Director's Column
Greetings to all of you:
Time passes very quickly when you are busy, and the staff of the
Talking Book Program have been very busy. The third quarter of the
fiscal year just ended. Here are the numbers for the year so far:
- We have served 18,794 individuals and 751 institutions.
- We have circulated 599,126 books.
- We have recorded 82 books and magazines in our recording studio,
including 7 in Spanish.
- We have answered 53,296 reference and reader's advisory questions.
New download service available to all patrons
If you have a home computer with high-speed Internet access,
you might be interested in joining the Unabridged Project. This
is a program provided by a group of NLS regional libraries through
the commercial vendor Overdrive.com. The program provides digital
audio books for download to home computers. All Talking Book Program
patrons automatically are qualified to join the project. Your computer
must have a Windows operating system and high-speed access. You
will be issued a library card number and a PIN access code. These
will be sent to you at your email address. Once you have your card
and PIN, you may begin downloading books immediately. Call a reader
consultant at 1-800-252-9605 for more information and to sign up.
Keeping up with you and your account
Please keep your account information up to date. If any of the following
information changes, we need to change the corresponding information
on your account. Otherwise, your account may be suspended because
we cannot contact you or your books are being returned to us as
undeliverable.
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Email address
- Contact person Person authorized to act on your behalf
Retirement at NLS headquarters Michael Moodie, Assistant
Director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped (NLS) in Washington, D.C., retired on June 23, 2006.
Moodie had been with NLS for thirty-two years. He began his career
by narrating books for the network. His sixty-nine books include
Ride the Wild Trail by Max Brand (RC0975); The Dark Tower,
and Other Stories by C.S. Lewis (RC13572), The Professor's
House by Willa Cather (RC09578), and A Night to Remember
by Walter Lord (RC09698). In 1990, he became research and development
officer and has been instrumental in overseeing NLS' move from an
analog cassette-based program to a digital-based program. He was
appointed assistant director in 2004. In the future, Moodie will
do consulting work for NLS and the Library of Congress. NLS has
not named a new assistant director at this time..
Inside this newsletter There is a special insert with
this newsletter. It is printed on colored paper. Please take a few
minutes to review the rules for cassette playback
machines.
Until next time,
Ava Smith, Director, Talking Book Program
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The National Audio Theater Has
Produced Two New Plays
The two new plays are based on Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series:
"The Second Stain" and "The Six Napoleons." The National Audio Theater
produces original plays written by its members. The group began
many years ago as the Blue Ridge Radio Players. The plays are usually
adaptations of short fiction by famous authors. To learn more, visit
their web site at http://www.nationalaudiotheater.org/
We now have 54 of these plays. To read one of these plays, call
1-800-252-9605.
Correction from the previous newsletter:
Rolling Stone magazine is available in Braille. Call 1-800-252-9605
to get a copy.
The Talking Book Program's (TBP) Disability
Information and Referral Center (DIRC)
has a small lending library of print books and videotapes. Topics
include specific disabilities, education, employment, independent
living, etc. You do not have to be a TBP subscriber in order to
borrow materials or receive assistance from the DIRC. DIRC staff
is also available to assist with disability and health-related requests
for information. The rules for borrowing a DIRC book or video differ
from rules for talking books. Materials are sent by mail, but you
pay return postage at the fourth-class rate. DIRC books are loaned
for 5 weeks, and videotapes for 3 weeks. Materials may not be renewed.
Here are some reasons to use the DIRC book collection:
- ·An adult child is caring for an elderly parent.
- A teacher is planning a unit on disability awareness.
- A student with a disability is graduating from high school.
- A parent is raising a child with a learning or behavioral disability.
Even if you cannot read print, you might know someone who would
benefit from books in the DIRC collection. Call 1-800-252-9605 and
the DIRC staff will assist you.
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These Two Mysteries Are Long-time Favorites.
·Murder on Embassy Row by Margaret Truman
RC 21486 or LB 3364
narrated by George Patterson 2 cassettes and in large print
The British ambassador is found dead, slumped over a bowl of his
favorite caviar at his embassy in Washington. Detective Captain
Sal Morizio and his intrepid assistant-lover Connie Lake attempt
to solve the crime despite bureaucratic stonewalling. To read this
book, call 1-800-252-9605, and ask for RC 21486 for cassette or
LB 3364 for large print.
·A Morbid Taste for Bones: The First Chronicle of Brother Cadfael
by Ellis Peters
RC 28174 or BR 03876
narrated by Tom Martin 2 cassettes
Detective Brother Cadfael, in charge
of the herb gardens in the Benedictine monastery of Shrewsbury,
has to deal with his superiors when they become obsessed with the
notion of acquiring the bones of an obscure Welsh saint. To read
this book, call 1-800-252-9605, and ask for RC 28174 for cassette
or BR 03876 for Braille.
Texas Talking Books will be closed Monday,
September 4, Labor Day.:
Of course, you can always leave a message if you call after hours
or on a holiday or email us at
tbp.services@tsl.state.tx.us.
This Book Has Become a Classic of Chicano Literature.
This Migrant Earth by Tomas Rivera
CT 5583
narrated by Gratia Winship 1 cassette
Hinojosa has re-cast into English the seminal Chicano novel, Y No
Se Lo Trago La Tierra. Since winning the first national award for
Chicano literature in 1970, this novel has become the standard text
in U.S. Hispanic literature classes across the country. Hinojosa
has captured the original spirit and poetry for an English language
audience. This book has some profanity. To read this book, call
1-800-252-9605, and ask for CT 5583.
Here's A True and Fascinating Story
of World War II in Texas.
Lone Star and the Swastika: Prisoners of War in Texas by
Richard P. Walker
CT 6663
narrated by Jack Gazzale 2 cassettes
This analysis of the Texas prisoner-of-war camps describes the logistics
of holding thousands of captured German (and some Japanese and Italian)
soldiers until World War II's end. The author considers how camps
were selected and constructed, how prisoners were treated, what
routine camp life was like, what problems arose with pro-Nazi prisoners,
and how civilians reacted to having 50,000 enemy prisoners in their
state. If you would like to read this book, call 1-800-252-9605,
and ask for CT 6663.
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Rules
for the cassette playback machines
As many of you are aware, big changes are coming in the next few
years to our program. The biggest change will be in the form of
a new playback machine and books in a new format. Many of you are
concerned that you will not be allowed to keep your yellow cassette
machines once the new machines start arriving. Anyone who wants
to use a cassette machine will be able to have one for the foreseeable
future. However, new cassette machines will not be available after
a few years because they will no longer be produced. Therefore,
it is very important that we all work together to take care of the
existing machines so that they last for as long as we need them.
Here are some ways that you can help us keep machines in good working
order:
- ·When a machine is mailed to you, it will arrive in a box. Inside
the box, you will find a verification card with the machine. Write
the serial number on the machine on this card. Mail this card
back to us as soon as possible.
- Only one machine is assigned per registered individual. Institutional
members may have additional machines.
- Do not let anyone borrow the machine. Other people are not always
as careful as you are, and you are the one responsible for the
machine loaned to you.
- Take care of the machine that is loaned to you. You can do this
by keeping the battery charged, using the machine with clean hands,
and not putting the machine where it might have an accident.
- Report any problems with your machine to a reader consultant
at 1-800-252-9605, right away. We will ask you to send in the
machine so that we can fix the problems. We will send you another
machine to replace the one you send back to us.
- Because of the limited supply of cassette machines, we need
to do a full inventory of all cassette machines so we know exactly
how many machines we have and where they are. Soon, we will be
mailing you a letter with a card for you to send back to us. On
the card, you will be asked to write down the serial numbers of
ALL the machines assigned to you. Please return the cards to us
as soon as possible.
- Please cooperate when we send you instructions about machines.
If you refuse to return a machine when it is recalled, deliberately
damage a machine, or dispose of a machine other than returning
it to us, we will suspend your account. We keep records on all
machines, so we know which machines have been loaned to you and
in what condition those machines have come back to us. Remember
that we loan you a machine, and you may keep it only if you follow
the rules.
Please keep these rules in a safe place so that you may review
them from time to time. If you have any questions about machines,
call 1-800-252-9605 and speak with a reader consultant.
Tips
and Reminders for Better Service
Equipment. Talking Book cassette players are just like any
mechanical device—they break down from time to time. You'll get
the best service from your equipment if you:
-
always use the battery to play your tapes and allow the battery
run down completely before recharging it;
-
keep food and beverages away from the player;
-
clean the heads from time to time using a head-cleaning tape
(available at stores that carry stereo equipment);
-
don't try to fix a broken player—just return it.
Before returning a piece of equipment, please call or write to
let us know you are returning it and to request a replacement. It's
a good idea to keep the box your player comes in so you can use
it to return equipment if it breaks down.
Loan Period. The normal loan period for braille, large print,
or cassette books is 45 days. Please call or write if you need to
keep the book longer. Returning books promptly and keeping a list
of book requests on file with us will keep a steady flow of reading
material in your mailbox.
Broken Books. To let us know you have had a problem with
a book, please mark a large "X" on the return label on the left
side of our address.
Services. Our staff is dedicated to making
the Talking Book Service work for you. Please let us know how we
can help by contacting us at:
Talking Book Program
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
PO Box 12927
Austin TX 78711-2927
1-800-252-9605 (in Texas)
512-463-5458 (in Austin)
512-936-0685 (fax)
tbp.services@tsl.state.tx.us
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