New Hampshire Association for the Blind
Proposes Addition to NH’s Driver’s Manual

The Advocacy Committee of the New Hampshire Association for the Blind has secured sponsors for a legislative bill relating to the NH driver’s manual and test. House Representative Stephen J. Shurteff of Penacook, is the prime sponsor of the bill. Co-sponsors include House Representatives Robert Williams, Candace Bouchard, and James MacKay. The bill has been listed as 2007-H-0630-R and would require that first-time driver’s license applicants be informed of and examined on laws relating to blind pedestrians. The Advocacy Committee has also developed a placard to promote the symbols of blindness and the responsibilities of drivers as related to the law. Advocacy Committee members working on this project include Jo Adcock, Carol Holmes, Leigh Fredricks, Joan Nelson, and Amy Nichols. NHAB staff members Glenn Gunn, Claudia Libis, George Theriault and Jean Jaworski are also involved. The Association is keeping us updated to when public hearings are scheduled, and would ask for your support.

FYI
(For Your Information)

The Alternative Media Center at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not produce IRS tax documents in Braille for automatic distribution to libraries. Visually impaired taxpayers may visit the accessibility page at www.irs.gov/accessibility/ for a list of accessible tax products available by download. They may also order hard-copy braille and large-print documents by calling the IRS toll-free number at 800-829-3676. Questions or comments about IRS documents in alternative media should be directed to Maureen Goulder; IRS Alternative Media Center, at (804) 916-8850 or by e-mail at maureen.p.goulder@irs.gov.

PLAYAWAY® is a self-contained digital audio book. Books in this format have been purchased in special library packaging using donations to the Talking Book Services Section. These books will circulate among active persons registered in the NLS Talking Books Program. More about our PLAYAWAY® collection appears elsewhere in this issue of Granite Bits.

Servicelink is a free information and referral service for persons with disabilities, caregivers and also older adults. It is a statewide network of community-based offices that are one phone call away. The Toll-Free number for the ServiceLink Resource Center is 1-866-634-9412. Visit the ServiceLink website online at www.nh.gov/servicelink/ for more information.

Congratulations to Guy Woodland who has been appointed Senior Vice President of the New Hampshire Association for the Blind, the state’s leading blind services organization. Call 224-4039 or visit sightcenter.com for information on services offered.

Breakthrough Technology Provides TV Listings to the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind has partnered with Tribune Media Services to add television listings to NFB-NEWSLINE®, the nation’s largest on-demand news service for the blind.Blind and visually impaired Americans now have independent access to their local TV listings, all in one place, only a telephone call away.

Eric Duffy, a Columbus, Ohio native and blind parent of two children, said: “It is so important to find quality television programming for young children. Now I can choose appropriate TV shows for my children, just like any other sighted parent.”

Garrick Scott, of Atlanta, Georgia, hosts a weekly sports talk show. “Watching sports is a huge part of my life, and this new capability makes it infinitely easier to find what I want to watch,” Scott said.

By simply entering the zip code, source of TV reception, and time zone, blind users will have quick and easy access to their local TV listings. The listings are interactive, as the user can navigate and choose between date, time, and/or channel listings. After a user enters the local zip code, he or she is presented with a list of cable and satellite providers in the area. The user can also indicate the use of a television antenna.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind said: “The sheer volume of information that blind persons will now have access to is astonishing. Finally, blind television viewers can find out what’s on any channel, at any time, and within seconds.”

Over 50,000 NFB-NEWSLINE® subscribers already enjoy the free electronic newspaper service which carries 242 newspapers and magazines to 41 states and the District of Columbia. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and AARP The Magazine are among the many national and local newspapers that are offered. Subscribers have access twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, through a local or toll-free telephone number.

NFB-NEWSLINE® uses the Zap2it television listings, a productof Tribune Media Services and the leading source ofentertainment listings in the country.
Individuals who are unable to read print due to a physical disability are eligible for this free service. To register or to request more information, call the National Federation of the Blind at (866) 504-7300, or visit them online at www.nfbnewsline.org/.

~

“A true friend recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.” -William Arthur Ward

New Books from NLS
Available on Recorded Cassette

RC 60949 The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball by Frank Deford.
Portrays two legendary baseball personalities’ success in taking their team from last place to 1905 World Series victors in just three years. Sports, Biography

RC 62257 Science Experiments with Sound and Music by Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone.
Simple safe experiments that explain where sound comes from, how it works, and how it affects people. Grades 4-7, Science, Juvenile Non-Fiction

RC 62349 The Hostage: A Presidential Agent Novel by W.E.B. Griffin.
Homeland Security agent Charley Castillo is dispatched to Argentina when terrorists murder a diplomat and kidnap his wife. Adventure, Suspense, Bestseller

RC 62789 Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg.
Octogenarian Elner Shimfissle falls off her ladder and dies. In Heaven, Elner meets her sister Ida who is still fuming over her bad-hair day at her funeral. Fiction, Humor, Bestseller

RC 62341 Battle of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone.
A deadly range war over beef contracts brews between rancher John Chisum and rustler Jessie Evans. Western

RC 63096 H.R.H by Danielle Steel.
Princess Christianna falls in love with a physician working with Doctors Without Borders while volunteering anonymously after college at an international relief camp in Africa. Romance, Bestseller

RC 60645 47 by Walter Mosley.
A fourteen-year-old slave boy is introduced to a magical science by a man who teaches him the meaning of freedom. Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

RC 60895 Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light by Mort Rosenblum.
Food writer travels the globe exploring the world of chocolate production. World History, Food, Business, Travel

RC 58213 Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm by Herman Parish
Chaos in the library when Amelia tries to help the librarian. K-3, Humor, Fiction

RC 63094 Thunderstruck by Erik Larson.
Author chronicles the infamous 1910 manhunt for Dr. H.H. Crippen, and describes the 1895 invention of wireless communication attributed to Guglielmo Marconi. Crime, Science, World History

RC 62086 It Happened One Autumn: The Wallflowers, Book 2 by Lisa Kleypas.
American heiress accompanies her father on a business trip to England where she finds a desirable suitor. Romance, Historical Fiction

RC 63131 The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson.
Growing up in 1950s middle America. Biography, Nostalgia

PLAYAWAY®
The Self-Playing Digital Audiobook

PLAYAWAY® is a hand-held battery-operated audiobook that comes pre-loaded on a small memory storage unit and a set of earbuds. These audiobooks are lightweight, portable that can fit in a pocket, a handbag or onto a lanyard. They go wherever and whenever you want providing digital sound quality. Just press one of the eight function keypads or buttons to turn it on or off, control volume and speed, mark specific passages, skip ahead or back, pause, rewind or fast forward.

The Talking Book Services Section of the New Hampshire State Library will be loaning PLAYAWAY® books to active registered patrons. Each book will come in a plastic case and mailed in a corrugated box in the same manner we circulate any one of our descriptive videos in our collection. The loan period is two weeks.

At this time, there are approximately thirty selected fiction and nonfiction titles in the collection that will appeal to both young and adult readers. We are able to offer this enhanced service through the kind and generous donations received from active patrons, from family members and friends on their behalf, or in memory of a loved one who benefited greatly from Talking Book Services.

If you are interested in trying one of these uniquely formatted books, call toll-free in NH 1-800-491-4200 or Email: talking@library.state.nh.us.

Helpful Tips

The Loan periods for Braille and Recorded Cassettes are now two months. Descriptive Videos and Digital Audio Books circulate for two weeks.

Please remember to call us for any of the following:

• Whenever your addresses, telephone numbers or the names of your contact person change
  
• If you want to revise the types of books you get, or the number of books you receive
  
• When you have problems with books or machines
  
• To temporarily stop service

Please take care of all talking books, Braille books, and cassette players. Keep them free of food, liquids, dust, and debris.

Thank You for Your Cooperation!

Reprinted with permission by Seacoast Media

See from Her Eyes
By Toby Hatchett

[Editor's note: Toby Hatchett is a freelance writer for Seacoast Media Group. The following is a first-person account of her experience living and working with visual impairment.]

Some say that when you lose one sense, your other senses become stronger. Well, so what?

It doesn't much help if one can hear the neighbor's techno beat all too well. It doesn't make one the perfect companion for dining out when you can tell the seasonings are far from perfect.

I am legally blind, a term that is so insane there is no rational reasoning except that the government came up with this term to mean you can't drive, you can't read much, and you can "legally" get assistance. Can there be an illegally blind person?

I have retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease. I cannot drive a car or read a proper book or a magazine. I can look at the pictures. I can even see some large signs. The last time I drove a car was in 1990. The last real book I read was in 2000. It was "The Water Method Man," by John Irving. By this, I mean it was the last book I could read lying on a sofa, with no assistance, just holding it my hands like a regular person. Had I known this would be the last book I read the "normal" way, I probably would have chosen another book.

I have been an avid reader since before I started school. I much preferred to keep my head in a book than do anything else. I can still recall my late grandmother admonishing me, "you read so much you're going to go blind." Well, she was mostly right about this, but I don't for a second regret all my reading. Reading makes one a real person.

I was fortunate to meet a wonderful man who entered my life just as my vision was becoming a real issue, not just an inconvenience. He had a visually impaired son, or visually challenged, or legally blind (you select the easiest to say) and thus, he was an incredible support to me. To this day, he doesn't seem to get angry when I have a tantrum because no reading aid I have will make it possible for me to read the ingredients on a bottle. I am prone to hissy fits when I can't read signs. How he puts up with me is beyond belief.

Through this man, I found out about audio books, or talking books. I had never listened to a book on tape before. The very notion was horrifying to me. I wouldn't be able to touch the paper, turn the pages, feel the living presence of the book. I realized I no longer had other options. I had to do it this way.

Through the generosity of my parents, I was given a reading machine. These machines are basically closed-circuit televisions and you hold the newspaper or book under the screen and the words and images are enlarged. It is not easy to use, but it [is] the only way I can read things that aren't on audio cassette. I still use this machine for newspapers and magazines and recipes. Not all Web sites for newspapers can be bumped up in font size.

But, the reading machine is not a viable alternative for reading a long, meaty novel. Ergo, Talking Books. At this time, I was living in Providence, R.I., where the Athenaeum had a good selection of books on tape and the Newport Library in particular. It was not easy at first. I rebelled. I fought it. I cried some. I would stomp
around my tiny apartment in despair. This went on for almost a year.

Then, one day, as if by magic, I just got it. It clicked. I felt I could read again. Gosh, I was reading! I felt like a little kid who jumps for joy when she reads her very first book. My greatest discovery was finding the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a Library of Congress [division]. This is what keeps the smile on my face and my mind alive. It is free! It is easy to use and anyone who is visually impaired can qualify.

This service has books available on cassette in every category: fiction, non-fiction, cooking, travel, biographies, legal issues and on and on. In New Hampshire, the Talking Books N.H. office is located in Concord and has a toll-free number. It is 1- (800) 491-4200. Talking Books N.H. doesn't yet have its own Web site, but you can [access] the national site to choose the titles. They send out catalogs, too, of latest books available.

N.H. Talking Books has a marvelous reader's adviser, Brenda Corey. I feel as if I know her by now. She checks on titles for me and the books come to me in little green boxes that I can mail back with no postage. It is free printed matter for the blind. The cassettes have four sides to each and you get a special cassette player from the service that will play these cassettes.

If you know of anyone who could benefit from this amazing service, do call N.H. Talking Books. Corey says their office sends out between 200 and 300 books every [day] and this mailing service is done by one person! And what an incredible service it is.

I am not going to pretend that I don't hate losing my vision, because this would be a lie. I will say, however, that the Talking Book service has made life as nearly normal as possible. The Portsmouth Public Library is also a fantastic resource. PPL has more than 3,000 books on audio tape as well as CDs and free book downloading.

It also helps that computers have improved. A dear friend gave me a large screen iMac, which means I can e-mail my friends, search the Internet and do these freelance stories for the Portsmouth Herald. Without such technology, I know I would become a seriously depressed/dysfunctional person. Reading matters just this much to me.

Teen News

Teen People magazine discontinued publication in November 2006. NLS replaced Teen People with Teen Newsweek for one issue, but found it inappropriate for the intended audience. In January 2007, NLS replaced Teen Newsweek with Odyssey, “the science magazine for young adventurers.” The code for this magazine is ODY3.

Lighthouse International has a wonderful program called ”Scholarship & Career Awards.” It is for people who are blind or partially sighted.These scholarships reward excellence, recognize accomplishments and help students who are blind or partially sighted achieve their career goals. Additional details about the program —$5,000 scholarships to college bound, undergraduate and graduate students — may be located online at www.lighthouse.org/scholarships.

Please distribute this information to people who may be eligible or to people who may work with those who may be eligible. And, hard copies of the guidelines and the application, and Braille copies may be obtained by calling Kelly Boyle at 212-821-9428 or via email to: Kboyle@lighthouse.org2.

Talking Books Discussion Group

There are many books to choose from in our collection; historical fiction, mystery, romance, biography, science fiction, and current events are among them. If you are registered in the Talking Books Program and would like to form a book discussion group to meet every month in Concord at the NH State Library, contact John Barrett at 1-800-491-4200, or send an e-mail message with the subject “Readers Club” to jbarrett@library.state.nh.us.

Our Sincere Thanks!

We are fortunate to receive many generous donations from our readers, their families and friends. These kind gifts are used to supplement our reader services. We have used donated funds to purchase descriptive videos, digital audio books, update special program software and other necessities not covered under our general operating budget. These wonderful contributions help us maintain a higher level of service. We wish to express our deep gratitude to the following people for their thoughtful generosity.

We welcome monetary donations to enhance and improve our library service. Please indicate the names and the addresses of those to be notified for donations in honor of a special occasion or person, or in memory of a loved one.

We welcome monetary donations to enhance and improve our library service. Please indicate the names and  the addresses of those to be notified for donations in honor of a special occasion or person, or in memory of a loved one.

Donations should be mailed to: Regional Librarian, Talking Book Services Section, NH State Library, 117 Pleasant  St., Concord, NH 03301. Please make your check payable to: Talking Book Services Section, NH State Library