News

ISSN 1046-1663

April-June 2000, Vol. 31, No. 2

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

The Library of Congress





NLS inaugurates cost-analysis tool



NLS has created a new computer-based cost-analysis system that will allow

the library service to compare the costs of its current program with those

likely to be incurred in the deployment of a new technology. The advent of

the system is a critical step in the progress of the NLS Digital Talking-Book (DTB) Program. In pursuit of the long-range goal of cost reduction--one

of the most compelling reasons for change--the cost-analysis system must be

accurate, efficient, and easy to use. This system, the life-cycle cost (LCC)

analysis model, is now entering the final stages of review and testing at

NLS.

     NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke calls the system "a significant

intellectual effort that will allow the Library accurately to identify

overall program costs for the current talking-book program as well as to

project costs for the program in the years ahead."

     Effectiveness of the system is dependent on two major elements: 

     (1) accurate identification of all cost factors for both materials and

services, including those services provided by network libraries, and

     (2) a means to easily and accurately project and compare the

differences in long-term cost prospects for NLS materials based on the

usefulness, availability, and pricing of technological components, plus the

impact of such differences on the delivery of products and services to

patrons.  

     "In the simplest terms," Engineering Section head John Cookson writes

in a recent paper, "we must know the cost of providing service using the

incumbent technology, we must be able to project this cost out to a ten-year

horizon, and we must be able to estimate the cost of the digital

alternative."



Establishing base costs. In October 1999, NLS began working with a team

contracted through Northrop Grumman on the design of the life-cycle cost

(LCC) model. Working together through the fall and winter, the Northrop

Grumman-NLS team identified some one hundred data elements that contribute

to costs of NLS's current talking-book system, described these elements, and

noted the information sources in a data dictionary. The group has worked

through the intricacies that describe the relationships among the elements,

created data-flow diagrams, and applied computational connections to the

data. 

     In February, NLS hosted a meeting that included representatives from

each of the four regions of the network and from state libraries through

which most regional libraries receive support. The lead analyst from

Northrop Grumman presented the data dictionary elements to the librarians.

NLS wanted to explain the methodology used to capture and project network

library costs, which represent a large segment of total system costs. The

librarians learned of a wide-ranging analysis of network library costs that

isolated particular costs for providing audio equipment, book, and magazine

services. But because this analysis was completed in 1990 and based on 1989

figures, the NLS team needed to discuss with the librarians different

techniques for bringing the 1989 costs up to 1999. Federal fiscal year 1999

will be the base year in the cost model. Two days of deliberation brought

consensus among the network and state librarians and the LCC model

development team. 

     Since February, the team has been putting together the final data

element descriptions, the computations, and the interface between the

computer model and the computer user. The preliminary model is scheduled for

delivery to NLS at the end of May. After review and comment on the

preliminary model, the final model will be delivered in August.



Projecting the costs. Through the computations, the model can state the

effect of cost changes in a variety of ways. One might be, "How much does

the current system cost this year? Next year? Over ten years?" Another might

be, "How much does it cost to provide one hour of reading? One book

circulation? One magazine circulation?" 

     Starting in August, NLS will use the model to continue to capture the

year-by-year cost changes to the analog audio talking-book service and

project the system costs over a ten-year period. Then, as decisions on the

technology of a digital system begin to fall into place, NLS will use

comparative costs for the alternative system to model it over the same ten-year period. The comparative LCC model will aid NLS in making future

decisions about the costs of an alternative digital system and the most

cost-effective time to begin transition to that system.          

     The inauguration of the LCC analysis modeling tool is taking place

simultaneously with other developments in the Digital Talking Book Program.

These include the establishment of stable digital talking-book standards and

the refinement of digital mastering and duplication procedures that will

gradually and systematically replace the obsolescent analog recording

systems now in place.

     Says project director Tom Martin, assistant chief of the NLS Network

Division, "Whether analog--the current technology--or digital, the NLS

talking-book program will continue to provide eligible readers with books

and magazines in audio format and will continue to work with cooperating

network libraries in delivering services to those readers."



Background. Knowledge of relative costs is an essential component in

effective decision making as the complex deliberations about future

technological transitions proceed. Writing in early 1998, John Cookson

identified the need for an interactive software package to help explore and

compare cost issues. In Step Three of "Twenty Steps to Next-Generation NLS

Technology" (a key text in the NLS strategy statement Digital Talking Books:

Planning for the Future), Cookson called for the development of a "computer-based cost-analysis tool for the NLS system and candidate digital systems"--that is, potential future DTB systems undergoing analysis and evaluation to

determine their long-range viability. In Cookson's first formulations, four

primary functions were envisioned for the cost-analysis tool. The software

would 

    build a historical cost data set

    examine and forecast long-term trends

    estimate critical decision points

    determine cost range within which DTB adoption is feasible.

     Cookson and his engineering colleague Lloyd Rasmussen have observed

that "when a technical advancement such as dense solid-state memory is

introduced into the consumer entertainment market, a plethora of competitive

products is introduced at premium prices. Market pressures and the quest for

standards cause losers to disappear, while demand causes winners to fall in

price, sometimes precipitously. On the other hand, older technology can

experience price escalation and availability problems as demand declines.

Our model is designed to capture and depict these phenomena so that we can

identify more economical technology plus the best time and level of

investment to recommend. When subject to critical scrutiny, the model's

inputs and computational procedures must be able to engender credibility and

confidence." 

     Further information relevant to the LCC analysis model and its role in

the library service's strategy--including the full text of the NLS planning

document Digital Talking Books: Planning for the Future--may be found on the

NLS web site <www.loc.gov/nls>.

(photo caption: (Standing) Wendell Evans, senior cost analyst from Northrop

Grumman Corporation, and Frank Kurt Cylke, NLS director, discuss the life-cycle cost (LCC) study model with (seated) Jenifer Flaxbart, Texas, and Jim

Scheppke, Oregon. Network representatives met with NLS staff and the LCC

contractor in February. Photo by Steven Barrett.)





National Audio Equipment Advisory Committee meets 



The National Audio Equipment Advisory Committee (NAEAC) met at NLS

April 5-7, 2000, for three days of reports, discussion, and deliberation.

Representing consumers, network librarians, and equipment repair volunteers,

the fourteen-member group developed recommendations in thirty-four areas of

concern. NLS will respond to each of the recommendations in the near future,

after a period of review and evaluation.

     Following a welcome by NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke and Materials

Development Division chief Brad Kormann, the committee attended a series of

presentations by NLS personnel on the current state of equipment production

and repair and on the probable shape of things to come on the digital

horizon. Moderator John Cookson, head of the NLS Engineering Section,

introduced a panel of NLS staff members who discussed the issues of concern

in their particular areas of specialization. 

     Don Smith, head of the Quality Assurance Section, assured the

committee that production of materials under government contracts continues

without difficulty. The purchase of headphones is in the process of being

finalized. Kevin Buck, equipment and materials maintenance coordinator,

honored volunteer repair personnel for their work last year on 113,000

machines, saving NLS nearly $4 million in labor costs. He also discussed the

new automated inventory control system, which, based on a three-month cycle,

will foster a more efficient and equitable distribution of parts.

     The next panel reviewed proposed product changes. John Bryant, head of

the Production Control Section, addressed the status of cassette magazine

production, affirming that magazines in flexible-disc format will be phased

out by the end of 2000. Michael Moodie, research and development officer,

talked about the successful inauguration of the new-style braille book

mailing containers that replace the old fiberboard units in use since the

1930s. John Cookson described engineering solutions to problems caused by

component obsolescence.

     A subsequent panel, also made up of Cookson, Moodie, and Bryant,

described major projects, informing the NAEAC on development of digital

audio products and processes. They touched on many aspects of the digital

audio initiative, including the development of an NLS digital talking-book

standard in collaboration with the National Information Standards

Organization (NISO), and the move to digital original masters. Senior

electronics engineer Lloyd Rasmussen, audio book production specialist Billy

West, and studio director Margie Goergen-Rood later joined the panel for

further explorations of the digital environment of the future.

     The second day of the meeting was made up of subcommittee sessions,

punctuated by an unusual midday break. The monthly NLS digital audio

discussion group luncheon--one of a series of open, informal gatherings

exploring various aspects of next-generation technology--happened to

coincide with the NAEAC meeting, and a large combined aggregation of

representatives, speakers, and interested NLS staff met together for a

relaxed brown-bag lunch and a set of entertaining presentations. Michael

Moodie and Tom McLaughlin, assistant head of the Quality Assurance Section,

demonstrated two electronic books new to the commercial market, SoftBook and

the Rocket eBook System--hand-held interactive digital devices capable of

storing and displaying thousands of pages of text. John Cookson played

samples and passed around a miniature player-recorder the size of a

disposable lighter, with a 64-megabyte storage capability--the Sony Memory

Stick Walkman. (None of these products is under consideration by NLS as part

of the Digital Talking-Book Program except insofar as familiarity with the

rapidly developing technology may stimulate creative responses to problems

of implementation.)

     George Stockton gave a demonstration of a type of noise-reduction

software called Sound Forge that NLS will experiment with at multistate

centers. The software is used in the digital duplicating process to enhance

the sound quality of older original analog master tapes by removing unwanted

extraneous noise. 

     A musical interlude was provided by a taped performance of the Bards

of Taylor Street (Tom Bickford and Debbie Brown of Quality Assurance and

Lloyd Rasmussen from Engineering), who sang a barbed parody of Tom Paxton's

"The Marvelous Toy." In the Bards' version, a reader's high hopes for a

utopian digital future are undermined as the book itself seems to disappear

in the process of ever more sophisticated technological refinement. 

     On the third day, the subcommittees assembled their recommendations

and presented them formally to NLS just before the noon adjournment. Among

recommendations from the consumers subcommittee were the inclusion of

braille labels on TBT/BBR computer diskettes and two changes for cassette

magazines: an indication of narration time for articles, and a braille label

with side number and number of cassettes. 

     Telephone Pioneers and Elfuns made numerous recommendations concerning

modifications and enhancements of the equipment they repair, including

several concerning amplifier boards. The repair volunteers formally

complimented Brad Kormann, Kevin Buck, Kevin Watson, Bob Fistick, and others

involved in the recognition of the contributions of repair volunteers. But

the volunteers were critical of the depth of detail in some NAEAC meeting

presentations, and of a lack of clarity and specificity in some responses to

recommendations in the past. 

     Librarians proposed several ideas for improving machine audit

procedures and identified some design features that could usefully be

incorporated in the development of digital talking-book equipment. The

librarians also commended Sheryl Smith of Engineering and Nancy Smith from

the Production Control Section for their work in coordinating the meeting.

(photo caption: The Bards (Tom Bickford, Debbie Brown, and Lloyd Rasmussen)

have become an NLS institution. Their performance at the NAEAC was taped to

enliven an audio demonstration. Photo by Yusef El-Amin.)

(Participants



Consumer representatives: Sharon Stralkowski, American Council of the Blind;

Elsworth Sharpe, Blinded Veterans Association; Sam Gleese, National

Federation of the Blind; Robert Haag, Midlands Region; Doug Hall, Southern

Region.

Network library representatives: Ronald Rose, Midlands Region; Christine

Lisiecki, Northern Region; Rebecca Sherrill, Southern Region; John Brewster,

Western Region.

General Electric Elfuns representative: Robert Smith.

Telephone Pioneers representatives: Jerry Adamson, Midlands Region; Carl

Gingrich, Northern Region; Joseph Bernal, Southern Region; Richard Iverson,

Western Region.)





National Meeting: Librarians look "To the Future"



The nation's librarians serving blind and physically handicapped individuals

brought in the new millennium with a theme of "To the Future" during their

five-day idea and information sharing session in Los Angeles, California,

Sunday, April 30, through Thursday, May 4. Spirits were high among the more

than 200 participants as speakers, panelists, and audience shared in the

upcoming digital revolution for the nation's talking-book program. The Roll

Call of the States, moderated by Dr. Henry C. Chang, director of library

services, Braille Institute of America, was given added zest with the flag

of each state held high as the state's name was called.

     The biennial event featured panel presentations by the regional

conferences that highlighted approaches and activities beyond traditional

service patterns: "Partnering with Public Libraries to Serve Print-Disabled

Patrons," "Aging in the 21st Century: Meeting the Needs of Older Adults,"

"Information Access beyond Talking Books: Facilitating Access to Computers

and Information," and "Talking Book Services in the Third Millennium."

     World Blind Union president Dr. Euclid J. Herie, chief executive

officer of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, delivered an

address on the future of world library service, noting his impending

retirement while making a call for greater international effort to improve

library services for blind persons. Dr. Herie's address, "WBU: To the

Future--A Millennium Perspective" outlined steps to advance library services

in the digital age and envisioned how the world's blind people might benefit

from information technology now in its infancy. 

     Other conference highlights included a stimulating poetry experience

by Billie Dee, a well-known Southern California poet, who drew rave reviews

from the conference audience. In the spirit of the Library of Congress's

Poet Laureate program, NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke proclaimed that Billie

Dee be the NLS poet laureate with a two-year term of office.

     Other speakers included Dale C. Williams, inspector general of the

Library of Congress, who discussed the upcoming national audit of talking-book machine inventories in a presentation entitled "Everything You Always

Wanted to Know about Being Audited, but Were Afraid to Ask." And Jim Gadd,

executive director and chief operating officer of the Telephone Pioneers of

America, gave an overview of the wide-ranging activities of the Pioneers

around the country, as well as documenting the contributions of the Pioneers

in the repair of machines for the talking-book program. 

     In working sessions on current activities, two panels on outreach

campaigns, including the new national public service announcements and the

recently completed "Take a Talking Book" senior multimedia campaign, were

moderated by Bob Fistick, head of the NLS Publications and Media Section. A

breakfast colloquy led by Ruth Nussbaum, librarian in the NLS Reference

Section, was held to "Focus on Native Americans." And automation activities

were summarized in presentations by automation officer Robert McDermott and

automation specialist Lloyd E. Lewis, along with user-group discussions for

the various automation programs at use in the network.

     The conference was preceded by two preconference workshops: "Outreach

and Awareness," conducted by Bob Fistick, was attended by more than seventy

network librarians and featured presentations of NLS activities and program

materials, a case study of public relations activities in Southern

California, a panel discussion on public relations solutions titled "Network

Success Stories," and an idea-sharing session in which participants

generated more than thirty suggestions for improvements in the national

program. Another workshop, "Preparing for the Machine Audit," was conducted

by the NLS Materials Development Division (MDD). Brad Kormann, chief of MDD,

opened the session, which was moderated by James Miller, equipment control

officer. 

     Actor Dana Elcar presented an inspirational keynote address recounting

his experiences of coping with vision loss and eventual blindness. A well-known actor with credits in 40 motion pictures and 600 television

productions, including eight seasons in the role of Pete Thornton in the

television series MacGyver, Elcar spoke about how producers decided to write

vision loss into his Pete Thornton character so he could continue acting.

Since losing his sight, Elcar has continued to teach acting workshops in

Southern California and has worked with the National Federation of the Blind

to create workshops on overcoming the fear of blindness.

     The national conference was coordinated by Mary Mohr, network

consultant, Network Services Section. She was assisted by John Bryant, head,

Production Control Section, and Lee Probasco, quality assurance specialist,

Quality Assurance Section.

     Conferees were given an extensive tour of the facilities of the

Braille Institute of America (BIA) as well as a presentation on

"Intercultural Outreach" in the greater Los Angeles area by Leslie E.

Stocker, president of BIA. That evening, BIA hosted a reception at the John

Paul Getty Museum. Earlier, conferees were guests at the Queen Mary for an

evening reception on the famous ocean liner.

     Conferees were treated to a presentation about Asteroid Braille, an

asteroid discovered in July 1999 and named in honor of Louis Braille. Dr.

Eleanor Francis Helin, planetary scientist/astronomer of the Jet Propulsion

Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and discoverer of Asteroid Braille, gave

an overview of her work in identifying asteroids that could collide with

Earth in the future, and told how she discovered Asteroid Braille through

NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft flyby. Her talk was preceded by a viewing of

her interview on Cable News Network (CNN) in April. Dr. Helin's remarks were

followed by those of Kerry Babcock, a senior software engineer with Command

and Control Technologies, Inc., of Kennedy Space Center, Florida, who won

the International Planetary Society contest to name the asteroid. Babcock

related how he and his wife, Victoria, had earlier named their daughter

Braille, after he learned how to transcribe books into braille using Library

of Congress instruction manuals. In 1999, Babcock took his relationship to

braille one step further and entered the asteroid-naming contest. His entry

stated: "Louis Braille invented the braille language so those who could not

see could obtain knowledge and explore through the written word. Likewise,

Asteroid Braille provides knowledge about our universe and its origins to

the people of Earth, who through Deep Space 1, are also able to explore what

previously they could not see." Babcock presented his daughter, Braille, now

five years old, to the audience along with his son, Keenan Karai, eight.

Braille Babcock thanked the audience for the opportunity to be with them and

told everyone that "I love all of you, thank you. I even love my brother."

(photo caption: Deep Space 1's 1999 flyby of Asteroid Braille was the 

conference symbol.)

(photo caption: The audience listens intently to program presentations. In

foreground, Nancy Stanton, Braille Institute, Los Angeles, California; Carol

Taylor and Gordon Reddick, Rocky Hill, Connecticut; and Kathy Kappel,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo by Phil Bard.)

(photo caption: Equipment Control Officer Jim Miller's materials

demonstration gets attention from Rebecca Sherrill, Macon, Georgia, and A.

Nicot, New York City.)

(photo caption: Staff members from the Sacramento, California, regional

library review notes between presentations. Photos by Phil Bard.)

(photo caption: The four regional conferences presented panels on future

concerns. Here, Linda Montgomery (right) moderates the Western Conference

program on "Aging in the 21st Century: Meeting the Needs of Older Adults."

Photo by Phil Bard.)

(photo caption: Keynote speaker Dana Elcar. Photo by Phil Bard.)

(photo caption: Actor Dana Elcar met with network fans between conference

sessions for questions, autographs, and just conversation. Photo by Phil

Bard.)

(photo caption: NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke (left) and poet Billie Dee

(right) chat with a girl named Braille. Photo by Phil Bard.)

(photo caption: Five-year-old Braille Babcock addresses the convention.

Looking on are Dr. Eleanor Francis Helin (foreground), discoverer of

Asteroid Braille, and Braille's father, Kerry Babcock, who won the

international contest to name the new asteroid. Photo by Phil Bard.)





Poem for Asteroid Braille

for Dr. Eleanor Helin and Braille Babcock



I. Space Moths



We know the Universe

is largely made of nothing,



vast as the space between the atoms 

of our bodies. Bravely,



we send our tiny moth-like probes

out into the night,



their solar-panels spread

like fragile wings, they are drawn



toward the ancient glow of galaxies

a billion years extinct.



II. The Minor Planet Vesta Spawns the Major Asteroid Braille



Long before the Vestal Virgins

let the sacred flame burn out,



long before the Goddess of the Hearth 

joined a league of drifting rocks,



the Asteroid Braille was formed

from Vesta's side, and flung toward Apollo.



Tumbling in the solar wind, 

Braille is now in near-Earth orbit,



a mischief-maker flirting with collision, 

aching for a chance to play with fire.



III. Star Blind



The star-nosed mole

has never seen the sky, is unaware



the canopy of night glows

in celebration of her stellar snout.



IV. Prayer



The story of our Past 

is embossed on flying rock, the asteroids



that grope their way around the Sun, 

measuring the stretch of time



between the last big bang and the next

big crunch.



Each night the sky opens

like a prayer etched in braille. We stretch



our fingers out toward the stars

in supplication, and though we cannot see



where it is we are going,

we are filled with hope for Tomorrow.



     --Billie Dee





Network Exchange



New Jersey. Vianne Connor retired from her position as director of the New

Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped effective May 31, 2000. Connor

had been regional librarian in New Jersey since 1993. During her tenure,

Connor increased staff, expanded the Audiovision radio reading service to

northern New Jersey, and increased their on-air operations. She also worked

assiduously to provide a viable collection of materials in both braille and

recorded formats and participated in the CUL Consortia, which upgraded the

library's computer database. Connor plans on enjoying her retirement and

will be moving to central Florida in June.

(This article was provided by Deborah Toomey Rutledge of the New Jersey

State Library.)



Florida (Lee County). The Lee County Talking Books Library, a branch of the

Lee County Library System, has a new public access computer adapted with

ZoomText Xtra Level 2, a program designed specifically for people with low

vision or reading disabilities. Level 2 magnifies print up to 16 times,

speaks all on-screen text, echoes typing, and automatically reads multipage

documents. 

     This computer is part of a grant received from the Bill and Melinda

Gates Foundation Library Program. It provides free public Internet access,

word processing, electronic databases, spreadsheet programs, encyclopedias,

and educational software for all ages. 

     The Gates Foundation helps public libraries to improve public access

to computers, the Internet, and digital information. The Library Program

hopes to reach nearly all of the public libraries in the U.S. and Canada.

The goal is to reach 11,000 public libraries within five years, starting

with the communities most in need. 

     Permission to install ZoomText2 on this secured computer was obtained

from the Gates Foundation only after they previewed and tested ZoomText's

compatibility with their preinstalled software. This process preserves the

system's integrity.

     The Lee County Talking Books Library has a volunteer computer coach

available by appointment to assist patrons with the computer at the library.

Additional coaches are being recruited through local volunteer recruiting

agencies, the Visually Impaired Persons Center in North Fort Myers, and the

Lee County Talking Books newsletter. Computer training for local patrons who

are vision impaired is available through the Visually Impaired Persons

Center. 

(This article was provided by Ann E. Bradley, Lee County Talking Books

librarian.)



Michigan (Washtenaw County). More than seven hundred people attended the

April 25, 2000, Low Vision Vendor Fair: Products and Services for People

with Visual Impairments, which was held at the Washtenaw County Library for

the Blind and Physically Disabled (LBPD), cosponsored by Washtenaw County

LBPD and Ann Arbor District Library. A perfect spring day and an

enthusiastic crowd contributed to an overwhelming success!

     People came from Sterling Heights, Waterford, Jackson, Adrian, Monroe,

Royal Oak, Detroit, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor--from all over southeast Michigan.

There were young people and old people; people with walkers and with canes;

people with guide dogs and in wheelchairs. People came to see and to try

low-vision aids, magnifiers, and other low-tech items to help them in their

daily lives. They came looking for new high-tech equipment to allow them to

access the Internet with a voice synthesizer, and for scanning print

materials to read in synthesized speech. They came searching for agencies

and organizations to assist them with their low-vision situation. The crowd

was huge!

     Twenty-three vendors displayed at the fair. Another twenty-three

vendors provided catalogs that were distributed to attendees. Six libraries

(Ann Arbor District Library and five libraries from the Michigan network of

libraries for the blind and physically disabled) displayed information

regarding local services. 

     Based on reactions from attendees, it is evident there is a real need

to bring low-vision products and services to the public. Several people told

library staff that this event was an answer to their prayers. Washtenaw

County LBPD plans to hold a second fair in the next 18 to 24 months,

probably in a larger venue that could accommodate more people and more

vendors. 

(This article was provided by Margaret Wolfe, subregional librarian for

Washtenaw County, and is located on the library's home page. For more photos

and lists of participating libraries and venders, see

<www.co.washtenaw.mi.us/DEPTS/LIB/libvend.html>.)

(photo caption: Visitors at the Low Vision Vendor Fair learn about useful

technology.)

(photo caption: A scene stealer at the fair.)



California (Los Angeles). Frances Lantz, author of Someone to Love and more

than thirty young adult books, was the featured speaker at Meet the Author

Day, February 11, 2000, at the Braille Institute Library. The purpose of

this day was to encourage young adults who are legally blind or physically

handicapped to read. Sixty guests, including students from Irving and Noble

middle schools, attended. Someone to Love has been given the Best Young

Adults Book Award by the American Library Association.

     Lantz informed the group that her book Stepsister from the Planet

Weird has been made into a television movie to be aired on the Disney

Channel. She shared her love of writing stories, which she has done since

childhood, and how, as an adult, she went about improving her writing and

having books published. 

     Program organizer Julie Uyeno introduced the author; Braille Institute

president Leslie E. Stocker presented Lantz with a gift basket; and library

director Henry C. Chang gave prizes to those who correctly answered

questions about the speech.

(photo caption: ALA book award winner Frances Lantz is flanked by regional

librarian Henry C. Chang and Braille Institute president Leslie E. Stocker

at the library's recent Meet the Author program.)





Introducing two new regional librarians



Two new regional librarians have arrived in key spots in the NLS network.

Both Ruth Hemphill and Andrew Egan already have impressive records of

librarianship and, in particular, serving patrons with visual and physical

handicaps.



Tennessee. Ruth Hemphill joined the regional library in Nashville as

director in late 1999. She brings her expertise acquired over twelve years

at the Missouri regional library, where she served as senior librarian and

service librarian in the 1990s. Before joining the regional library in

Jefferson City, Missouri, Hemphill had worked in several public libraries in

other Missouri cities. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in

Library Science from the University of Missouri.

     Hemphill and her staff of eleven have big plans to expand their

already broad array of services to visually impaired readers across

Tennessee. Their next outreach campaign will aim to increase library patrons

beyond the roughly 6,000 now registered with NLS.

     Hemphill's plans for the year also call for implementing NLS's READS

II program. This requires converting the patron database to new software

that enables librarians to maintain electronic records of both reading

materials and machines in circulation, patron requests, and library

inventories, among other things. READS II will also enable librarians to

download bibliographic data through the Internet, rather than having to

enter this information on the keyboard. Hemphill's recent trip to the

Kentucky regional library helped her anticipate some of the changes that

accompany the implementation of READS II.

     Other responsibilities as regional librarian extend beyond the walls

of the library itself. Hemphill will be consulting with state library

officials and administrators to implement programs that will affect blind

and handicapped individuals across the state in the coming year.



Rhode Island. Andrew Egan, former network services supervisor at Rhode

Island's Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS), assumed new

responsibilities in April as supervisor of the Talking Books Plus program at

the regional library in Providence. His experience in providing library

services to patrons with special needs has given him valuable expertise for

guiding the regional library through the exciting changes that lie ahead.

Before joining the network library team at OLIS, Egan had worked as an

institutional consultant, shaping library and information services to meet

the needs of individuals in hospitals and other institutions.

     The Rhode Island regional is already using the READS II program. Plans

for the next few months include implementing a new outreach and awareness

program to increase the number of registered patrons beyond the present

2,100-plus. Egan also hopes to expand library staff beyond the three full-time (and one part-time) employees who are assisting him in this ambitious

program.

     Egan holds a master's degree in library science from the University of

Rhode Island. He has maintained his academic ties and demonstrated his

commitment to his field by teaching classes and working with students with

disabilities at a local community college for the past ten years.



(photo caption: Network librarians and NLS staff mingle between sessions at

the national conference in Manhattan Beach, California. As well as providing

the pleasure of personal contact with peers, such informal meetings provide

opportunity for much exchange of information. See conference coverage above.

Photo by Phil Bard.)





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: Rita Byrnes, Robert Fistick, and Ed O'Reilly