Maggie
Ansty, Editor
317-232-3684
or 1-800-622-4970
e-mail: tbbl@library.in.gov
http://www.in.gov/library/tbbl.htm
Volume
XXXVII No. 3
Fall/Winter
2014
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Vision Expo Wrap Up
Thank you to everyone who attended the 9th
Annual Indiana Vision Expo on September 27th! We featured 29 vendors, including several new
to the Expo. Attendance was up from 2013, especially for our presentations by
Craig MacFarlane and Drs. Richard and Laura Windsor. We hope all of our
attendees had a valuable and enjoyable experience. If you have any feedback or
suggestions on how to improve the Expo please contact Laura Williams at lawilliams1@library.in.gov or 317-232-0609.
Ordering Books for the Holidays
With the holiday season in full swing, it is time to
start thinking about closures at the library.
This year, the library will be closed from Thursday, December 25th
to Monday, December 29th and will be closed again on Thursday,
January 1st. As a result, there will be no incoming or outgoing mail
on those days so your book deliveries may be sporadic during that period. We encourage you to take a few moments to order
any books that you may want to have on hand during that time. Please try to
have all requests in before Friday, December 19th to ensure that your
books have plenty of time to get to you.
This is also a great time to think about signing up for
BARD or downloading the BARD Mobile app for your i-device.
BARD will give you instant access to over 50,000 audio books, Braille
books, magazines, and music scores from the comfort of your home, even when the
library is closed! For more information
on BARD, please visit www.nlsbard.loc.gov or
call us at 1-800-622-4970. If you are
interested in signing up for BARD, please be aware that we will not be able to
approve your BARD application on days the library is closed.
Indiana Participating in BARD Pilot
Indiana was recently invited to participate in the BARD audio
book pilot program, which will result in us being able to add our Indiana
Voices books to BARD so that people all over the country can download and enjoy
them. The pilot program was introduced in March; since that time 7 libraries at
a time have participated and gone through all of the required steps for
submitting books to BARD. The phases of this project are evaluation, upload,
and verification. We have just finished the evaluation phase of the project by
submitting Brewster’s Millions
(IDB00086) for review and feedback by NLS. In the next phase of this project,
we will begin uploading our books to the NLS BARD server.
All of the books in this project are distinguished by the
prefix DBC; you may have already noticed them showing up on the list of
recently added books. You can find a complete list of the books that have been
added so far by typing DBC into the search box on the BARD main page. Currently
over 220 books have been added to BARD as part of this project.
Currency Readers Available to NLS Patrons
NLS has partnered with the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing (BEP) in support of its U.S. Currency Reader Program, which will
provide currency reader devices, free of charge, to eligible individuals who
are blind or visually impaired. The program is part of the U.S. government’s
Meaningful Access Initiative to assist individuals who experience difficulties
identifying U.S. currency.
The currency reader, called the iBill
Talking Banknote Identifier, is a compact device that announces a note’s value
in one of three ways: voice, pattern of tones, or pattern of vibrations. Just
insert a note into the device and press the button on the side to have the
denomination identified. The currency reader does not identify foreign or
counterfeit banknotes. The size of a key fob, it can be easily carried. It
operates on a single AAA battery, which typically lasts for more than a year.
The initial battery is included.
A national rollout of the U.S. Currency Reader Program is
scheduled to begin in January 2015, but a pilot initiative is currently
underway through which eligible NLS patrons may pre-order a currency reader
through December 31, 2014. To pre-order, patrons may call their local Talking
Book and Braille Library either in Indianapolis (1-800-622-4970), Bartholomew County
(800-685-0524), Evansville (866-645-2536), or Lake County (219-769-3541). The
library staff will note the account and a currency reader will be mailed Free
Matter to the patron’s on-file address when the devices become available.
Eligible individuals who wish to receive free library
service from NLS may download an application at http://www.in.gov/library/4340.htm
or call 1-800-622-4970 and request an application be sent by
mail.
To learn more about the U.S. Currency Reader Program or
other aspects of the U.S. government’s initiative to provide meaningful access
to U.S. currency visit www.bep.gov.
Indiana Voices goes to Washington
By Linden Coffman,
Director of Indiana Voices
Recently, as director for Indiana Voices, I had the
unique opportunity to travel to Washington, D. C. to participate in orientation
and training at the offices of NLS (National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped), a division of the Library of Congress. During this
trip, I was able to see and become more aware of the many types of services,
materials, and equipment available to our patrons here in Indiana as well as to
learn what others are doing in their respective libraries across the country. I
also had a chance to gain some new insights concerning new technologies which
will change and improve some of the programs that we currently offer.
The topics covered during the orientation varied greatly
from general overviews of how operations at the national level are coordinated
to the specifics of Braille matters, media relations, and research and
development. Prior to this trip, I had
no idea that the NLS had a music section which provides an extensive number of
musical scores and sheet music specifically tailored for blind and visually
impaired users. I also learned about how digital books are selected at the
national level, which I found very educational. Did you know that with some
best sellers, NLS is able to turn them around from a print copy into a digital
talking book in as little as 3 to 4 months?
One of the highlights for me during the visit was a
special tour that we were able to take of the Library of Congress. Our behind
the scenes tour included learning about the inner workings of the library, a tour
of vaults holding some of our nation’s oldest books, and a walk out onto the
floor of the library’s historic reading room. It was quite a thrill for me to
experience!
On my final day in Washington, I was lucky enough to be
able to sit down with the NLS recording guru and receive individual training on
their new recording software, Hindenburg. Here in Indiana, we plan on migrating
to Hindenburg at the start of the New Year, so this training was very
beneficial and will hopefully help us make a smooth transition. The things I
learned about Hindenburg made me very excited to begin using it as it will make
recording and editing books for Indiana Voices easier than ever before!
New in
Large Print
We have just
received an extensive shipment of large print books, including new bestsellers
such as Killing Patton by Bill O’Reilly (LP19518) and Gray Mountain (LP19539)
by John Grisham. Here are some other highlights:
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (LP19441, DB79182)
When Paris
is invaded by the Nazis, Marie-Laure LeBlanc's father evacuates her to St. Malo to stay with her great-uncle. Blind since the age of
six, Marie-Laure must learn the town by the scale model her father has left.
Then, the Germans arrive. Violence and some descriptions of
sex. Bestseller.
Mimi Malloy, At Last! by Julia MacDonnell
(LP19464)
A daughter of the Great Depression‚ Mimi Malloy‚ one of an
Irish-Catholic brood of seven‚ did her best to raise six beautiful daughters of
her own. Mimi is a divorcée‚ unexpectedly retired‚ living in the heart of
Quincy with arguably the busiest phone in Boston. Then an MRI reveals that her
brain is filled with black spots. Mimi won’t go down without a fight. And when
she discovers an old pendant of her mother’s‚ slowly‚ her memory starts to
return.
Haatchi and Little B by Wendy Holden
(LP19467)
Owen — nicknamed “Little B” — has a rare genetic disorder.
Largely confined to a wheelchair‚ he was anxious and found it difficult to make
friends. Haatchi — an adorable Anatolian Shepherd
puppy — was abused and left for dead on railroad tracks. Struck by an oncoming
train‚ Haatchi was left disabled and dispirited. But
when Little B’s father and stepmother introduced the big dog and the little
boy‚ both were transformed in miraculous ways.
Popular Crime Series Now Available in Braille
Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta
series, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series, and Dennis Lehane’s Kenzie and Gennaro are available for the first time in Braille,
including many of the earlier books in each series. Check out these bestselling
authors!
Book
Recommendations
Here are
some hidden gems that you may have overlooked:
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo(DB78211)
Ten-year-old
Darling Nkala is sent to Michigan to escape the
violence and hunger in Zimbabwe. Over the years Darling attends school and
struggles to adjust to the alien culture. But her family are
illegal immigrants and they miss their homeland. Violence,
strong language, and some descriptions of sex.
Peaches for Father Francis by Joanne Harris (DB76037)
After the
events in Chocolat (DB 49086) and The Girl with No
Shadow (DB 67345), Vianne and her two daughters
return to the French village of Lansquenet. Vianne
encounters her nemesis Father Francis and experiences the tension between the
Christian and Muslim communities. Some strong language.
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A Novel by
Gabrielle Zevin (DB78978)
When his
most prized possession, a rare volume of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe, is stolen,
bookstore owner A.J. Fikry begins isolating himself
from his friends, family, and associates. Then he receives a mysterious package
that compels him to remake his life. Strong language. Bestseller.
All the Summer Girls by Meg Donahue (DB76821,
BR20131)
On the day
her fiancé breaks off their engagement, Kate Harrington discovers she's
pregnant. Her best friends Vanessa and Dani are also facing life changes, so
the three women spend the summer together regrouping in the New Jersey beach
town of their youth. Strong language.
In Pinelight by Thomas Rayfiel (BR 20361, DB77802)
An elderly
protagonist in a retirement home talks about his life to an unseen
interrogator. The hero reminiscences about small-town intrigues in upstate New
York: loves, destructive family relationships, deaths, and personal revelations.
Some strong language.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
(BR19748, DB75765, LP18708)
Billy and
the other soldiers of Bravo squad are home in the states for a victory tour
after an Iraqi firefight they were in was taped and televised. As they
experience a Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving Day, Billy reflects on fame,
life, and war. Violence and strong language. ____________________________________________________________
Indiana Insights is a
publication of the Talking Book and Braille Library, Indiana State
Library. Indiana Insights is also available online, in Braille, or on a
digital cartridge upon request. Any mention of products and
services in the Indiana Insights newsletter
is for information purposes only and does not
imply endorsement. This project is
funded in part with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
which administers the Library Services Technology act.
__________________________________________________________
Indiana
Talking Book and Braille Library Calendar:
Thursday December 25, 2014 Library Closed
Friday December 26, 2014 Library Closed
Saturday December 27, 2014 Library Closed
Thursday January 1, 2015 Library Closed
Monday January 19, 2015 Library Closed
Friday April 3, 2015 Library Closed
Saturday April 4, 2015 Library Closed
Tuesday May 5, 2015 Library Closed
Saturday May 23, 2015 Library Closed
Monday May 25, 2015 Library Closed
Friday July 3, 2015 Library Closed
Saturday July 4, 2015 Library Closed
Saturday September 5, 2015 Library Closed
Monday September 7, 2015 Library Closed
Monday October 12, 2015 Library Closed
Tuesday November 3, 2015 Library Closed
Wednesday November 11, 2015 Library Closed
Thursday November 26, 2015 Library Closed
Friday November 27, 2015 Library Closed
Saturday November 28, 2015 Library Closed
Thursday December 24, 2015 Library
Closed
Friday December 25, 2015 Library Closed
Saturday December 26, 2015 Library Closed
Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library
Hours:
Monday
– Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday 8:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
__________________________________________________________
Happy
Holidays!
From all of us at
Talking Books!
____________________________________________________________
Indiana Talking Book Free
Matter
and
Braille Library for the Blind
140 N Senate Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46204