WOLFNER NEWS
Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
Staff Changes at Wolfner Library
Wolfner Library is pleased to announce Debbie Musselman has been hired as the new Public Services Librarian. In her position as Public Services Librarian, Debbie supervises the readers advisors and assists them in troubleshooting problems they may have in providing service to our patrons. Debbie also handles any questions patrons have about NEWSLINE, our dial-up newspaper service. In addition, Debbie takes care of many day-to-day, "behind-the-scenes", professional library duties for Wolfner. The entire Wolfner staff is pleased to welcome Debbie to Wolfner Library.
We will be adding two new readers advisors and a technician I to our staff in the next couple of months. The addition of this staff will help us serve you more efficiently. We hope to be able to introduce the new staff in the next issue of the Wolfner News.
PLEASE READ - URGENT RECALL!
The National Library Service is immediately recalling all C-2 Talking Book players due to a potential-shock or fire-hazard. If you have a C-2 player, please unplug it immediately and return it to Wolfner Library. You will be sent a replacement machine as quickly as possible. Wolfner Library will be sending letters and C-1 players out to individuals who are known to have C-2 players. The model number is located on a small metal plate on the bottom of the player. Please call Wolfner Library at 800-392-2614 if you cannot read the model number.
OPAC and the Readers Advisors
While Wolfner's Online Public Access Catalog is a wonderful tool, there's nothing quite like the help and assistance of a human being. Therefore, if you find yourself in need of a book quickly (for a class, urgent research, etc.), the fastest way to get the book you need is to call your reader advisor.
Certainly, you can go online and reserve the book but if there aren't any copies in the library the book can't be sent to you. Even if there are copies available, several dozen other people may have just reserved the exact book you want-who knows how long it will be before your name comes up? However, if you call your reader advisor, he or she will see to it the book is sent to you immediately.
Volunteer Corner
Thank you all so much for your warm response to the last newsletter. Many of you called to welcome me and offer your help. All those calls are very much appreciated. As our program is just getting started, it may be awhile before I get back to those of you who live outside Jefferson City. However, I will be contacting you in the future as we move to make this a true statewide volunteer program.
We had our first volunteer orientation here in Jefferson City on May 11. As a result, we now have eight active volunteers in the library, one volunteer who is working outside the library, and two others who will be starting soon. It was a successful beginning for our in-house program.
The volunteers who are working with us now are:
Jim Brady, who is recording a NEWSLINE instructional tape.
Doris Dulle, who is working in our tape duplication area, testing and labeling tapes.
Rita Lynch, who is helping with mailing packets, and providing quality control for tapes.
Dencil Miller, who is helping sort defective tapes as they are returned to the library.
Jim Morris, who is helping prepare machines to be shipped out.
Merle and Wesley Scott, who have provided quality control by listening to tapes.
Maureen and Neal Wold, who have volunteered to provide quality control for tapes.
Two other volunteers who have been working for a while are Joyce Groebl from Kansas City, who is taping children's books, and Caroline Longmoor from Marshfield, who is helping staff booths when we conduct outreach efforts.
Our heartfelt thanks go to these wonderful volunteers. They are doing a super job.
Deborah Stroup, Coordinator of Volunteers, 573-522-2766 or 800-392-2614
Alphabet Soup
For those patrons who order talking books from the bi-monthly Talking Book Topics or the Wolfner OPAC, we thought it might be helpful to explain the different abbreviations you may come across and wonder about.
| BR Braille FD Flexible Disc RC Recorded Cassette |
DV Descriptive Video LP Large Print RD Recorded Disc (vinyl discs) |
| TB Talking Books (If you would like one of these very old vinyl discs please call your reader advisor so it can be ordered for you from the Multi-state Center.) | |
NEWSLINE®
Frequently Asked Questions
What is NEWSLINE®?
NEWSLINE® is a newspaper service that uses the latest digital technology and computer-synthesized voice to bring readers who are blind and visually impaired an easy-to-use telephone service that "reads" the text from various newspapers across the country.
How do you access NEWSLINE?
You need only a touch-tone phone and personal identification numbers to access any NEWSLINE® service center. By following a touch-tone menu, you will be able to access different sections of the newspaper-the front page, the sports page, the business page, etc. You choose the newspaper and voice you prefer. You can listen to the newspaper for a maximum of five hours, in 30-minute sessions, for up to 10 sessions per day. Please call Wolfner Library for braille or large print instructions.
Where are Missouri's service centers and what newspapers do they provide?
St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, New York Times
Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence
Kansas City Star, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post
Springfield-Greene County Library in Springfield
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today
There are no subscription fees associated with NEWSLINE®. Users who live in one of the local calling areas can access NEWSLINE® at no charge. However, users living outside the local calling area must pay the standard long-distance telephone costs involved.
What if I am outside the local calling area?
Some telephone companies offer special discounted calling plans for a "long distance" designated number; this number could be NEWSLINE®. You will need to check with your long-distance provider for its individual plans. There are also several free, long- distance providers available through the Internet which could be used if you have a computer with speakers.
How do I apply for NEWSLINE®?
Call Wolfner Library at 800-392-2614 to request an application form or, if you are a registered patron of Wolfner, our staff will complete your application over the phone.
WHERE'S THE PRINT?
By Jilene Emerson of the Independent Living Resource Center, Jefferson City
Forrest Klein Sr., age 72, has retinitis pigmentosa; Ben Blagg, 57, has optic atrophy; Suzanne Snow, 36, has glaucoma; Andrea Himes, 36, April Toolooze, 26, Christopher Jones, 13, and Jim Brinkmann, 32, all have retinitis pigmentosa. Velma Johnson, 50, has cataracts and glaucoma. What do all these people have in common besides having visual impairments? They, and hundreds of thousands more in this country all have problems getting access to printed material in a format they can read.
Is this a problem for you? You strain your eyes to read a menu in a dimly lit restaurant; you can't read your insurance policy, your credit card bill, your utility bill, grade card, employee benefits material, or the TV Guide. How do you feel when your medical facility gives you forms to sign but you can't read them? Wouldn't you like to be able to read the medical information related to the prescriptions you take? Sure, somebody will read all this to you, but how does that make you feel, especially when things are busy and you feel like you're holding up traffic? You'd like to read your own material wouldn't you? I would. I am legally blind and understand the frustration that comes from not having information readily available in the format I can read. But what can we do?
Did you know that as of August 28, 1999, the Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 393, Section 393.300 states that utility companies must provide bills in braille or large print? It says, "Any provider of telephone, sewer, water, electric or gas utility service, whether public or private, shall upon the request of a customer of such provider, provide the customer's bills in braille or, no less than twenty-four point bold-faced type print or both"?
Did you also know the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) provides that businesses are required to provide alternative forms of communication to their clients who are visually impaired? This, of course, could mean simply providing a reader. However, are you comfortable in trying to remember everything in your financial statements, contracts, medical admissions forms, insurance policies and other important papers? What's the benefit of having copies of these important records in your personal file if you can't read them when necessary? Again, what can we do?
Ask, ask, and ask for alternative formatted material. Ask your restaurant, your bank, your school or university, your utility company, your insurance company, your financial institutions, all the businesses you deal with for a format you can read. You'll be told such a service is not cost effective, that there's no real need ("We can't do it for just one person") or that they just don't know how to go about having something brailled or turned into large print. Keep asking and eventually you will receive. We must let the business community know there is indeed a need for braille and large print material. And it's not all that hard to have done. They won't know, however, if we don't continue to ask and inform them.
There are various organizations in Missouri which provide brailling and large print services. The Independent Living Resource Center in Jefferson City, for example, provides this service to Missouri consumers free of charge. They also make it easy and affordable for the business community to provide braille or large print to their customers. More information can be obtained by calling ILRC at 573-556-0400 or, toll free at 1-877-627-0400 or, by e-mail at ilrc@midamerica.net.
Now, the ADA says that businesses must provide "reasonable accommodations" as long as these accommodations do not result in an "undue burden" for the company. These accommodations could include providing a qualified reader, audio recordings, brailled or large print materials. We, the consumers, must be reasonable as well. One should not expect, for example, to go into a store and find prices marked in braille. If shopping alone, however, one could expect the store to provide someone to assist you. It also might not be feasible for a daily newspaper to provide an alternative format paper. If you have access to a computer with a voice program, you can connect to the Internet and your voice program will read the paper to you; or check with Wolfner Library about NEWSLINE, a telephone service that reads selected newspapers. This service is now available in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield.
Here are some steps you can take to get your "reasonable requests" acted upon. Let's say, for example, you're trying to get an insurance policy in an alternative format. First, contact your local agent. Tell your agent what you need and ask him/her to check it out for you. If your agent tells you the company, for whatever reason, does not provide alternative format material, ask for the name of someone to contact at the corporate office. Call or write the person you are referred to.
You may need to educate each person you contact about the availability of services, which will allow the company to provide alternative formatted material to their visually impaired customers. You could encourage them to contact their closest Center for Independent Living, agency for the blind, local library or just give them the phone number listed earlier in this article. Information on alternative formatted material can be gathered from any of these agencies.
If you get no results, contact your local ADA office and they will advise you further. The toll-free number for the ADA office in Columbia, Missouri, is 1-800-949-4232. When making requests or complaints it is always advisable to keep a log showing whom you spoke or wrote to, the date, address and/or phone number and what was said. Always keep copies of letters sent or received. All of this takes time and effort, but if we can get the business community to see that these needs exist and there are simple ways to meet them, it will be well worth it. Remember: get in the habit of asking for the format you can read. Things won't change overnight, but if we advocate for ourselves, they surely will change.
FYI (For Your Information)
Information and News You Can Use
Mention of a product or service in this newsletter does not constitute endorsement by Wolfner Library. Our intention is to increase awareness of programs, resources, and items that may be of use to our patrons.
Missouri Assistive Technology Project (MATP). A brochure from the MATP states: "If you are not able to independently do all of the activities you would like to do because of a disability or the effects of aging, the solution may be the use of assistive technology. Assistive technology is any piece of equipment used to increase, maintain, or improve independence while completing activities at home, work, school, worship, etc."
- MATP works to improve both state and federal laws that have to do with assistive technology.
- MATP provides training on assistive technology, disability rights, advocacy and related issues.
- MATP provides ".case advocacy services for individuals attempting to secure funding for assistive technology and to gain access to assistive technology as a civil rights issue."
You can contact the MATP at 800-647-8557 (voice) or 800-647-8558 (TTY).
The MATP also runs Regional Outreach Centers throughout Missouri. These centers provide "hands-on" access to a variety of assistive technologies. The following is a list of the centers and contact information for each one. Call to see what services are available at the Center nearest you.
| Center for Assistive Technology 2700 East 18th Street Kansas City, MO 64127 816-231-7166 (V/TTY) ACCT Outreach Center |
Show-Me Tech Services for Independent Living 1301 Vandiver Dr., Suite S Columbia, MO 65202 573-874-1646 (Voice) 573-874-4121 (TTY) RITT Outreach Center St. Louis Technology Access Center |
MATP also runs an assistive technology "Swap'N Shop" list on the Internet. Individuals can list equipment available for sale or donation. You can also list equipment you would like to buy. The web address for the 'Swap 'N Shop' is: www.dolir.state.mo.us/matp/swapnshop.htm .
Further details about the program are available on the website.
The Association for Macular Diseases, Inc. offers four newsletters a year for $20. Titled: Eyes Only, the newsletter discusses research and other information having to do with macular diseases. To subscribe, write to: Association for Macular Diseases, Inc. P.O. Box 220154, Great Neck, NY 11022-0154.
Talking Book Marker. Have you ever fallen asleep while listening to a talking book? You wake up only to find that you've lost your place and must now spend valuable time rewinding until you find your place again. The Talking Book Marker is a small device that can be attached to your cassette player and pressed gently while you listen. If you fall asleep and let go, the machine automatically turns off. It is available for $24.95 plus $3 shipping and handling from: Talking Book Marker, 835 Emma Street, Butte, MT 59701.
Adaptive Telephone Equipment Program (ATEP) is a telecommunications equipment distribution program established by the State of Missouri. The purpose of the ATEP is to provide adaptive telephone equipment to any individual who is certified by a licensed physician, audiologist, speech pathologist, or a qualified state agency as having a disability which prevents the use of traditional telephone equipment.
Any individual who is deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired, visually impaired, blind, deaf-blind, mobility impaired, cognitively impaired, or who has a combination of these disabilities may apply. To request an application, contact:
Adaptive Telephone Equipment Program
P. O. Box 460501
St. Louis, MO 63146
1-800-410-7280
website: www.moatep.com
Medicare and You 2000 Handbook is now available in braille, audiocassette, and large print. This publication is available in English or Spanish. Single copies are available by calling the Medicare Hotline at 800-633-4227.
Do you use a screen reader? Try SETI-search at: www.seti-search.com. This wonderful tool strips away graphics, advertising, and numbers your search results. To use the tool, enter the search criteria and activate the drop-down box giving search engine options. After clicking search, the results will list only pertinent information.
"Sound Solutions" From the Braille Institute of America is a free audiocassette series that provides information and encouragement to seniors, or their loved ones, who are experiencing sight loss. The professionally produced tapes are packed with practical information and helpful tips. Each set of tapes deals with a specific stage of accepting sight loss. From the Sound Solutions brochure:
Set #1 Understanding and Expressing Your Feelings of Sight Loss - This set of four tapes addresses the emotional issues you may be facing. Learn constructive ways to share your feelings and how to let others know what you can and can't do.
Set #2 Techniques for Living - This set of four tapes is designed to teach you, step by step, the tips and methods that others find invaluable in living with vision loss.
Set #3 For You and Your Family - This set of two tapes is for sighted friends and family whose lives are affected by sight loss.
Set #4 Taking Care of Your Physical and Emotional Well-Being - This set of three tapes focuses on techniques and practical suggestions to help you take care of both mind and body.
Braille Institute of America requests that you ask for only those tapes that address your specific needs. For more information, or to order the tapes, call 800-272-4553 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Pacific time.
Audio Description Now Available at St. Louis' Fox Theatre. Trained volunteer describers provide a description of the actions, body language, lights, costumes, scenery and other aspects of select productions. Theatregoers hear the descriptions via an FM Receiver, which can be obtained in the house manager's station at the rear of the auditorium prior to the show. To take advantage of the newly available service, visually disabled patrons should make normal ticket arrangements. Verify when ordering tickets that the show you want to see has Audio Description available.
Missourian's with disabilities may request the Capitol Access Guide in the format of their choice (braille, large print, or audiotape), by calling the Missouri Assistive Technology Project at 800-647-8557. This guide provides information about accessibility in the state capitol building. The text of the Capitol Access Guide is also available on the Internet at: www.dolir.state.mo.us/matp/capitol.htm.
Low Vision Resource Centers are located in 89 counties throughout Missouri. These centers, set-up and supplied by Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, provide a variety of low-vision aids which can either be tried at the center or checked-out to your home for one to two weeks. Available equipment includes magnifiers of different strengths, bold-lined writing paper, extra bold pens, check writing guides, signature guides, adaptive kitchen equipment and many other products designed to make everyday tasks easier for those experiencing vision loss.
Each center also houses a Closed Circuit Television or CCTV, which projects and greatly magnifies, letters, bills, photographs, etc., onto a television screen. The CCTVs can be used by interested persons at the Low Vision Resource Center but cannot be borrowed for home use.
To find out if there is a Low Vision Resource Center near you, call your local Rehabilitation Services for the Blind office, the numbers and locations are listed below.
| North Kansas City 615 E. 13th St. Kansas City, MO 816-889-2677 Southwest Office North St. Louis Mid-Missouri |
South Kansas City 4900 Swope Parkway Kansas Ctiy, MO 816-929-7171 Southeast Office South St. Louis |
Ninth Annual Inclusion Awards. Do you know someone who deserves a pat on the back? The Inclusion Awards Reception is held annually to recognize individuals, groups, organizations, and business that have successfully included people with disabilities in employment, education, recreation, and other aspects of community life. To request a nomination form, or for additional information, contact the Governor's Council on Disability at 800-877-8329. All nominations must be in by August 17, 2000.
Sports Schedules are now available at Wolfner Library thanks to the Knights of Columbus of the State of Missouri and the St. Louis chapter of the Knights of Columbus. We have braille copies of the following football schedules for 2000: Missouri Tigers, Kansas City Chiefs, and the St. Louis Rams. If you would like other team schedules, (high school, college, or professional), please contact Wolfner Library and we will work with the St. Louis Knights of Columbus to fulfill your request. A special thanks to Wolfner patron John Iman for his part in making the sports schedules available to Wolfner Library and its patrons.
Looking For a Few Good Books?
Wolfner Library phones have been ringing off the hook with requests for two very different series of books. Both are proving to be extremely popular with Wolfner patrons.
The first, Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkin's Left Behind series, is a fictionalized account of the biblical Book of Revelations. According to readers the story has action, adventure, suspense, thrills, and, of course, religion. The planned 12-book series follows a group of people who are left behind after the biblical event known as "the rapture," during which the righteous are called to heaven and everyone else is "left behind" to face the end of the world as we know it.
This group, known as the "tribulation force," band together to battle the anti-Christ, in this case a Romanian, Nicolae Carpathia. Immediately following the rapture, Carpathia becomes head of the UN, which he renames the "Global Community," and soon thereafter he takes over as world ruler. The series deals with the efforts of the "tribulation force" to combat Carpathia's evil influence over the world.
Wolfner Library has the following books in the Left Behind series. If you're interested in reading any of them, please call your reader advisor.
| Left Behind Tribulation Force Nicolae: The Rise of the Antichrist Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides Apollyon: The Destroyer is Unleashed Assassins: Assignment-Jerusalem, Target-Antichrist |
RC 47462 RC 47463 RC 47464 RC 47465 RC 48151 RC 48819 |
Another very popular series with Wolfner patrons, is J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. While these books were written for children and young adults, many, many adults are reading them. So many, in fact, that the first three books in the series were in the top three spots on The New York Times Bestseller list for several months.
Set in England, this series follows the magical adventures of Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Up until his eleventh birthday, Harry, whose parents died when he was very young, lives a very dreary and drab existence with his relatives, the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and his girth-challenged cousin, Dudley, treat Harry as though he were no more than the dirt on the bottom of their shoes.
On the fateful day of his birthday, however, Harry receives an invitation to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here, Harry begins an amazing, fantastic new life full of spells, potions, and magical creatures. Harry also meets Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who is so horribly evil Harry's new friends refer to him as: "he who must not be named" for fear of uttering his name aloud.
Please call your reader advisor if you would like to order the Harry Potter series.
| Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
RC 47260 BR 11879 RC 48437 BR 12276 RC 48772 BR 12390 |
WOLFNER LIBRARY STAFF
| Sara Parker | State Librarian | sara.parker@sos.mo.gov |
| Debbie Musselman | Public Service Librarian | debbie.musselman@sos.mo.gov |
| Lisa Sanning | Reference Librarian, Editor | |
| Nancy Doering | Youth Services Librarian | nancy.doering@sos.mo.gov |
| Bonnie O'Donnell | Administrative Aide | bonnie.odonnell@sos.mo.gov |
| Archie Andrews | Machines Coordinator | archie.andrews@sos.mo.gov |
| Ozzie B. Withers | Automation Coordinator | ozzie.withers@sos.mo.gov |
| Deborah Stroup | Volunteer Coordinator | deborah.stroup@sos.mo.gov |
| Paul Mathews | Reader Advisor A-F | paul.mathews@sos.mo.gov |
| Ginny Ryan | Reader Advisor G-L | ginny.ryan@sos.mo.gov |
| Cheryl Hassler | Reader Advisor M-R | cheryl.hassler@sos.mo.gov |
| Carol Mathews | Reader Advisor S-Z | carol.mathews@sos.mo.gov |
Wolfner NEWS is a quarterly publication of the Secretary of State, Matt Blunt, and the Missouri State Library, Sara Parker State Librarian.
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
| Toll-free within Missouri | (800) 392-2614 |
| Jefferson City Area | (573) 751-8720 |
| Toll-free TDD | (573) 347-1379 |
| E-mail address | wolfner@sos.mo.gov |
| WWW Homepage | http://www.sos.mo.gov/wolfner |
ALWAYS contact Wolfner Library, 800-392-2614, when
your name, address, or telephone number changes;
your machine malfunctions or doesn't play properly;
your machine is lost or stolen;
your books stop coming;
you have a question about your service;
you need information on titles, subjects, or authors;
you want to request books or magazines;
you wish to have your services put on hold;
you wish to discontinue service;
you want statistics, research, or reference on any subject or topic.
REMEMBER: WOLFNER LIBRARY BOOK LOAN PERIOD IS SIX (6) WEEKS