NOTICE TO OUR READERS

Periodical titles produced and distributed by the National Library Service (NLS) are available in various formats. These magazines are free of charge to our registered library patrons. Previously, the Talking Book Services Section of the NH State Library offered magazines to our library patrons that were provided by other agencies. NLS policy states that cooperating libraries such as ours are not allowed to request any magazines that are not considered part of the NLS reading program. No immediate impact will be felt by library patrons currently receiving other than NLS produced magazines by mail. However, in the future we will only be able to provide contact information about subscription renewals for persons who wish to receive magazines other than ones produced by NLS. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may create for some of our library patrons who have benefited from past actions to satisfy all your reading interests.

Helpful Reminders

When leaving messages on our telephone answering machine please say your first and last name along with a phone number where you can be contacted by our staff.

Loan periods for books in Print/Braille format or books recorded on audiocassette are two months. Descriptive Videos and PLAYAWAY® audio books circulate for two weeks. Remember other people may be waiting for that item.

To remain an active borrower in the Talking Book Program one must annually borrow a minimum of one book or magazine that is produced by the National Library Service or by a NLS network library.

Archived issues of Granite Bits dating back to the year 1995 can be found at the Talking Book Services Section website: www.nh.gov/nhsl/talking_books. One may also listen to audio versions dating back to 2006.

Staff and Volunteer News

Talking Book Services Section staff have been challenged over the past six months to conduct normal daily operations and provide outstanding customer service without a full-time machine lending agent whose responsibility is managing the talking book machine inventory, distributing equipment and accessories, cleaning, inspecting, assigning playback machines for repair, recycling, or disposal, facilitating the transition from analog to digital talking book service, participating in outreach programs, and filing state and federal government statistical reports. The position is an essential one to say the least. As the regional librarian and section supervisor it is with genuine pride to acknowledge both the extraordinary individual effort and teamwork by staffers Betty Clark, Brenda Corey, Jody Matisko, and Joan Nelson. They strive to meet the standards and guidelines of service for the Library of Congress Network of Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped by reaching performance levels above and beyond their regular duties. During these tough times we have had the good fortune to recruit students from the Tobey School, Second Start, Merrimack County Juvenile Diversion Program, and Home-schoolers, in addition to our regular group of volunteers who include TelecomPioneers, coaches and the individuals with varying abilities from Working Opportunities, Inc. and Community Bridges.

Associations, Organizations, and Agencies

The New Hampshire Association for the Blind (NHAB) will hold its 5th Annual Blind Awareness Walk-A-Thon on May 31, 2008. The 3K walk in Concord’s Historic North End begins at 11 a.m. and ends at the McGreal Sight Center at 25 Walker Street. Afterward there will be lunch and entertainment. All proceeds benefit the services of NHAB. For more information call 1-800-464-3075 (toll free in NH) or visit the website: www.sightcenter.org

Did you know that there’s an accredited school for the blind in your hometown? There really is….The Hadley School for the Blind. Through its free distance education programs, Hadley provides “Anytime, Anywhere” courses to anyone who is visually impaired, has a family member who is visually impaired, or who works in the blindness field. Hadley offers more than 90 courses ranging from Braille and independent living skills to physical fitness and Internet basics. With a personal instructor just a toll free phone call away Hadley’s unique distance education approach means you can study at a time convenient to you, no matter where you live. Hadley students can be found in all 50 states! If you are blind or know someone who is, give The Hadley School a call today at 1-800-323-4238 or find Hadley online at www.hadley.edu.

Perkins School for the Blind has acquired the assets of Adaptive Technology Consulting, Inc. (ATC) of Salisbury, MA. ATC is a company whose high-technology adaptive devices, training and consulting services bring greater independence to individuals who are blind, visually impaired or have learning disabilities. The mission of Perkins is to enhance the ability of people with impaired vision to succeed. The combination of products, technologies, and expertise resulting from the acquisition will benefit students and clients.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) announced that it will hold the first-ever Teen Empowerment Academy at the its headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. The Teen Empowerment Academy is the newest program in a series of initiatives striving to drastically increase the educational, social, and vocational opportunities for blind youth. The eight-week residential training program, led by blind instructors and occurring from June 15 to August 9, 2008, is designed to help blind and visually impaired teens develop the blindness and job-readiness skills necessary for success. The first part of the program will focus on helping teens develop their blindness skills. Highly qualified blind role models will teach courses in Braille, technology, mobility, and daily living skills. During the second part of the program, students will enter the working world at a level suitable for teens. Each student will work fifteen to twenty hours per week earning minimum wage. With the support of mentors, students will also be responsible for residential tasks like preparing meals, maintaining a clean living environment, and doing their own laundry. Additionally, students will participate in various recreational and challenge activities. The Teen Empowerment Academy will combine a rigorous blindness skill-building curriculum with a work experience component to help all students gain new ability and capacity and develop long-lasting confidence. Contact Rosy Carranza at (410) 659-9314, extension 2283, or via e-mail at rcarranza@nfb.org for additional information. Interested persons may visit www.nfb.org/ to download an application form.

The National Library Service (NLS) policy will give preference in distributing digital talking-book players to veterans first and then to members of the 10-Squared Talking-Book Club. After the needs of veterans and centenarians have been met, the Machine Lending Agency (MLA) may set its own priorities for early requesters and new patrons. NLS will assign digital-talking book machines to each MLA in the same way that cassette players have been assigned. NLS calculates a percentage of national audio readership served by each MLA and applies that percentage to the total number of new machines to be produced under annual contracts. The quantity of machines to be assigned annually is divided by 12 to determine the monthly allotment of machines for each MLA. The transition from analog to digital may take four to six years.

Access K through 12 School Download Library Collection

OverDrive® School Download Library™ is now available to users of the Unabridged collection. OverDrive® School Download Library™ delivers audio book and eBook downloads for students directly from the Unabridged website: http://unabridged.lib.overdrive.com
This unique shared collection offers the latest technology designed with students in mind. You can choose, checkout, download, and enjoy eBooks and audio books on your computer. For listening-on-the-go, you can burn audio books to CD or transfer to your portable device. Media can be enjoyed on laptops, PCs, Pocket PCs, PDAs, Smartphones, and CD or MP3 players, depending on digital format and use permissions. At the end of the loan period, titles automatically expire. School Download Library provides the books students need in the digital formats they want.
School Download Library is powered by OverDrive Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. OverDrive operates a trusted distribution service for delivery of copyright-protected digital media and has been a leader in digital content since 1986.

New Titles in the PLAYAWAY® Collection

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery DAB 52
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer DAB 56
The Art of War by Sun Tzu DAB 49
Being in Balance by Dr. Wayne Dyer DAB 58
Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch DAB 44
The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer DAB 45
The Call of the Wild by Jack London DAB 57
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer DAB 46
The Collectors by David Baldacci DAB 30
Common Sense by Thomas Paine DAB 55
Getting Things Done by David Allen DAB 37
Grayson by Lynne Cox DAB 43
Halsey’s Typhoon by Bob Drury DAB 41
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris DAB 42
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen DAB 34
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney DAB 53
Italian: The Complete Language Course DAB 40
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte DAB 32
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling DAB 47
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson DAB 33
Major Presidential Speeches 1933-1998 DAB 39
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton DAB 50
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey DAB 36
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne DAB 51
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky DAB 59
The Tavern on Maple Street by Sharon Owens DAB 31
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell DAB 48
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen DAB 54
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame DAB 38
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion DAB 35

Recommended Titles on Recorded Cassette from NLS

RC 64475 The Ravenscar Dynasty by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Following the suspicious deaths of relatives, two cousins wrestle for control against another cousin and his ambitious wife for control of the family business. Family Stories
RC 64753 All about Your Eyes Physicians offer a guide to all parts of the eye and its diseases. Suggests ways for readers to understand and participate in their own eye care. Health, Visual Disability
RC 64971 The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin. Profiles the men and women on the U.S. Supreme Court since the beginning of the Reagan administration. Highlights issues and internal wrangling. Are judges guided by political intuition rather than constitutional theory? Current Affairs, Politics & Government, Law
RC 64435 Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor by Anthony Everitt. Details the life of Caesar Augustus who came to power after the assassination of his great uncle Julius Caesar. Describes changes he implemented after defeating his political rival Mark Antony. Biography, Ancient History
RC 64428 The House: The History of the House of Representatives by Robert Remini. Chronicles the history of the U.S. House of Representatives since it first convened in 1789. U.S. History
RC 63649 The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A father and his young son journey south after the destruction of the civilized world. Bestseller, Science Fiction
RC 64271 Ice Hunt by James Rollins. A U.S. research submarine encounters an abandoned World War II-era Russian base beneath the polar ice cap, once the site of human experimentation. Adventure, Suspense
RC 63762 The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. Jane Boleyn becomes a lady-in-waiting to two of Henry VIII’s wives. The three of them become involved in court politics and treachery. Historical Novel, Bestseller
RC 64631 Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein. An explosion in a New York City water tunnel interrupts the prosecution of a businessman on trial for murder. Mystery
RC 64653 Family: Firstborn by Karen Kingsbury. Drama instructor Katy Hart agonizes over her relationship with Hollywood star Dayne Matthews. Christian Fiction, Series
RC 64366 Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos by Seth Lloyd. Mechanical engineering professor interprets the universe as a quantum computer that processes information stored on atoms to construct the cosmos according to the laws of physics. Science, Physics
RC 64853 One-Handed Catch by M.J. Auch. Sixth-grader’s desire to play baseball suffers a setback when he loses his left hand. The combination of a mother’s love and the boy’s own determination enable him to succeed. Juvenile

Fiction, Inspirational

NLS Launches BARD

All eligible patrons who have an Internet connection are able to download books and magazines as part of the NLS pilot digital download program. More than nine thousand digital titles are now available. Materials include children’s titles, books in the Spanish language and over a dozen magazines. More new titles are being added every day to the Braille and Audio Reading Download. Patrons interested in enrolling in the pilot program must meet several criteria. First, patrons must have subscribed or borrowed NLS titles in the past twelve months. Until production of the new digital players is complete, patrons must have access to a commercially available digital player that is compatible with NLS materials, have an e-mail address, and have access to high-speed Internet. The commercial players currently available for use with BARD are the Victor Reader Stream from HumanWare and the Icon from Levelstar. The Braille+ from American Printing House will soon be available. Patrons interested in participating should complete an online application page which can be found at www.nlstalkingbooks.org/dtb

Heartfelt 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 sincere gratitude to the following people for their thoughtful generosity.

Carolyn Julian, Roger Field, Debra Klassman, Nicholas Savramis, Mary McAuliffe, Esther Schimmel, Marguerite Gigas, Stanley & Evelyn Field, Leatrice Cardin, Mary and Richard Herd, Ann Davis, Lillian McCann, Jane & Steven Lupton, Charlotte Prochnow, Louise Shaw, Ellen Lankhorst, Don & Janis Peabody, Richard Beattie, Margaret Scarth, Visually Impaired Peoples Group (VIP’s) c/o Harriett Marshall, Dean & Norrine Nixon, Dorothy Silver, Kathryn Van Dam, Mary Bergeron, Edna Tracy, Nan Fay, Carl Jones, Clara Watkins Estate

We welcome monetary donations to enhance and improve library service to our clients. Please indicate the names and mailing addresses of those to be notified for donations in honor of a special occasion or person, or in memory of a loved one. Donations may be tax deductible and should be mailed to:

Regional Librarian
NH State Library Talking Book Services Section
117 Pleasant Street – Dolloff Building
Concord, NH 03301

Please make your check payable to: NH State Library Talking Book Services

Granite Bits newsletter is available in Braille, large print, on audio cassette, diskette, and the Internet. Library hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Call Talking Book Services Section at 1-800-491-4200 toll-free in NH or visit www.nh.gov/nhsl/talking_books for more information.

Any mention of a product or service is for information purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the New Hampshire State Library.

READING IS FOR EVERYONE