News
ISSN 1046-1663
January-March 2002, Vol. 33, No. 1
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
The Library of Congress
NLS and Mystic Seaport initiate two-year joint pilot
NLS joins Mystic Seaport, Connecticut's famed seventy-three-year-old
Museum of America and the Sea, in a major initiative from January 1,
2002, through December 31, 2003, advancing accessibility for blind and
handicapped individuals.
Mystic Seaport is a world-renowned not-for-profit educational
institution occupying 37 acres on the Mystic River located east of New
London, Connecticut. The museum comprises not only 60 public buildings
but also the largest watercraft collection in the United States, notably
the Charles W. Morgan, the last American wooden whaler; the Joseph
Conrad, an 1882 square-rigged training ship; the L.A. Dunton, a 1921
fishing schooner; and the Sabino, an operating 1908 steamboat. These
prized historic vessels, fundamental to the Seaport's mission of
promoting the U.S. maritime heritage, are maintained in a fully equipped
restoration shipyard.
For visitors, of whom over a million annually come to the site,
professional staff interpret a wealth of exhibits, special programs, and
demonstrations of traditional nautical skills. Established with gifts
from a family active in the development of the museum, the G.W. Blunt
White Library leads American maritime research libraries and houses a
prime manuscripts collection.
NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke says, "This cooperative effort will
open up this interesting area of activity to blind and physically
handicapped people and will add to our commitment to reach out to other
national institutions."
The ambitious roster of anticipated collaborations include efforts
to:
conceive, develop, and publish a nautical book in large print,
braille, and tactile graphic formats;
issue an existing Mystic Seaport cookbook in audio format for both
Mystic Seaport's Internet web site and for NLS's expanding digital audio
program;
produce audio versions of Mystic Seaport books for blind individuals
and for sale by the Seaport to the general public;
provide the general handout in audio and braille versions to Seaport
visitors in English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish;
include blind children in the Seaport's Joseph Conrad overnight
program;
involve blind children in a paddle-making project;
further the working relationship between the Connecticut State
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and Mystic Seaport in
areas of mutual interest under the coordination of NLS;
develop a hands-on artifact package for blind visitors to the
Seaport;
assist the Seaport docent training program with awareness and
accommodation issues for persons with disabilities.
Paul O'Pecko, director of the G.W. Blunt White Library, notes,
"Mystic Seaport is committed to developing awareness and extending its
programs to all Americans. These joint initiatives with the Library of
Congress will expand this, the Museum of America and the Sea, to a
higher level of accessibility. We are pleased and honored to work with
NLS on these important projects."
Three of NLS's regional libraries are the project's first
participants: the Connecticut State Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped in Rocky Hill, Connecticut; the Braille and Talking Book
Library in Watertown, Massachusetts; and Talking Books Plus in
Providence, Rhode Island. Patrons of these libraries may visit the
Seaport at no cost by requesting from their libraries one-day passes,
each admitting two adults and their children or grandchildren eighteen
years old and younger for the date printed on the pass. Passes are not
valid during July and August. Patrons of other NLS network libraries may
request one-day Mystic passes from NLS.
The Mystic Seaport project is part of a continuing NLS effort to
make braille, audio, tactile graphic, and digital materials available in
a variety of settings to blind individuals and others unable readily to
use standard printed texts. For example, with the National Park Service
NLS has helped provide tour and information guides in braille and audio
formats in several national parks, among them Shenandoah National Park.
Another example, NLS director Cylke points out, is the Birdsong Tutor on
audio cassette, a book for blind individuals NLS helped develop with
Cornell University's Department of Ornithology that is in popular
demand.
See also Friends article below.
(photo caption: The Charles W. Morgan, built in 1841, is a National
Historic Landmark and America's last surviving wooden whaleship. It is
Mystic Seaport's centerpiece exhibit.)
(photo caption: The Charles Mallory sail loft is one of Mystic's many
functional exhibits, building new sails for exhibit vessels and
providing maintenance work for the Seaport's sails. Mallory came to
Mystic in 1816, having just completed his apprenticeship to a sailmaker
in New London. For more information about the Seaport and its activities
and exhibits, see its web page .)
NLS and Jewish Braille Institute expand outreach; JBI celebrates seventy
years of service
In February 2001 NLS entered into a new cooperative arrangement with the
Jewish Braille Institute of America (JBI) to help identify and register
new patrons for the network of library services. Staff members of JBI
are now recognized as competent authority to certify patron eligibility
for the NLS program because of blindness, visual impairment, or physical
disability.
The affiliation is expected to benefit both organizations and to
enhance the effective delivery of information and service to appropriate
audiences. Although any network library may receive a JBI-certified
application, combined JBI/NLS outreach will be concentrated initially in
Arizona, California, Florida, New York, and Ohio.
Anniversary activities
In November 2001 the Jewish Braille Institute observed its seventieth
anniversary of service to the Jewish community around the world. Located
in New York City, the institute offers a wide range of services,
programs, and publications, provided free of charge to eligible blind
and visually impaired subscribers. The centerpiece of the anniversary
celebrations was a cocktail reception and reading at the New York Public
Library on November 20, which was attended by NLS's Jim Herndon, head,
Collection Development Section. The reception coincided with an exhibit
of rare archival treasures from the JBI library and NYPL's Dorot Jewish
Division, one of the world's great repositories of Judaica. Critically
acclaimed novelist Alan Isler, the author of 1994's The Prince of West
End Avenue among other works, read the opening chapter of his
controversial new novel, Clerical Errors. The novelist is the husband of
JBI executive vice president, Dr. Ellen Isler.
International service
From JBI's inception, its mission has been to enable blind, visually
impaired, and reading-disabled Jewish children and older adults to
participate fully and equally in the religious, cultural, educational,
and professional life of their community. The JBI library is a key
resource for anyone, regardless of religious affiliation, who is
interested in Jewish topics. More than 20,000 people in 50 countries
benefit from the broad variety of services JBI provides.
The institute was founded in 1931 by Michael Aaronson, a rabbi who
had lost his sight in the trenches during World War I, and Leopold
Dubov, a Polish rabbi's son blind since age six, who came to America
following the war. The Jewish Braille Review was established that same
year under the editorship of Jacob Fried, who continued in the position
until his death in May 2000.
The JBI talking-book library circulates more than 110,000
audiocassettes in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, Hungarian,
Romanian, Polish, German, and French, along with a generous selection of
Jewish-interest magazines on cassette, including Jewish Braille Review,
JBI Voice, and Likutim, a journal in Hebrew on blindness and visual
impairment that originates in Israel. Scriptures, prayer books,
Haggadahs, texts of holiday services, other religious materials, and
Jewish calendars are available on audiocassette and in braille and large
print. Other JBI undertakings include special services for blind and
visually impaired children, assistance for elderly people, college and
professional education counseling and preparation of special materials
for students, outreach to blind and visually impaired Eastern European
Jews--especially Holocaust survivors--and the maintenance of clinical
facilities, recording studios, and library services in Israel.
Library transfer to NLS
JBI's braille library of nearly 8,000 titles in more than 70,000 volumes
is in the process of being transferred to the care of NLS, where it will
be fully accessible to JBI and NLS patrons. Books from the collection
that are available in computer braille and books to be produced by JBI
in the future using digital technology will become available through the
NLS Web-Braille system.
Friends
Overseas patron anchors until the war blows over
Louise Nelson receives her audio books wherever she is at the moment,
and over the years these moments have found her in a great many
interesting places. Currently, she is enjoying life in Singapore, while
waiting for the hostilities in Afghanistan to end so that she and her
husband, Todd, can continue sailing through the Red Sea on their way to
the Mediterranean.
Louise and Todd, along with her brother, Mark, and sister-in-law,
Sam, arrived in the small country off the Malay Peninsula just as the
war against terrorism got under way. The four of them had spent the
previous two years sailing the waters of Australia and Indonesia.
"Originally we planned to cruise to Thailand and then through the
Red Sea to the Mediterranean," explained Nelson. "But with all the
military vessels in the area and the tensions in Israel, heightened by
recent terrorist attacks, we decided not to proceed at this point. We
plan to remain in Singapore until things settle down and make the voyage
safer."
Legally blind since birth in her home state of Iowa, Nelson says,
"I use lots of alternative techniques along with my remaining vision.
I'm able to read print if it's not too small. I often use a magnifier
and also a hand-held telescope for distant stuff--especially scenery."
She received her elementary education at the Iowa Braille and
Sight Saving School and her secondary education at the Solon Public High
School. Her travels began after graduation, as she entered the
University of the Americas in Pueblo, Mexico, in 1974 and graduated four
years later from the University of Denver, Colorado, with a degree in
Spanish Literature and Secondary Education. She returned to Iowa as a
braille instructor and, later, as a program coordinator for the Iowa
Commission for the Blind (now the Iowa Department for the Blind). She
completed a Master of Science in Special Education at Northern Illinois
University and moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where she worked as a braille
and home economics instructor at the Louise Rudd Center for Blind
Adults.
"In Anchorage I met my husband, Todd Nelson, whom I married in
1987. It was Todd who introduced me to open-water sailing aboard his 28-
foot boat in the middle of an Alaskan winter in 40 knots of wind." He
also introduced her to his son, Daniel, six at the time, who is now 22
and living in the United States "after moving with us all over the
world."
Later that year the family moved to Nuremberg, Germany, where
Nelson worked for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools as a
teacher of blind and visually impaired dependents of U.S. military
personnel. They remained there for five and one-half years. Then they
moved to RAF Lakenheath, England, where they lived for four years, and
left for New Zealand in 1996. Nelson took a position with the New
Zealand Ministry of Health as an assessment coordinator, helping people
with "intellectual disabilities." She also taught at the Nelson
Polytechnic School of Social Studies.
Sailing became a passion for Nelson, as it was for her husband.
"We went sailing in the Adriatic twice before Yugoslavia split while we
were living in Germany. The first time we went out, five of us sailed
for two weeks; the second time, seven of us sailed for three weeks,"
says Nelson. "My husband was captain both times, and we did bare-boat
charter (rent a boat locally and head out, if you have the papers to
prove you are a skilled sailor, that is!). My favorite stop was
Dubrovnik. It was just wonderful. I also really enjoyed the large
coliseum at Pula."
"In April of 1999," says Nelson, "Todd and I, together with Mark
and Sam, bought a thirty-year-old wooden ketch." They named the boat Te
Tainui, after a New Zealand Maori tribe, and the Nelsons began planning
their sea quest. "After selling our respective homes and working on the
boat for nine months, we sailed from New Zealand in February 2000," she
recalls. "We were privileged to have the boat blessed by Maori elders
before leaving on the passage to Australia, which was 1,400 miles."
Life on the ketch keeps the enterprising woman busy. "On average,
a cruise boat will do between 100 and 140 miles a day, depending on
weather, of course." Nelson explains that though the days are far from
routine, there are a few things all sailors must do. "When we are
coastal cruising, hopping from one anchorage to another, we spend each
evening laying out the next day's route, checking equipment, and
monitoring the weather.
Every boat has a watch schedule. Nelson says, "There are four of
us, so we stand three-hour watches unless the weather is bad and then
it's only two hours. When on watch, you check the course; plot it on the
chart; monitor traffic; check instruments; and log the boat speed, wind
speed/direction, barometric pressure, and sea state, among other things.
If the engine is on, you also watch the oil and water pressure, and
monitor battery-bank power. You note any problems and communications
with other vessels, as well as things like distance from 'buddy boats'
and maintenance issues."
"Aboard ship, I am the primary cook and sail-and-canvas-repair
person, and I assist in navigation," she quips. "Cooking is not easy on
a boat for anyone, but I enjoy it the most. The crew might agree that I
am the better cook! We have a sea rail on the stove top so that pans
won't move when we're at sea. We stack measuring cups and spoons and use
a large digital timer with a loud alarm. I mark things aboard in many
different ways: large print, sticky dots, and with that orange glue
stuff that I can never remember the name of."
She finds working with canvas much easier than fooling around with
pots and pans. "The needles are so large that a needle threader is not
necessary, and I use seam guides. I also sew lots of other stuff for the
boat, like curtains and pillows. I repair clothing and make Christmas
presents."
"For navigation, we have paper charts and some of those are not
possible for me to read because of the scale. More and more we use
electronic charts, and I can zoom in to whatever scale works best for
planning routes and way points (latitude/longitude positions) along the
route to ensure that we stay on course.
The group spends a lot of time maintaining the vessel. Nelson
explains that "stainless steel on the deck needs to be cleaned every few
months to prevent rust, lines and rigging must be checked for wear and
tear, and leaks identified and fixed." We're actually a pretty dry boat,
which is good as we are in the monsoon season."
Laundry poses another problem for the sailors. Because the crew
saves fresh water for cooking and rinsing things, they must wash their
clothes and linens in salty sea water, unless they are anchored at a
marina. "This isn't the fun part of cruising," Nelson laughs. "Clothes
washed in saltwater never dry well and are a bit stiff. It's better than
the smell of unwashed clothes, however, in 90-degree weather day after
day. We have small fans, but it is very hot in the tropics and you are
always fighting mildew and smelly sheets and towels."
Even with all the work sailing requires, this world traveler is an
avid reader. "Mr. Raj is really good about getting books to me when I
can give him an address," she says about the NLS overseas librarian, Y.
Rathan Raj. "I've read hundreds and hundreds of books on tape. When
books are available, I go through two or more a week. I read while
cooking, cleaning, painting, scraping, sewing, riding the bus, or
sitting on deck relaxing. Mostly I read while doing something else, as
I'm a bit hyper and don't sit still much."
Having decided to delay their travels until things are settled in
Afghanistan, Nelson says she and her crew are busy readapting to life on
land. While they find Singapore beautiful, they find adjusting to a
regular work schedule difficult after the freedom of the sea. The
respite, however, will allow them to make repairs on the ketch and to
take a look at the region they are in. "We are planning land trips to
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Korea while we are here. We also hope
to fit in China and Hong Kong."
Being motionless seems to be the only thing that makes Louise
Nelson uncomfortable.
(Editor's Note
From time to time we introduce members of the Friends of Libraries for
Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in North America, some of
the many talented and accomplished individuals who illustrate the
diversity of interests and achievements possible to blind and
handicapped peoples.)
(About the Friends
Individuals, institutions, and corporations may join the Friends of
Libraries for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in North
America. The nonprofit group supports library programs for blind and
physically handicapped persons in the United States and Canada through a
number of activities and products. The Friends of Libraries is
associated with national library programs and encourages local friends
groups in the United States and Canada.
For more information, contact Friends of Libraries for Blind and
Physically Handicapped Individuals in North America, Inc., 1800 Johnson
Street, Suite 800, Baltimore, MD 21230, USA; phone (410) 659-9314.)
(photo caption: Top: Louise (center) and brother, Mark, at work on boat
projects
Bottom: Louise feeding kangaroos in Australia)
(photo caption: Te Tainui with all sails up)
Friends of Libraries teams with NLS to support Mystic Seaport access
Friends of Libraries for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in
North America, Inc., has joined with National Library Service for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped in support of expanded outreach and
accessibility initiatives for visitors who are blind, visually impaired,
or disabled to Mystic Seaport, the distinguished living maritime museum
in southeastern Connecticut.
Mystic Seaport is more than just a one-building museum. It is a
superb collection of historic ships, period homes and businesses, a
children's museum, a planetarium, and galleries set on a spectacular
seventeen-acre waterfront site.
The Seaport is organized into three main areas of activity:
Real craftsmen practice traditional skills as they maintain the
museum's fleet of historic ships and boats in the Seaport's unique
preservation shipyard.
Living interpreters introduce visitors to the everyday life of a
nineteenth-century coastal New England community of trade shops, homes,
and ships.
Magnificent exhibit galleries display maritime art, ship models,
figureheads, scrimshaw, audio-visual programs, and more.
The historic ships and buildings, gravel roads, and stone
sidewalks that create Mystic Seaport's nineteenth-century atmosphere
sometimes present barriers for visitors with disabilities. The
experienced staff are working hard to provide easy access wherever
possible and tailor their presentations and demonstrations to the
special needs of all visitors.
The Seaport publishes a brochure, "Guide to Access," that provides
detailed information on the accessibility factors for each of the
museum's forty-nine buildings, standing exhibits, ships, and other
attractions. The brochure includes information on the type of entrance
and the level of accessibility--graded as accessible to all visitors, of
limited access, or of difficult access.
The Education Department of Mystic Seaport Museum offers a range
of programs for groups. The programs can be designed to meet a variety
of needs.
Highlight tours. These are ninety-minute guided tours that can be
general in nature with visits to featured exhibits, or with a specific
focus selected, such as whaling, fishing, and nineteenth-century coastal
community life.
Outreach programs. Arrangements can be made for museum teachers,
chanty singers, and costumed role players to present one-hour programs
that may include singing, storytelling, and objects from the past.
Please write or call Mystic Seaport Museum for more information
and reservations for these and other programs.
Mystic Seaport Museum
P.O. Box 6000
75 Greenmanville Ave.
Mystic, CT 06355-0990
(203) 572-0711
TDD (203) 572-5319
Visit Mystic Seaport's informative and entertaining web site for more
information, including accessibility details, membership information,
directions, lodging, and more, at .
Free Seaport library pass
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is
a member of Mystic Seaport's association of public libraries, and as
such is able to offer patrons use of a free one-day library pass. The
pass entitles two adults and their children or grandchildren under 18 to
free admission to Mystic Seaport on the day of the week specified on the
pass. The pass will be sent to you by express delivery. After your
visit, you will be asked to return the pass using a prepaid envelope.
The pass is available throughout the year except for the months of July
and August. Late spring and early fall are ideal times for a visit to
Mystic.
NLS patrons in Connecticut should contact the Library for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped, Rocky Hill, Connecticut; patrons in
Rhode Island should contact Talking Books Plus, in Providence, Rhode
Island; and patrons in Massachusetts should contact the Braille and
Talking Book Library in Watertown, Massachusetts, to arrange for their
pass. Residents of all other states should contact NLS directly. Write
Mystic Pass Coordinator
Publications and Media Section
NLS/BPH
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
or e-mail . Include your name, address, telephone number,
and the date and day of the week you wish to visit the Seaport.
Braille music scores/books now on Internet
Music scores and books about music have been added to the NLS Web-
Braille system that provides braille books on the Internet.
According to John Jackson, acting head of the NLS Music Section,
this extension of Web-Braille represents the first collection of braille
music materials to be available on the Internet for use by NLS patrons.
The specialized digital holdings contain items not available from any
other source, including many braille music scores. Some examples are
J.S. Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Books 1 and 2, for
harpsichord/piano (NLS book number BRM 00039 and BRM 00040); Charles
Marie Widor's Symphony No. 5, Op. 42, for organ (BRM 03725); and
Johannes Brahms's Motet from Psalm LI, Op. 29, No. 2, for SATB chorus
(BRM 05218). Braille books and magazines about music include issues of
the Musical Mainstream, a quarterly publication of the NLS Music Section
that provides a selection of articles from various prominent music
periodicals.
Judith Dixon, NLS consumer relations officer, who created the Web-
Braille concept, says "the addition of music materials has broadened
accessibility beyond current NLS books and magazines." Nearly 200 music
items are now available, and more material will be added as it is
produced.
Inaugurated on August 24, 1999, Web-Braille has become a milestone
in the history of library service for blind individuals by providing
eligible readers with a direct channel to thousands of electronic
braille files. The free Internet braille program has more than 1,800
users registered. Nearly 4,117 digital braille book files, twenty-five
national magazines, and five national sports schedules were available at
the beginning of February 2002, thirty through the NLS web site
.
Web-Braille users--including individuals, schools, and libraries--
access the digital books and magazines through Internet connections and
braille output devices, such as braille embossers or refreshable braille
displays.
NLS has linked its International Union Catalog for braille and
audio materials to Web-Braille. As a result, Web-Braille books and
magazines and music may now be accessed directly from the catalog by
using author, title, subject, language, keyword, and other search
parameters. Interested readers should contact their cooperating library
to receive a password and log in for information.
Note from a happy patron
The following passages are extracted from a letter to NLS.
"Just before Christmas a Hadley School colleague sent me your press
release about the availability of braille music through the NLS Web-
Braille program. What a glorious surprise! As a pianist and singer, and
as the instructor for the Hadley courses in music appreciation and
braille music notation, I was absolutely thrilled.
"...What joy these scores are bringing to me! Just the other day,
for instance, I downloaded a Charpentier operatic aria and Debussy's
wonderful piano warhorse, "Clair de Lune." My Everest printer reproduced
these scores flawlessly. I'm hoping you will find it possible to
continue increasing the inventory of scores. Of course, I'll keep on
spreading the good word to my students, too.
"...The regular Web-Braille texts are great, but the musical
scores are extra special."
Cordially,
Karen Gearreald
NLS produces one-millionth C-1 machine
NLS celebrated the production of its one-millionth C-1 cassette book
machine on December 12, 2001. To mark the auspicious occasion, the Telex
facility in Blue Earth, Minnesota, hosted a day of observance to
recognize all who contributed to the achievement. Russ Groen, production
manager in charge of the C-1 line, presented Brad Kormann, NLS Materials
Development Division chief, with the machine that bore serial number
1,000,000 virtually as it rolled off the line. The unit will go on
permanent display at the NLS headquarters in Washington, D.C., to
commemorate a long and effective private- and public-sector
collaboration.
Telex, an international corporation that specializes in
communications equipment, has held production contracts with NLS for
almost thirty years. The first C-1 machine, developed in the late 1970s,
went into full-scale production in 1982. The C-1 is a self-contained,
two-speed, battery-operated playback machine specially adapted to four-
track NLS audio cassettes. While technical modifications have improved
the performance and reliability of the C-1 over the years, its basic
design has remained unchanged.
Along with Kormann, NLS was represented by John Cookson, head,
Engineering Section, and Don Smith, head, Quality Assurance Section.
Each of the guests from NLS spoke briefly, thanking the Telex workers
who, past and present, have contributed to the C-1 production effort.
Phil Phelon and Jim Smith, former Blue Earth plant managers,
attended the celebration. Also present, from the Telex corporate
headquarters in Burnsville, Minnesota, were Glen Cavanaugh, president of
the multimedia communications group, Sue Arrington, Keith Deibert, Jim
Dust, and Blake Erickson. Husband and wife Sonny and Kamiko Kawajiri
represented Shinwa-Teknik, the C-1 tape deck vendor from Japan.
(photo caption: One of the many users of the C-1, the basic NLS playback
machine)
Charlson named Massachusetts regional librarian
Kim Charlson has been named the new director of the Perkins Braille and
Talking Book Library in Watertown, Massachusetts. Charlson is an
internationally recognized expert on braille literacy, adaptive
technology in libraries, information access, and library and information
services for people with disabilities. She served as service management
librarian/assistant director since 1985 and has been acting director
since July 2001.
"After an extensive search, it became clear that Kim Charlson was
the obvious choice in leadership for the Perkins Braille and Talking
Book Library as it expands in resources, technology, and people served,"
said Kevin Lessard, director of Perkins School for the Blind. "Her many
years of experience and involvement at both the state and national
levels in library services for the blind and visually impaired, as well
as her advocacy in areas such as braille literacy, access issues,
adaptive technology, and education, make her an invaluable asset in
taking our library forward."
Charlson serves on a number of committees for NLS and is a
national member of the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), the
standard-setting body for braille in the United States and Canada.
She is chair of the Massachusetts Braille Literacy Advisory
Council, treasurer of the International Council on English Braille, and
an appointed member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Disability
Policy. She is also active in a wide range of consumer advocacy arenas,
including arts access and audio description, braille literacy, adaptive
technology, civil rights, guide dog access issues, and special
education.
Charlson has published Establishing a Braille Literacy Program in
Your Community: A Handbook for Libraries and Other Community
Organizations and has contributed to numerous publications, including a
chapter on braille library services in the book Braille: Into the Next
Millennium, which was published by NLS. She is a contributor to Making
Theatre Accessible: A Guide to Audio Description in the Performing Arts,
recently published by Northeastern University Press.
The Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library provides reading
materials in audio and braille formats to Massachusetts residents and
braille services to readers in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and
Vermont. The library serves more than 17,000 patrons, loans the playback
equipment needed to use talking books, and has the largest braille
collection in New England. It works in collaboration with the
Massachusetts Board of Library commissioners.
(This article was provided by Terri Wilhelm, North Dakota regional
librarian.)
Kansas regional has new leadership
Toni Harrell joined the Kansas Talking Books Regional Library in
Emporia, Kansas, as regional librarian and director of the Kansas
Talking Book Services on February 4, 2002. In addition to other
responsibilities, she oversees the work of the six Kansas subregional
libraries that provide a variety of services, including book
circulation, to blind and physically handicapped patrons.
Harrell brings to her new assignment sixteen years of professional
experience as an educator and ten years as a library media specialist in
the Missouri and Kansas public school systems. Immediately prior to her
appointment, Harrell worked for two and one-half years as a librarian at
the Kansas Association of School Boards. During the course of her
career, she has also served as an adjunct lecturer at the School of
Library and Information Science at the Emporia State Library and as an
instructor for the Library Assistant Program at Flint Hills Technical
College.
Originally from Missouri, Harrell holds both a Bachelor of Music
Education degree from the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-
Kansas City, and a Master of Music degree from Emporia State University.
She also obtained her MLS degree and completed postgraduate course work
at the Emporia State University School of Library and Information
Sciences.
Harrell studied sign language in preparing for her advanced course
work in library science. Her appointment as director of the Talking Book
Service expands on her initial interest in working with deaf and other
special needs children by extending her professional skills to adults.
Arizona technology expo grows
The Arizona regional library is a founding member of the Vision
Rehabilitation and Technology Expo held in Phoenix each year since 1997.
The 2001 Expo, with the theme You Don't Have to See the Top to Reach the
Top, was held November 9 at Phoenix Civic Plaza and included nearly
forty exhibitors from nine states.
The Expo features exhibits and demonstrations by agencies and
companies that provide goods and services to the blind and visually
handicapped community and also includes a slate of speakers throughout
the day, including a retinal specialist. The purpose of the event is to
provide useful information to the blind and visually handicapped
community, from both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors.
Dr. Brian Horsman was the keynote speaker and addressed the
clinical aspects and current research on macular degeneration. Other
speakers were Paul Ruffner, the blind teenager who won the Arizona
Geography Bee and was a top-ten finalist at the national competition;
Rick Boggs, a blind actor and musician who was accompanied by his guide
dog, Jake; Eileen Bailey, a visually handicapped author and journalist;
and Diane Shapiro-Jager, who is the current Miss Senior Arizona and an
artist. Kevin Cherilla presented a slide demonstration of Erik
Weihenmayer's conquest of Mt. Everest. In addition, there were seven
workshops throughout the day, covering everything from independent
living and low vision rehabilitation to vendor-sponsored high tech
demonstrations.
The Expo is unique in that it is put together by a coalition of
agencies in Arizona working together to provide information to the
visually impaired community. The Arizona regional library has played a
vital role in presenting the Expo from its inception. The Expo has grown
each year, and organizers expect that next year's event will be held on
Friday, November 8, 2002, at Phoenix Civic Plaza.
New Jersey's fall festival is a great success
More than 350 people attended the New Jersey Library for the Blind and
Handicapped (LBH) Fall Festival on September 8, 2001. This event was
also the kickoff for the Take a Talking Book campaign.
The featured speaker was Erik Weihenmayer, mountaineer, ice
climber, skier, bicyclist, and marathon runner. Weihenmayer became blind
at age 13, but that did not stop his pursuit of an active life. He has
scaled five of the seven highest summits in the world, the latest of
which was Mt. Everest. He is the youngest individual to have
accomplished this feat, and the only blind person. His book, Touch the
Top of the World (RC 51505), which he autographed for participants, has
sold thousands of copies. The library had multiple copies on cassette
and in braille available at the event for borrowing. The cassette copies
were produced by NLS; the braille copies were purchased for the occasion
from National Braille Press in Boston, Massachusetts.
In other sessions visitors were informed how not to become a
victim of fraud by Chomie Persson, an investigator with the New Jersey
Division of Consumer Affairs, Elder Fraud Unit; entertained by Daria, a
musician billed as "a female Pete Seeger"; delighted by a demonstration
of Seeing-Eye puppies; and fascinated by the handling of live snakes
from Snake Party.
According to regional librarian Debbie Rutledge, "It was a
privilege to have David Whittall, NLS network consultant, in attendance
that day. In addition, the weather cooperated, vendors were
knowledgeable and informative, and everyone had a great time."
(This article was provided by Cindy Warwick, senior public information
assistant at the New Jersey State Library.)
(photo caption: Erik Weihenmayer charms young and old at the New Jersey
LBH Fall Festival on September 8. Pictured with Weihenmayer are Grace
Smith, in second grade in Sewaren, New Jersey, and Midge Clark of Shiloh
and her volunteer guide for the day, Briony Glass of Pemberton.)
Correction
The article on the 2001 regional conferences (News, July-September 2001)
omitted (or, rather, misrepresented) Arkansas in the list of states
present at the Southern Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. The
editor needs a new course in translating two-letter postal
abbreviations: AR is Arkansas, not Arizona. Sorry!
Carrying the torch
Alexis Read considers herself an average person and isn't accustomed to
being the center of attention, but all that changed recently. Read was
nominated to be an Olympic torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Olympics. She
finished her leg of the relay this past January in Billings, Montana.
She says she is surprised by all of this attention. "I don't like to be
put on this big pedestal: 'Look at that blind person!' I want to be the
average person--who has a visual impairment."
She says, "You don't have to carry the Olympic flame to inspire
others, but I hope that knowing someone who did that might inspire
others to reach for the stars."
Karmyn Dobrovolny, a former classmate from Williston, North
Dakota, nominated Read for this honor. Dobrovolny met Read back in
junior high and says she nominated Read because she saw her as a role
model. "She always had such a positive attitude and a passion for life,"
says Dobrovolny.
Read is a patron of the North Dakota Talking Book Program and is
currently attending Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She is
majoring in German and English Literature and plans to graduate in 2003.
She hopes to get a graduate degree in education and a vision
certification. Her aim is to devise a program to improve overall life
skills for other people with disabilities.
(photo caption: North Dakota patron Alexis Read receives the torch to
begin her leg of the Olympic relay, which ended in January at Billings,
Montana.)
The Program
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of
the Library of Congress publishes books and magazines in braille and in
recorded form on discs and cassettes for readers who cannot hold,
handle, or see well enough to read conventional print because of a
temporary or permanent visual or physical handicap.
Through a national network of state and local libraries, the
materials are loaned free to eligible readers in the United States and
to U.S. citizens living abroad. Materials are sent to readers and
returned by postage-free mail.
Books and Magazines
Readers may borrow all types of popular-interest books including
bestsellers, classics, mysteries, westerns, poetry, history,
biographies, religious literature, children's books, and foreign-
language materials. Readers may also subscribe to more than seventy
popular magazines in braille and recorded formats.
Special Equipment
Special equipment needed to play the discs and cassettes, which are
recorded at slower than conventional speeds, is loaned indefinitely to
readers. An amplifier with headphone is available for blind and
physically handicapped readers who are also certified as hearing
impaired. Other devices are provided to aid readers with mobility
impairments in using playback machines.
Eligibility
You are eligible for the Library of Congress program if:
You are legally blind--your vision in the better eye is 20/200 or
less with correcting glasses, or your widest diameter of visual field is
no greater than 20 degrees;
You cannot see well enough or focus long enough to read standard
print, although you wear glasses to correct your vision;
You are unable to handle print books or turn pages because of a
physical handicap; or
You are certified by a medical doctor as having a reading disability,
due to an organic dysfunction, which is of sufficient severity to
prevent reading in a normal manner.
How to Apply
You may request an application by writing NLS or calling toll-free 1-
800-424-9100, and your name will be referred to your cooperating
library.
News is published quarterly by:
National Library Service for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
All correspondence should be addressed to the attention of Publications
and Media Section.
Editor: Vicki Fitzpatrick
Writers: Jane Caulton, Nancy Galbraith, Irene Kost, and Edmund O'Reilly