WOLFNER NEWS
Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
Notes from the Director
National Centenarian Day
Katharine Chambers (left) accepts award from Secretary Carnahan.
In September 2005, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan initiated Wolfner Library’s “Ten Squared Talking Book Club” at the St. Louis Public Library. The club was created by the National Library Service (NLS) to recognize the accomplishments of talking book readers 100 years of age and older.
During the ceremony, Secretary Carnahan, State Librarian Sara Parker, Carolyn Sung, Chief of the Network Division of NLS and St. Louis Public Library Director Waller McGuire presented a certificate, pin, and letter of congratulations to 103-year-old Katharine Chambers. Thirteen members were inducted into the club.
Do You Have a Story to Tell?
Early picture of U.S. Mail truck loading books in St. Louis.
Wolfner Library will be celebrating its 75th anniversary with the National Library Service in March 2006. In preparation for the event, we would like our patrons to share their stories about Wolfner and what it means to them. Prizes furnished by the Friends of Wolfner Library will be awarded for exceptional stories! Essays will be published in our special anniversary newsletter. Please send your essays to:
Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Attention: Debbie Musselman, PO Box 387, Jefferson City, MO 65102
Casting Call for Readers!
Is “Old Man Winter” getting you down? Wolfner Library has something that will chase away the winter chill! We are happy to present the premier performance of the Adult Winter Reading Program at Wolfner Library. When the curtain rises in early January we will be taking a close look at books that have been made into movies.
“Never Judge a Book by Its Movie” will run from January 16 through April 3, 2006. During that time we ask that you read 12 books from the program guide. (That is only 1 book a week!) The participant who reads the most books from the program guide will win a special Tinsel Town Party Pack. Everyone who reads at least 12 books will be entered into a prize drawing, so read, read, read!
Prizes are furnished by the Library Users of Missouri, an affiliate of the Missouri Council of the Blind.
Signing up is easy! To register, simply complete and mail to us the registration form included in the preliminary guide or call
1-800-392-2614 and tell your Reader Advisor you want to register for the Winter Reading Program. Once you have registered, you will receive the “Never Judge a Book by its Movie” program guide in plenty of time to make your selections. This guide will include books made into movies from many different genres so whether you read romance, mysteries, nonfiction, classics, westerns, or other types of books, we have something that is right for you.
Remember, this program is for adults only and space is limited, so sign up today!
New Recommended Reading Lists Available
The following mini-bibliographies have been recently produced. If you would like to receive any of these recommended reading lists, please contact the library.
Fiction Lists
- Behind the Eight Ball
- Desperate Housewives
- Love and Laughter
- Starting Over from Scratch
- Tales of Terror
Fiction and Nonfiction Combined
- Banned and Challenged Books
- Great Southern Writers
- Halloween Happenings
- Midwestern Writers
Nonfiction Lists
- Behind the Scenes at the White House
- Comedy
- World War I
- Hit the Road
- The Korean War
- Native Americans
- Strange Histories
Wolfner Honors Its Volunteers
Volunteers add spirit and heart to the services Wolfner Library provides to Missouri citizens. They increase the effectiveness of paid staff and help build public awareness for the services available from the library. To honor their efforts, Wolfner held a volunteer appreciation dinner, underwritten by the Friends of Wolfner Library, on October 21 in Jefferson City. Wolfner has honored its volunteers this way for several years, and this year we declared our volunteers “Great Works of Art.” Each volunteer’s face appeared in famous works of art decorating the walls of the banquet hall.
The 25 volunteers at the reception received certificates of appreciation and book bags with “Wolfner Library” in print and braille. They were also treated to entertainment from the “Card Catalog Choir” and “Lost in the Stacks Players,” who won’t be quitting their day jobs as Wolfner employees any time soon.
Speakers at the event included Ray Hagen and Laura Giannarelli, audio book narrators from the National Library Service in Washington, D.C., Executive Deputy Secretary of State Mark Reading, State Librarian Sara Parker, Wolfner Library Director Richard Smith, National Federation of the Blind of Missouri President Gary Wunder, and Missouri Council of the Blind President Kathey Wheeler also offered thanks and congratulations to the volunteers.
Wolfner Library currently has 42 active volunteers. They continue to help Wolfner develop strong ties to the community and are essential to the process of recording books about Missouri. For more information about becoming a Wolfner Library volunteer, contact Deborah Stroup, Wolfner volunteer coordinator, at 1-800-392-2614.
Mark R. Reading, Executive Deputy Secretary of State, addresses the volunteers.
Ozzie Withers leads the "Card Catalogue Choir."
Deborah Stroup and Greg Thurston
Wolfner Library Patron Survey Results 2005
| Excellent | Very Good |
Good | Fair | Poor | Not Applicable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 269 | 394 | 433 | 124 | 29 | 172 |
| Excellent | Very Good |
Good | Fair | Poor | Not Applicable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 415 | 725 | 455 | 51 | 8 | 37 |
| Excellent | Very Good |
Good | Fair | Poor | Not Applicable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 635 | 525 | 279 | 27 | 8 | 0 |
| Excellent | Very Good |
Good | Fair | Poor | Not Applicable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,209 | 369 | 103 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Excellent | Very Good |
Good | Fair | Poor | Not Applicable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 498 | 671 | 732 | 27 | 3 | 0 |
| Very Easy |
Easy | Average | Difficult | Very Difficult |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,024 | 563 | 793 | 7 | 0 |
| Too Many |
Right Quantity |
Not Enough |
Not Applicable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 239 | 1,228 | 104 | 101 |
| Too Quickly |
Just Right |
Too Slowly |
Not Applicable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | 1,563 | 82 | 39 |
| Always | Almost Always |
Usually | Sometimes | Almost Never |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,152 | 663 | 136 | 36 | 2 |
| Excellent | Very Good |
Good | Fair | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 830 | 462 | 142 | 8 | 0 |
NFB-NEWSLINE® News
If you are a registered Wolfner Library patron you qualify for this toll-free newspaper service which uses a synthesized voice to bring you information from over 170 U.S. newspapers. The following Missouri newspapers are available: Columbia Daily Tribune, Jefferson City News Tribune, Kansas City Star, Saint Joseph News Press, Saint Louis American, Saint Louis Post Dispatch, and Southeast Missourian.
If you would like to sign up for the NFB-NEWSLINE service, call your Reader Advisor.
NFB-NEWSLINE® Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to the most frequently asked NFB-NEWSLINE questions.
- Q: I have forgotten my password and security code. What should I do?
- A: Contact us at 1-800-392-2614 and we will be happy to look up the information for you.
- Q: Is there an instruction guide available?
- A: Yes, contact us and we can send you the guide in large print, braille or recorded format. A tutorial is also available on NFB-NEWSLINE in option 9 when you first enter the system.
- Q: My Newsline voice reads too fast. What should I do?
- A: Step 1: Call the NFB-NEWSLINE number, 1-888-882-1629. Step 2: If prompted, enter your six-digit code when the voice pauses once, and enter your four-digit code after the voice pauses again. Step 3: Press 3 for Local Papers, then 1 for the first paper, then 1 again for the latest edition. Step 4: Press 11 to enter an article, then keep pressing 7 until the voice slows down to the desired speed. If you are still having trouble, call us and we will gladly slow the voice down for you.
Magazine Corner
Wolfner Library is pleased to announce the addition of a new cassette magazine:
Seventeen is a premier style and beauty magazine tailored to women in their late teens and early twenties. It highlights information on fitness, food, cars, college, careers, talent, entertainment, fiction and crucial personal and global issues.
Please contact your reader advisor if you would like to start a subscription to this magazine. The magazine is also available in Braille.
Important Announcement: This summer we received word that the Department of Conservation will no longer produce Missouri Conservationist on cassette. We are looking into an alternative source to assume the responsibility of recording this magazine. We will keep you notified of the progress.
New Descriptive Videos Available
We are pleased to announce that 17 new descriptive video titles have been added to our collection, bringing the total number of videos to 545. Descriptive videos are similar to those you rent from local video stores, with one major difference: narration is added to these videos to enhance the viewing experience of those with visual impairments. They play on a standard VCR.
Our new titles are listed below. To place an order for these titles or to sign up for the service, call your reader advisor at 1-800-392-2614,or e-mail your requests to wolfner@sos.mo.gov.
| Video No. | Title | Rating | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| DV 529 | American Psycho | R | Horror |
| DV 530 | The Cooler | R | Drama |
| DV 531 | Girl with a Pearl Earring | PG-13 | Drama |
| DV 532 | Gods and Monsters | R | Biography |
| DV 533 | Monster's Ball | R | Drama |
| DV 534 | A Murder of Crows | R | Mystery |
| DV 535 | O | R | Drama |
| DV 536 | David Copperfield | NR | Drama |
| DV 537 | Jane Eyre | NR | Drama |
| DV 538 | Topper | NR | Comedy |
| DV 539 | Million Dollar Baby | PG-13 | Drama |
| DV 540 | The Incredibles | PG | Family and Children |
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
Wolfner News is a quarterly publication of the Office of Secretary of State.
| Robin Carnahan Secretary of State |
Sara Parker State Librarian |
WOLFNER LIBRARY IS OPEN MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(CLOSED FOR STATE HOLIDAYS)
| 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 | www.sos.mo.gov/wolfner |
| WolfPAC | wolfpac.sos.mo.gov/klasweb |