Indiana Insights
Maggie Ansty, Editor
Maggie Ansty, Editor
317-232-3684 / 1-800-622-4970
http://www.in.gov/library/tbbl.htm
Volume XLI No.3
Winter 2018
Holiday Book Requests
With the holiday season in full swing, it is time to start planning for the mail delays that come with the library and post office being closed. This year, the library will be closed on Monday, December 24th, Tuesday, December 25th, and Tuesday, January 1st. As a result, there will be no incoming or outgoing mail on those days so your book deliveries may be interrupted.
We encourage you to take a few moments and order extra books to have on hand during that time; please have all requests for additional books in before Monday, December 17th to ensure that your books have plenty of time to get to you. Since our mail goes out first thing in the morning, book requests made after Thursday, December 20th, will not be mailed until we re-open on Wednesday, December 26th. We are happy to permanently increase the number of books you are getting if you regularly run out of things to read or make it a onetime increase for the holidays.
The holiday season is a great time to think about signing up for BARD or downloading the BARD Mobile app (now available for iOS and Android devices). BARD will give you instant access to over 90,000 audio books and magazines, braille books and 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.
Reader’s Digest Now Available from NLS
NLS is pleased to announce that Reader’s Digest is now available as part of the audio magazine program. Starting with the November 2018 issue, patrons will now be able to download Reader’s Digest from BARD or sign up to receive it in the mail as part of the Magazine on Cartridge program. As with all audio magazines loaned to you, each issue must be returned in order to continue to stay active in the magazine program. If you are interested in subscribing to Reader’s Digest or any other magazine offered by NLS, please contact the library at 1-800-622-4970.
Grant Opportunity Returns in January
We are pleased to partner with the Indiana State Library Foundation to once again be able to offer Talking Book patrons the opportunity to apply for an Assistive Technology Grant. The grants provide monetary reimbursements in amounts ranging from $50 to $1,000 towards the purchase of an assistive technology device of the grant recipient’s choosing. These devices remove many barriers to education and employment for visually impaired individuals and may include: video magnifiers, optical character recognition systems, speech systems, etc.
Grant requests may be submitted any time after January 1, 2019. The requests will be reviewed by a committee and awarded on a quarterly basis until the funds allotted for the calendar year are expended. Grants will only be awarded to a particular individual one time every three calendar years.
More information, including application instructions, can be found online at http://www.in.gov/library/5442.htm. Questions may be directed to us by email at tbbl@library.in.gov.
The Indiana State Library Foundation was established in 2011 with a mission to serve citizens of Indiana through the support, enhancement and promotion of activities of the Indiana State Library, their programs and collections and to aid in development of library related programs benefiting libraries throughout the state and the library profession. To learn more about how you can help the Indiana State Library Foundation support the Talking Books program, contact donations@library.in.gov.
Digital Talking Book Machine Update for Magazine Subscribers
NLS has released a software update for the Digital Talking-Book Machine (DTBM). This update (version 2.1.16) allows users to sequentially play magazine cartridges with multiple titles on a single cartridge without the need to enter Bookshelf mode, a capability that has long been requested by NLS patrons and network libraries.
For cartridges containing more than one book or magazine, the new Sequential Play feature enables users to press the play/stop button to go to the next title when the player announces “End of book.” Standard Bookshelf mode will still work as before, allowing users to play multiple books or magazines in any order they wish. But for those who want a simpler method, the new functionality makes it possible to move from one title to the next without having to use the bookshelf.
The updated will be included on future magazine cartridges containing more than one title; your machine will update automatically when you put the cartridge into the player so there is no need to return your player for an updated one. BARD users who want this functionality on their player can download the update from the BARD main page. Patrons who are not subscribed to magazines or who do not use BARD do not need to worry about this update as it will have no effect on how your books are played.
February Book Club Selection
The next meeting of the Talking Book and Braille book club will take place on Tuesday, February 19th, at 2:00 PM Eastern/1:00 PM Central. We will be reading Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig, which is available in audio (DB 88585) and braille (BR 22202). Ginny is an autistic fourteen-year-old who has been adopted after years in foster care. Her fragile new life is threatened, however, when her obsessive need to get her Baby Doll back brings her dangerous birth mother into her life again.
Participants can join the discussion by calling our dial in number, 1-240-454-0887, and entering the conference code, 736 597 563#. Participants may also request that the library call them at the appointed time.
Please let us know if you are interested in participating so that we can contact you about any unexpected changes to either the schedule or call in information. You can request a copy of Ginny Moon and let us know you are interested in participating by contacting Laura Williams at 1-800-622-4970 or emailing lawilliams1@library.in.gov.
Vision Expo Returns in 2019
Mark your calendars for the 2019 Indiana Vision Expo, which is returning in 2019 after a year off. The 2019 Indiana Vision Expo will be held at the Indiana State Library on Saturday, September 14th and will feature a variety of vendors and speakers. The Indiana Vision Expo, which is now a biennial event, was started as an opportunity for people with vision loss, their friends, families, and service providers to learn about resources available to them that help promote independent living. More information about the event will be shared in upcoming newsletters.
Book Recommendations
Remembering the Bones by Frances Itani (DB 88653, BR 22195)
Born on the same day as Queen Elizabeth II, Canadian Georgina Witley is invited to Buckingham Palace to celebrate their shared eightieth birthday. However, on the way to the airport, Georgina experiences a car crash. To survive, she relies on wit, family memories, and naming the bones in her body. Some strong language.
The Boat People by Sharon Bala (DB 90817)
Mahindan and his six-year-old son Sellian arrive in Canada on a rusty cargo ship carrying five hundred other refugees from Sri Lanka. Hoping for a better life, Mahindan is instead incarcerated and Sellian put into foster care as government officials investigate fears of terrorists hiding among the refugees.
Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes (DB 90656)
Americans Julia, Camille, and Susan meet on a tour of a retirement village in North Carolina and decide impulsively to rent a house together in Tuscany for a year. Fellow American Kit helps introduce them to the pleasures and new opportunities of life in Italy. Unrated.
The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú (DB 90287)
After being stationed at the remote crossroads of a drug route and a smuggling corridor, the Mexican-American author, plagued by nightmares, abandons the Border Patrol for civilian life. Then a friend--a regular at the café where he now works--travels back to Mexico to visit his dying mother and doesn't return. Unrated.
There There by Tommy Orange (DB 91321)
Twelve people, all Native American, have their own reasons to travel to the Big Oakland Powwow. Some are looking to reconnect with family or share in a celebration of their culture, but not all those gathered have good intentions. Unrated.
New Books Available from Indiana Voices
A Belief in Providence: A Life of Saint Theodora Guerin by Julie Young (IDB00188)
This book explores the life of the woman who would become Indiana’s first saint. Born Anne-Therese Guerin in France, she joined the Sisters of Providence and in 1840 came to the United States to found an establishment near Terre Haute, Indiana. Despite poor health, primitive frontier conditions, and dealings with a contentious archbishop, who at one point locked her in a room in the rectory, she founded Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, the oldest Catholic women's liberal arts college in the United States.
Lincoln’s Funeral Train: The Epic Journey from Washington to Springfield by Robert Reed (IDB00189)
The Lincoln Funeral Train is the story of the nearly 1,700 mile journey which was the biggest single event in the lives of American citizens at the time.
Love and Greed in the Heartland: The Richmond Hill Murders by Robert L. Snow and Russ McQuaid (IDB00190)
Love and Greed in the Heartland is the story of an insurance fraud scheme gone fatally wrong when what was meant to be a small fire mushroomed into a major explosion and the largest homicide investigation in Indiana's history.
On This Rockne by Ralph M. McInerny (IDB00192)
A new mystery series set at Notre Dame University introduces the Knight brothers in their first case, which involves ten million dollars, a dead trustee, and the great coach Knute Rockne.
Murder on the Bucket List by Elizabeth Perona (IDB00195)
The septuagenarian women of the Summer Ridge Bridge Club have gathered in secret late one July night to check skinny-dipping off their bucket list. When a dead body flops out of the pool shed, it is an answered prayer for Charlotte, since the first item on her list is to solve a murder.
Old Librarians Never Die, They Jump Out of Airplanes: Adventuring through the Senior Years in Indiana by Marie J. Albertson (IDB00196)
Albertson raised four children and put herself through college while doing so. After her husband's death she became a librarian at the Indiana State Library with a "rest of my life to-do list"...this book tells her personal story as she worked, then retired and began adventuring: learning to kayak, horseback-riding to see wild mustangs, crewing on a tall ship, visiting the Great Wall of China, taking gliding lessons and reading Shakespeare.
Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library Calendar:
Monday December 24, 2018 Library Closed
Tuesday December 25, 2018 Library Closed
Tuesday January 1, 2019 Library Closed
Monday January 21, 2019 Library Closed
Friday April 19, 2019 Library Closed
Tuesday May 7, 2019 Library Closed
Monday May 27, 2019 Library Closed
Thursday July 4, 2019 Library Closed
Monday September 2, 2019 Library Closed
Saturday September 14, 2019 Vision Expo
Monday October 14, 2019 Library Closed
Tuesday November 5, 2019 Library Closed
Monday November 11, 2019 Library Closed
Thursday November 28, 2019 Library Closed
Friday November 29, 2019 Library Closed
Tuesday December 24, 2019 Library Closed
Wednesday December 25, 2019 Library Closed
Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library Hours:
Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Indiana Insights is a publication of the Indiana 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 Free Matter
and Braille Library for the Blind
140 N. Senate Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46204