (continued)

3.) If you can find one and it’s affordable, purchase a cassette tape head cleaner, and run it through your machine once a month.

4.) Keep your machine clean, don’t eat food near it, and keep it off the floor and away from your pets.  

5.) Make sure the outlet you’re using is not a switched outlet.  If an outlet is controlled by a light switch that switch is likely to be off most of the time and your machine won’t charge.  

6. If you can afford it, purchase a back-up cassette player from Community Services for the Blind (CSB). Sometimes tapes that won’t play in our player will work in your back-up machine, and visa-versa. The CSB number is (800) 458-4888.

7. If you’re having trouble with a tape, try another one right away to see if the problem is with your cassette or with your player.  

8. If a tape stops and starts, has a loud whistle, or otherwise misbehaves, run the tape on fast forward all the way through on both sides.  It’s surprising how many problems just loosening up your tape will solve.

If you’re having any trouble with your machine, call us. We are here to help.  In the Seattle area call (206) 615-0400, or toll free (800) 542-0866.  You can bring your machine with you to the phone so that Library staff can hear what sort of problem you are having and often we can troubleshoot the difficulty while we are talking with you.

Locally Produced Talking Books by Theresa Connolly & Lara Weigand

The Book Recording Department volunteers and staff have produced more than 50 new books in the last three months to offer you some more good reading. Here are some of the new titles.

Fiction:

CBA 7819 Sweetbriar Summer by Brenda Wilbee

Seattle, 1854.  The fourth book in the Sweetbriar series follows Louisa Boren Denny and David Denny as they enjoy Seattle's growing prosperity.  Narrated by Alita Kiaer.

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Locally Produced Talking Books (continued)

CBA 7915  Shamus in the Green Room by Susan Kandal

California writer Cece Caruso's biography of Dashiell Hammett is being made into a movie. She gets tangled into a mystery when a dead woman is linked to the lead actor. Third in the Cece Caruso series (after CBA 7910 and CBA 7914).

Narrated by Lynn Rodgers.

CBA 7961 The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen

Washington state, 1918. A small mill town votes to quarantine itself against the virulent influenza epidemic. Philip Worthy, the 16-year old adopted son of the town founder, is one of the citizens posted to enforce the quarantine. When a cold, hungry, and possibly sick soldier begs him for entry into the town, Phillip makes a life-changing decision.  Narrated by Andrea Lewis.  Also available in braille. BRW01238, produced by WTBBL’s braille department volunteers.

CBA 7979  Renegade River by Giff Cheshire

A collection of twelve short stories set in the Pacific Northwest that were first published in the late 1940's and early 1950's.  Includes tales of back-country ranchers, outlaws in the Siskiyous, and steamboat captains on the Columbia.  Narrated by Ed Kennedy.

Non-fiction:

CBA 7373  A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry

Selected by Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz, this anthology aims to present poetry that is "short, clear, readable, and...realistic" The poems are grouped not by geography or time period but by headings such as Epiphany, The Secret of a Thing, and Woman's Skin. Narrated by Sneha Mathan.

CBA 7916 Wisdom of the Ages by Wayne Dyer

Self-actualization author and speaker presents essays inspired by 60 quotations from poetry and literature that express "life's greatest lessons."  Narrated by Mary Schlosser.

CBA 7917 Island Bush Pilot by Roy Franklin

A former WWII fighter pilot tells of his return to Washington State to build an airport and establish a commuter airline in the San Juan Islands.  Narrated by Floyd Hutton.

Patron Advisory Council Roster

The Patron Advisory Council (PAC) of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library represents you! Please feel free to contact them with any ideas, questions or concerns you have.

Sue Ammeter (Port Hadlock) - (360) 437-7916

Terry Atwater (Olympia) - (360) 754-8193

John Buckmaster (Spokane) - (509) 327-1132

Richard Deming (Longview) - (360) 577-1396

Sandra Driscoll (Seattle) - (206) 633-3045

Jim Eccles (Vancouver) - (360) 258-1269

Maria Edelen (Spokane) - (509) 928-2405

Mike Mello (Seattle) - (206) 301-0565

Lynette Romero (Olympia) - (360) 915-9030

Signe Rose (Seattle) - (206) 956-4289

Digital Downloads Are Here! by Wes Derby

Although we don’t yet have digital talking book players or cartridges from NLS, that doesn’t mean digital talking books aren’t available. If you have a computer, a high-speed Internet connection, and an authorized player, you can access digital talking book downloads from the National Library Service for the Blind & Physically Handicapped (NLSBPH) via the digital talking book

download pilot program. Currently, there are approximately 11,000 talking books and magazines available for download and new titles are added every week.

Currently, the players authorized for digital talking book downloads are the Victor Stream from Humanware, the LevelStar Icon, and the Braille Plus. All three players are available for purchase from various vendors. Due to price, most readers have chosen to use the Victor Stream. For more information on the players and where to buy them, please contact the Library to speak to Wes

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Digital Downloads (continued)

Derby or Alan Bentson. Both are avid users of the service and will be happy to guide you through the steps to begin downloading books.

Once you’ve decided downloading digital talking books is something you’d like to use, sign up at dtb. Fill out the application form with your name, address, and email address, and await further instructions from NLS. You will receive your password and everything else you need to begin browsing and downloading the vast collection of digital talking books available to you as a WTBBL patron.

Meet WTBBL’s Staff: Kathryn Pierce

Kathryn is WTBBL’s Youth Services Librarian, and has been with us since July 2006. She is relieved that the transition to State administration is now complete, and happy that new and old staff members have combined into a wonderful group of coworkers. During many of her work years Kathryn was in the retail field, but since she started working at the Northeast Branch Library in Seattle at age 15½ she has always been, in one capacity or another, involved in school and public libraries and promoting literacy. In 2001, Kathryn began taking courses online to obtain her graduate degree, and by 2004 was officially a librarian. She worked as a substitute for the Seattle and King County library systems before coming to WTBBL.

Kathryn has two children of her own. Raeanna is 20, has already graduated from the UW, and is in Japan working as an assistant language teacher. Anthony is 23, finishing a chemistry degree at Western Washington University, and hoping to begin graduate school next fall. Kathryn’s favorite activities include trips to the ocean, gardening, remodeling and decorating projects, attending plays and dance or music performances, laughing with family and friends, getting lost in a good story, and connecting young people with books. At WTBBL she treasures the times she gets to see young patrons or communicate with them, so contact her at (206) 615-1253 or (800) 542-0866, by email at kpierce@secstate., or plan a visit to WTBBL.

Summertime Volunteer Programs by Sally Jo Hagen

Over the past ten summers, WTBBL has participated in two employment opportunity programs for teens. Youth Employment Solutions (YES), a program through the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) and the Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB), and the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), a program of the City of Seattle.

YES participants are students from across Washington. While in Seattle for the six week program, they reside at the Tri Delta sorority house in the city’s University District. They learn the skills of living on their own, preparing their own meals, getting themselves to their job, and while on the job, they learn some of the steps to being a successful career person.

SYEP participants are students from the Seattle Public Schools. While they live at home, they too are learning the responsibility of getting to a job and while on the job learning some of what it takes to join and succeed in the work force.

The tasks they perform include checking in cassette books returned by our patrons, inspecting those cassette books to make sure they are all in proper reading condition, matching up the mailing cards to the books going out to our patrons, shelving the books back into our collection, processing new books coming into WTBBL’s catalogue, and inspecting the cassette book machines coming back from repair sites across the country.

YES and SYEP are terrific programs for our teens. There have been many success stories of teens getting a real focus for their life. It has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my job at WTBBL as Shipping Supervisor.

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Free Matter for the Blind or Physically Handicapped

2021 9th Avenue

Seattle WA 98121

Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

2021 9th Avenue

Seattle WA 98121

Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

2021 9th Avenue

Seattle WA 98121

Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

Interested in volunteering at WTBBL? We are looking for Talking Book and Machine Inspectors, News and Program Readers for our Evergreen Radio Reading Service, Book Narrators, and workers for special library projects. For more information, contact David Junius at (206) 615-0417 or djunius@secstate..

2021 9th Avenue

Seattle, WA 98121

(206) 615-0400

(800) 542-0866

(206) 615-0418 TTY

wtbbl@secstate.



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Happy 200th Birthday

to Louis Braille on January 4, 2009!

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Washington

Talking Book

& Braille Library

Page 7

Happy Holidays and a Happy 2009 from the Staff of WTBBL!

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