Wolfner Library Serving You

We recently compiled our annual report to the National Library Service for fiscal year 2003-2004. Here are some numbers that may be of interest to you.

As of September 30, 2004, Wolfner has 11,857 registered accounts, an increase of 400 accounts (3.4 percent) from last year.

We added 1,710 new accounts last year, and we suspended 1,185 accounts due to death, nonuse, inability to contact the patron, patron request to cancel service, or other reasons. (Please be sure to keep in touch with us when you change your address or phone number.)

The number of patrons subscribing to Wolfner circulated magazines increased from 868 in June 2003 to 1,008 in October 2004. That is an increase of 140 subscriptions, or 13.9 percent. The most popular magazines we circulate are Missouri Conservationist, Guideposts (cassette), Capper's Weekly and Reminisce.

Our collection contains 394,120 copies of 69,264 different titles. Those copies circulated 505,918 times during the fiscal year. Wolfner patrons are busy readers - that's an average of 42.67 books per year for each account. The average Missouri public library reader reads 16.7 books per year!

We processed 25,020 transactions received by phone, e-mail, mail, or in person.

It has been our pleasure to serve you this past year and we look forward to another year of good service ahead!

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Historic Audiobooks Preservation Underway

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) is working to save and recondition over three thousand archived LP records in its collection. This work requires inspection and cleaning of titles prior to cataloging them and placing them in environmentally controlled long-term storage.

As part of this project, NLS plans to assemble a collection of one-of-a-kind recordings of famous authors reading their own works. Audio preservation techniques will be used to restore these recordings to their original sound quality. From these works, 24 excerpts will be collected to create A Treasury of Talking Books, which will be available on cassette in 2006.

Some of the works being restored include:

• Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1970
• Desi Arnaz, Desi Arnaz, A Book, 1977
• Victor Borge, My Favorite Intermissions, 1973
• Alistair Cooke, America, 1973
• Joan Crawford, My Way of Life, 1972
• Robert Frost, Reads His Own Poetry, 1959
• Herbert Hoover, The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson, 1959
• Bob Hope, I Never Left Home, 1945
• Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea, 1942
• Ogden Nash, Everyone but Thee, 1963
• Eleanor Roosevelt, This I Remember, 1950
• Jean Shepherd, In God We Trust, 1969
• Jan Struther, Mrs. Miniver, 1941
• Harry S. Truman, Year of Decisions, 1956
• Glenway Wescott, The Pilgrim Hawk, 1944

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Get Your News through Regional Audio Information Service Programs

Audio information service programs provide news and information to people who cannot use traditional print materials, including those who are blind, visually disabled, or physically disabled. Some programs also serve institutions such as hospitals, senior centers and assisted living facilities where qualified listeners may live or receive services. These audio programs are broadcast on a subcarrier channel of an FM radio station and require a special radio to receive the signal. The radios are generally distributed at no cost to program participants once they have sent in an application and been approved for services. Each independent audio service provider has its own application procedure, and contact information for local providers is listed below.

Audio information service programming varies by broadcaster, and generally includes local, regional and national newspapers. Many services provide additional programming, such as interviews, magazine readings, books, and consumer information. Each service has a program guide that details the dates, times, and contents of its broadcasts.

While there is no single statewide audio information service provider in Missouri, the following broadcasters reach various areas of the state. For detailed information about whether a specific service reaches you, contact the broadcaster.

The University of Kansas Audio-Reader Network serves some areas in western Missouri. For additional information, call 1-800-772-8898 or visit their Web site at www.reader.ku.edu.

The WUIS/WIPA Radio Information Service in Springfield, Illinois reaches eastern Marion County. For additional information, call 1-217-206-6405 or visit their Web site at www.wuis.org.

The Tri-States Audio Information Services in Macomb, Illinois reaches parts of Clark, Lewis, Marion, Ralls and Scotland counties in northeastern Missouri. For more information, call 1-309-298-2403 or visit their Web site at www.tristateaudio.org.

The Mind's Eye Information Service in Belleville, Illinois reaches parts of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Louis counties, as well as the City of St. Louis. For more information call 1-618-394-6221.

The Southern Illinois Radio Information Service reaches Cape Girardeau and parts of Perry County. For more information, call 1-618-453-6179 or visit their Web site at www.wsiu.org.

The Lewis & Clark Radio Information Service reaches parts of eastern Missouri. For more information, call 1-618-466-3411.

The Arkansas Radio Reading Service for the Blind Network serves parts of southern Missouri. For additional information, call 1-501-852-5125.

For general information about audio information services, including a complete listing of audio information service providers nationwide, call The International Association of Audio Information Services (IAAIS) at 1-800-280-5325 or visit them online at http://iaais.org/. IAAIS is a volunteer-driven membership organization that has been providing support and assistance for audio information service programs since 1977.

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Software at the State Library Transfers Type into Speech

The Missouri State Library purchased the Kurzweil 1000 computer software that uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Text to Speech technology to transfer the written word into speech. Books, newspapers, magazine articles, letters and many other printed materials are scanned and the OCR translates the information to the computer. Users can then listen to the information with several of Kurzweil's voice synthesizers. The library purchased an automatic document feeder for the scanner that allows easy scanning of multiple page documents. Even double-sided print documents can be sorted correctly by the Kurzweil software. Documents can be saved in a variety of file formats. For example, save your document as a Microsoft Word or plain text file for later retrieval, save your document as an MP3 file and send to others to listen, or save the file as a.BRF file to read on a refreshable braille display or print out on the State Library's Juliet Pro braille embosser.

The latest version of the Kurzweil software now reads electronic text so that e-mail, electronic books and other information on the Internet can be heard and then stored in the various formats. With the Missouri State Library's Internet connection, you can use the Kurzweil 1000 to search for books or magazines from sources such as Bookshare.org and Web Braille from the Library of Congress, and then download and retrieve the information. All electronic information is transferable to MP3 players, portable note taking devices, braille printers, and conventional e-mail applications.

The Kurzweil 1000 text to speech software continues to improve so that the synthetic voices have near human listening quality, bearing little resemblance to earlier software that had a harsh, unpleasant mechanical sound.

In addition to the Kurzweil 1000, the state library has an assistive technology computer with JAWS, ZoomText, and Duxbury with a scanner and braille embosser. Please visit the library at the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center, 600 West Main, Jefferson City, Missouri, and give the Kurzweil 1000 a try.

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New Additions to the Descriptive Video Service

We are pleased to announce nine new descriptive video titles have been added to our collection, bringing the total number of videos to 522. The new titles include Cheaper by the Dozen, Cold Mountain, Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, Lonesome Dove, The Man Called Noon, Mystic River, NOVA: Why the Towers Fell, The Passion of the Christ, and Peter Pan. To place an order for these new titles call your reader advisor at 1-800-392-2614, e-mail your requests to wolfner@sos.mo.gov, or mail your list to Wolfner Library for the Blind, PO Box 387, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0387.

Unlike the Talking and Braille books, videos are not selected for you automatically; you must order the titles you would like to receive. Your descriptive video service (DVS) will stop temporarily when there are no requests for videos in your file, so please keep us supplied with plenty of requests. Just a reminder, descriptive videos must be sent back one week from the day that you receive them.

We hope you are enjoying this program. If you have any questions or comments about the DVS program, please call us at the toll-free number.

Note: Please call the library when you return a machine and let us know if you are canceling your service or need a replacement.  Notifying us through our toll-free number (800-392-2614) will prevent delays.

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Magazine Corner

Wolfner Library is pleased to announce the addition of Vital Speeches of the Day to the list of magazines we will circulate in cassette format. The publishers of Vital Speeches believe that the important addresses from the recognized leaders of public opinion constitute the best expressions of contemporary thought in America, and that it is extremely important for the welfare of the nation these speeches be permanently recorded and disseminated.

Three additional magazines in cassette format we want to spotlight with this issue of Wolfner News:

• Missouri Conservationist: Missouri's magazine on outdoor life and conservation published by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

• Smithsonian: Articles about science, natural history, archaeology, art, history and ecology; and news of events at the Smithsonian Institution.

• Woman's Day: Home management tips, includes recipes, crafts, and decorating ideas.

If you would like to start a subscription to any of these magazines on cassette, call your Reader Advisor 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, join Wolfner's electronic distribution list by sending an e-mail to wolfner@sos.mo.gov. The lists can be viewed on our Web site at www.sos.mo.gov/wolfner/readings.asp.

• Fiction Lists
  • Fiction Featuring Biblical Characters
  • Crime Fighting Couples
  • Between the Goalposts
  • First Books
• Nonfiction List
• • Art Appreciation

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Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Awards

On October 14, 2004, the American Foundation for the Blind presented the 18th annual Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Awards. Named after a much-admired narrator, the late Alexander Scourby, the awards were established in 1986 to honor excellence in narration of talking books. Carl R. Augusto, President & CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind, said, "We are excited to honor the talented men and women whose narration has provided people with disabilities substantial access to literature and information."

The award recipient for narration of a fiction book went to Martha Harmon Pardee, for her recording of The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber (RC 54941 or BR 14394). In 2003, Martha received the Canadian National Institute for the Blind Torgi Award for Partner-Produced Fiction for her narration of Amy Tan's book The Bonesetter's Daughter. The award recipient for narration of a nonfiction book went to Mark Ashby, for his recording of Perfect I'm Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches and Baseball by David Wells (RC 56059). Additionally, Mark has received the American Council of the Blind's Vernon Henley Media Award for his narration of the nonfiction book People of Vision. The award recipient for narration of a multilingual nonfiction book went to Steven Carpenter for his recording of The Age of Sacred Terror (RC 55953) by Daniel Benjamin and Steve Simon. Carpenter is also the voice of William Clark in the Missouri Historical Society's 2004 traveling exhibition of Lewis & Clark.

To learn more about this year's winning narrators and the Scourby Awards, visit the American Foundation for the Blind's Web site at www.afb.org.

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Note: Please let us know when you change your e-mail address.  We need the old as well as the new address to correct our records.  When you send an e-mail, please include your name and address so that we can identify you in our patron records.

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Wolfner Library Staff

Richard Smith	Director of Wolfner Library	richard.smith@sos.mo.gov
Debbie Musselman	Public Services Librarian	debbie.musselman@sos.mo.gov
Elizabeth Lang	Special Services Librarian	elizabeth.lang@sos.mo.gov
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
Deborah Stroup	Volunteer Coordinator	deborah.stroup@sos.mo.gov
Paul Mathews	Reader Advisor A-Co	paul.mathews@sos.mo.gov
Susan Higgins	Reader Advisor Cp-G	susan.higgins@sos.mo.gov
Ginny Ryan	Reader Advisor H-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
Brandon Kempf	Reader Advisor Institutions	brandon.kempf@sos.mo.gov

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Wolfner News is a quarterly publication of the Office of Secretary of State.

Matt Blunt Secretary of State

Sara Parker State Librarian

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