Notes From the Director

Wolfner Making Print/Braille Books: A Collaborative Effort

Wolfner Library’s Youth Services Librarian, Nancy Doering, Coordinator of Volunteers, Deborah Stroup, and I are collaborating on a project to make print/braille books available to Wolfner readers.

Print/braille books are sometimes called twin vision books. They are usually picture books with text to which braille pages have been added, allowing sighted and visually impaired people to read together. They can be used by blind parents with sighted children, or sighted parents with blind children, or blind and sighted children together.

After last year’s regional conference in Utah, I requested that Nancy Doering investigate the feasibility of creating print/braille books for Wolfner patrons. Nancy asked and received Internet responses from other librarians with suggestions of how to create the books. We decided it would be possible to create the much needed books, but only with the help of Wolfner volunteers. Deborah Stroup enthusiastically embraced the program, as she was already contemplating the use of this format for the books Wolfner volunteers had previously recorded for the Building Block award nominee.

Few print/braille books are produced commercially each year. By creating our own print/braille books, Wolfner will have a much larger collection than would be possible by relying on other sources. To begin the process, Nancy purchases children’s books that are suitable for the print/braille format. Deborah recruits a volunteer who knows braille, and that person in turn is paired with a volunteer who can read the book to them. As one volunteer reads, the other brailles the text on a Perkins Braille Writer, which is similar to a typewriter. The braille is typed on transparent adhesive paper, which is then cut into strips and placed on the page with the text.

Funds have been found to repair the braille writers and purchase the books, titles have been selected, and volunteers recruited, so that Wolfner can now add over 100 print/braille books to the collection this year. Thank you to all participants who are helping to make this project become a reality. This is a wonderful collaborative effort which will benefit our patrons for years to come!

Please Help with Machine Audit

Please remember that books and machines are on loan to you and are the property of the federal government. In fact, all network libraries of the National Library Service are required to audit machines. Wolfner will be doing its machine audit this August. Please help us with the audit by spending a few minutes to return long-overdue books or broken or unused machines. This will not only help us with our audit, but will get the books and machines back into circulation for others who may be waiting anxiously for them. Just call Wolfner library and we will send you an empty box and mailing labels to return the machines. It couldn’t be easier!

NFB—NEWSLINE

The Columbia Daily Tribune is now with the National Federation of the Blind for beta testing. We expect it will be up and running by the time you read this newsletter. This means there are now three Missouri newspapers carried by NFB-NEWSLINE. We hope the success of adding a medium-sized newspaper to the two large newspapers already active, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star, will encourage other local newspapers to participate in NFB-NEWSLINE as well. If you would like to sign up for NFB-NEWSLINE, have forgotten your codes, or need further information, call 1-800-392-2614.

Support for Wolfner Summer Reading Program

With the support of both the Friends of the Wolfner Library and the Library Users of Missouri, Wolfner is ensured a successful summer reading program. The Friends contributed $2,000 to purchase gifts as rewards to the youths reading over the summer and the Missouri Council of the Blind’s Library Users Group gave eight $200 U.S. Saving Bonds to Wolfner to use as an incentive to our younger readers. Thanks for your support of Wolfner programs!

New Staff

Erica Alter has joined Wolfner as our Reader Advisor for Institutions. Joining Erica in the front office is Gail Williams. Gail is Wolfner’s new General Office Assistant. Also, Brandon Lammers is helping in circulation. Welcome aboard!

With Sympathy to the Family of Chuck Kirksey

Wolfner staff mourns the passing of Chuck Kirksey, a member of the Wolfner Advisory Council, Wolfner volunteer, and library patron. He will be remembered by Wolfner staff for the part he played to improve library service for the disabled in Missouri. Our sympathy goes out to his wife, Marian Kirksey, who also volunteered along with Chuck at Wolfner functions.

Richard J. Smith, Director

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Descriptive Video Service from Cheryl Hassler

We are pleased to announce that 63 new descriptive video titles have been added to our collection bringing the total number of video titles to 419. Many of these new titles are movies from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. These older videos are proving to be very popular. The new titles include The Bells of San Angelo, starring Roy Rogers, The Flying Deuces, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, The Last Days of Patton, starring George C. Scott, and several biographical works about the lives of great artists and inventors to name just a few.

A few descriptive video service reminders: There are no costs involved to receive descriptive videos, but you must be a patron in good standing. You must order the titles you would like to receive, as the computer will not select videos for you. Your descriptive video service will stop temporarily when there are no requests for videos in your file, so please keep us supplied with plenty of requests. The loan period for descriptive videos is one week from the day you receive them.

If you would like to start descriptive video service or to place an order for any of our titles, call Cheryl Hassler at 1-800-392-2614; e-mail your request to wolfner@sos.mo.gov, or mail your request to Wolfner Library for the Blind, PO Box 387, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0387.

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Public Service Announcements

Wolfner Library will take part in the Take a Talking Book Public Service Announcements Campaign starting in July. We are distributing the announcements to television and radio stations throughout Missouri. If you hear one of the announcements playing in your area, please call Debbie Musselman at Wolfner Library (1-800-392-2614) and let her know which station you heard it on. We would like to send a note to the station thanking them for their participation.

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Carol's Magazine Corner

Unfortunately, Barron’s Financial Weekly Magazine is no longer available for distribution. However, you might be interested in the following magazines in cassette format, which you can receive on loan through Wolfner Library.

AARP Bulletin: Legislative news of interest to retired people; health care costs and Social Security.

The Family Handyman: A wealth of handy tips and shortcuts to help you get any job done.

Harvard Men’s Health Watch: A newsletter providing information for enlightened choices from the Harvard Medical School, interpreting medical information for the general reader in a timely and accurate fashion, specifically on and for men.

Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine: Magazine stories for ages 4-7, jokes, poems, and game activities.

The New Yorker: Covers subjects ranging from fashion to fiction, politics to poetry, and science to sitcoms.

The Oprah Magazine: This magazine is the woman’s personal growth guide for the new century. It addresses the tools needed to explore and reach goals, express individual style, and make choices for a happier and more fulfilling life.

Redbook: Fiction, child rearing and family relations, home decoration ideas, fashion and beauty hints.

US Weekly: Famous personalities and reviews of films and television programs.

If you would like to start a subscription to any of these magazines, call Wolfner Library at 1-800-392-2614.

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Classic Radio Plays and Dramatizations from Suzy Higgins

Did you ever get a cassette book from Wolfner Library with a WOC number instead of the more familiar RC number? The WOC stands for Wolfner Owned Cassette. These are books purchased by Wolfner Library to supplement the NLS collection. Because they are commercially produced, they are recorded at the commercial speed of 1-7/8 rather than the 15/16 speed of the RC books. That means you can play them on a commercial cassette machine or on the standard C-1 cassette player provided by Wolfner. Unfortunately, they cannot be played on the E-1 Easy cassette machine. Remember, if you are playing a WOC on the C-1 player, you must change the speed control from 15/16 to 1-7/8.

Our WOC collection includes old-time radio shows, dramas, comedies, plays, classics, holiday stories, westerns, and health and personal development tapes. We even have a special category for kids and the young at heart. Recently, we added 35 new titles such as Father Knows Best, Gunsmoke, The Red Skelton Show, and The Green Hornet. Since we cannot duplicate these titles, we ask that you return them as soon as you are finished listening to them so we can pass them along to the next person on the waiting list. A catalog of the WOC collection is available in large print, cassette or braille by calling Wolfner Library at 1-800-392-2614.

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New Recommended Reading Lists Available

The following mini-bibliographies have been produced since the last newsletter was released. If you would like to receive a copy of any of these recommended readings, please call the library at 1-800-392-2614, write us a note, or, if you’d like to join Wolfner’s electronic distribution list, send an email to wolfner@sos.mo.gov. They can also be viewed on our web site at http://www.sos.mo.gov/wolfner/readings.asp.

Adventure
Action is the Name of the Game
Sea Stories
Survivor Fiction

General
Baby Boomers’ Books
A Dozen Briefs
Ericka’s Top Picks

Missouri Fiction
More Books by Women of Color
Neither Rhyme Nor Reason
Short ‘n’ Sweets
Technical Services Picks
The Way We Were

Humor
On the Lighter Side

Mysteries
Cozy Mysteries
Forensic Mysteries

Nonfiction
Business and Political Biographies
Classic Music
Missouri Waltz
Survivor Nonfiction

Science Fiction
Real Good Science Fiction Books You Never Heard Of

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ALWAYS Contact Wolfner Library, 1-800-392-2614, when:

• your name, address, or telephone number changes;
• your machine malfunctions or doesn't play properly;
• your machine becomes lost or is 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.

Wolfner NEWS is a quarterly publication of the Secretary of State.

Matt Blunt
Secretary of State

Sara Parker
State Librarian

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Wolfner NEWS is available in large print, braille, or on cassette. If you would like to receive an alternate format, please call the library at 800-392-2614.

REMEMBER: WOLFNER LIBRARY BOOK LOAN PERIOD IS SIX (6) WEEKS