Summer 2010 News from the Library Service for the Blindand Physically Handicapped (LSBPH) Pioneers Celebrate 50 Years of Service Congratulations and many warm thanks to our Telecom Pioneers, a volunteer organization of retired telephone company employees, who have been repairing the equipment used to play talking books since 1960. Pioneer groups exist in various locations across the country including Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Oakland County. As you can Man’s hands repairing well imagine, they began with record players, cassette machine continued through every model of cassette machine produced including the combination player, and are still with us ready to troubleshoot digital players. These generous individuals are the reason that the machines you send in for repair can be put back into use, saving the talking book program $3 million nationwide in 2009 alone. With more than 10,000 cassette machines still in use in Michigan, we’ll be relying on volunteers for quite some time. The good news is that the digital players have no moving parts and will not require the same level of work. If interested in joining a volunteer repair group, call 1-800-992-9012 for more information. No previous skill necessary. Inside this issue: Technology Corner......2 OtherPrograms & Events..4-5 Digital Update..........3 Name Change .........6 Technology Corner Scott Norris, Adaptive Technology Librarian 517-373-5516 or norriss5@michigan.gov BARD: Braille and Audio Reading Download If: you have a computer with high-speed Internet access, an e-mail account, adequate skill in using your computer, and the new NLS digital talking book machine . . . Then: we encourage you to sign up for BARD, download books to your computer, transfer them to a USB thumb drive, and play them back on the new NLS digital machine. A thumb drive, which can be purchased from stores selling electronics, plugs into the USB port located to the rear of the headphone jack. It’s easy to sign up. Just go to https://nlsbard.loc.gov and click on the BARD application instructions link. Fill out the online application and submit. You will receive a return e-mail with your user name and temporary password, usually within two business days. Currentlythere areover19,000 books available for download. More than 300 LSBPH patrons are using the download to access books. LSBPH Computer Club 2010 The LSBPH Computer Club meets on the second Saturday of each month from 10:30 to 12:30 in the LSBPH public service area on the first floor of the Library of Michigan across from the elevators. Meetings are open to everyone either onsite, or by logging into our new Opal Online Meeting Room using voice (microphone and speakers needed) or text chat. Choose your own password, or leave blank if you are a regular attendee. http://www.conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsb8c86b1df295 Computer Club Schedule (Call 1-800-992-9012 to register) Sep 11: Apple MAC Book Pro with VoiceOver Oct 9: AT Guys present BCScan Nov 13: Online Shopping Digital Update Digital Takes Hold in Michigan We are thrilled to report that the introduction of our new digital talking books and machines has taken hold in over 4,000 homes in Michigan since October of 2009! LSBPH staff have issued digital materials to everyone who was on the waiting list (over 30 percent of those who use our service) and are now calling patrons who didn’t sign up to let them know that their new player will arrive soon. It will take several months to reach everyone, so call and ask to have a digital player sent if you want it sooner rather than later. There are now 2,875 digital titles in the Lansing collection. In June we shipped out 8,865 copies in digital format, which was 25 percent of our total circulation for that month. Digital Tips from LSBPH Staff Be sure to include the address card when you return your book. Your address is on one side and our return address is on the other. Flip the card over and slip it back into the slot on the outside of the container. It’s ready to go if the hole is on the left hand side. We suggest flipping the mail card after you are done reading the book and have put it back into the container. Double check the container to make sure the book is included before it is mailed. If you realize you’ve sent the container back without the book, just call us and we’ll return the empty container when it arrives here. Don’t give up your cassette player yet! There are many older titles that aren’t available in digital format that you may want to read. You will also need the cassette player to read magazines that are not yet available in digital. Talking Book Topics now includes both RC (cassette) and DB (digital) titles. If you have RC titles on your request list, our computer software will look to see if any of those are available in digital when you need another digital book. There’s no need to request the same title in both formats. Some Programs of Interest NFB Newsline The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) offers over 250 free newspapers, which you can listen to over a touch-tone phone using a toll-free number. You can also choose to have your newspapers sent to your e-mail address and use a screen reader to access them. The Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, The Flint Journal, Lansing State Journal, The Grand Rapids Press, Associated Press—Michigan and The Mining Journal are Michigan news organizations that participate. Your subscription allows you to read all available newspapers, which include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and hundreds of local newspapers, some in Spanish. Call LSBPH at 1-800-992-9012 to sign up or call NFB at 1-866-504-7300 and ask for a demo code to try it out! Recordings for Recovery People often need something to pick them up in the heat of summer. Enjoy your summer with music from Recordings for Recovery (R4R). Music can warm the soul, lift the spirits, and bring back favorite memories. The R4R music library has music for everyone. Membership is just $10 per year. Music tapes can be borrowed for up to 60 days and mailed back as free matter for the blind using a return label that is provided by R4R. Call toll free 1-800-798-1192 to join. Choice Magazine Choice Magazine Listing (CML) is a free audio anthology available to those who also qualify for the NLS talking book program. Every other month, CML selects and records memorable writings from over 100 leading magazines onto a four-track cassette tape which can be played back on the NLS cassette player. CML invites you to savor unabridged selections from periodicals such as Smithsonian, The New Yorker, Fortune, The Atlantic, Sports Illustrated, The Paris Review, Time, Foreign Affairs, National Geographic, Audubon and Granta. To subscribe to Choice Magazine Listing, call toll free 1-888-724-6423. Notable Recent Events 2nd Annual Braille-A-Thon The Quality Education Team for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired and Michigan Parents of Blind and Visually Impaired Children (MPVI) sponsored the 2nd Annual Braille-A-Thon on June 22, 2010, from 11:00 to 3:00 on the Capitol lawn in Lansing. This event helps to promote the use of Braille and other skills of blindness by offering Braille contests for tactile readers of all ages and levels, Braille Bingo, Braille Feud, a scavenger hunt, and limbo under the white cane. Donations to offset costs can be made to MPVI and addressed to Gwen Botting, 4175 Westbrook Rd, Ionia, MI 48846. VISIONS 2010 The Ann Arbor District Library and the Michigan Commission for the Blind co-sponsored the VISIONS 2010 Vendor Fair on May 12, 2010, at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor. Over 30 vendors and partners, including LSBPH/MCB, where on hand to demonstrate the latest products available for blind and visually impaired library patrons. Approximately 500 people were in attendance. ADA Celebrates 20th Anniversary On July 26,1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA provides for equal opportunity in employment, public accommodations, public services, transportation and telecommunications to individuals with disabilities. Celebration events were held in Kalamazoo (July 25), Lansing (July 26), Flint (July 23) and Metro Detroit (July 10). Check the Michigan ADA Steering Committee Web site at www.adamich.org for details. The Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and its parent organization, the Michigan Commission for the Blind, hosted a table at the July 26 event in Lansing held on the Capitol lawn. A Rose byAny Other Name Is a rose! So why would LSBPH be looking for a new name? First, we are no longer a part of the Library of Michigan, under which we were known as Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (SBPH). Now that our administration is under the Michigan Commission for the Blind, the word service doesn’t have a library to point back to for clarity. You may have noticed we’ve added the “L” word to SBPH and are temporarily answering to Michigan Commission for the Blind LSBPH. Second, over the years we’ve heard periodically from disability advocates that the word “handicapped” is not politically correct, and that focusing on ability rather than disability is suggested. Keep in mind that the library serves those who are blind, or have a visual disability, as does the Commission for the Blind, and also serves those who cannot physically hold a book and turn the pages as well as those who have a physically based reading disability. We’ve studied this issue and have come up with a short list of alternative names. One approach is to identify the type of books provided rather than who qualifies for the service. Another thought is to focus on accessible reading material (as opposed to an accessible building). We’d like to hear what you, our patrons, prefer, so let us know by phone, e-mail, fax, or ESP. Be creative and have fun! Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LSBPH) Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (LBPD) Braille and Talking Book Library (BTBL) Library for Accessible Services (LAS) Accessible Library (AL) Accessible Library Service (ALS) Accessible Library and Information Services (ALIS) None of the above. I suggest ________________________________ Library of Michigan Foundation If you would like to receive future mailings and information from the Library of Michigan Foundation, please sign below and return to: Library of Michigan Foundation, P.O. Box 30159, Lansing, MI 48909 Check for further information: __ Gifts and Bequests ___ Named Endowed Funds __ I have included you in my will __ Here is a gift of $______ to help enhance the LSBPH program. Signature: _______________________________ By making a gift to the Library of Michigan Foundation, donors can help LSBPH better serve thousands of visually impaired and handicapped residents across the state. Donors may also opt to provide for the Library of Michigan Foundation in their wills. By doing so, donors are able to make a larger gift than what might be possible during their lifetime, become eligible to receive tax benefits, and enjoy recognition and thanks now for their planned charitable contributions later. To make a gift of support, please send a check to the Library of Michigan Foundation, P.O. Box 30159, Lansing, MI 48909, or contact Joyce Ruttan at (517) 373-2977. The Library of Michigan Foundation is a non-profit organization which offers financial support to the MCB Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LSBPH) program. FREE MATTER FOR THE BLIND Library Service for the Blind & Physically Handicapped 702 W. Kalamazoo St. P.O. Box 30007 Lansing, MI 48909 How to Reach the MCB Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LSBPH) By Phone: 517-373-5614 In Focus newsletter is made possible by 1-800-992-9012 your generous donations to the Library of By Fax: 517-373-5865 Michigan Foundation. The Library Service 1-800-726-7323 for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LSBPH); Michigan Commission for the By Mail: 702 W. Kalamazoo St. Blind; Michigan Department of Energy, P.O. Box 30007 Labor & Economic Growth, is an equal Lansing, MI 48909 opportunity employer/program. Alternative formats, auxiliary aids, services, and other reasonable accommodations are available By E-Mail: sbph@michigan.gov upon request to individuals with disabilities. On the Web: www.michigan.gov/sbph Online Catalog:www.michigan.gov/ordertalkingbooks