| Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped |
| Free Library of Philadelphia |
Mr. Andre Smothers, part-time Library Assistant, was born and raised in South Philadelphia.
Andre is a proud graduate of Central High School and is currently attending Philadelphia
Community College where he is pursuing a degree in Information Systems. In his spare time
Andre enjoys writing poetry, exercise, and bike riding.
INFO EYES
InfoEyes is a free online national reference service provided by a consortium of libraries that
serve people with visual, physical and reading disabilities. InfoEyes allows computer users to
ask reference questions via email or through real-time voice text chat. You can email questions
to librarians at any time. If you would like immediate help, try logging onto the site to chat
over a microphone or via text chat with a librarian to receive reference service. The next time
you need help with homework, information about a product or an answer to almost any question, remember
to try InfoEyes. To find out more about the service and hours of availability, check out
InfoEyes .
VOLUNTEER CORNER
April 18th- 22nd, National Volunteer Week. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers
here at the Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. The following tasks
have been accomplished because of all the efforts of our volunteers.
Audiocassettes are inspected for missing cassettes by Book Inspectors; Book Inspectors
also do a wonderful job re-boxing and inspecting our Master Collection; narrators read books
and magazines; Machine Repair Technicians inspect, repair and clean cassette players; Quality
Assurance Specialists sound check the quality of recordings; and Library Aides package magazines
to be sent out to our patrons.
Over one hundred volunteers provide these services in support of the Library for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped, donating thousands of hours a year. Without these donated hours,
the level services that the Library provides would not be possible. THANK YOU.
OPAC
The Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) is available on our web site.
This catalog
lists recorded cassettes, braille and large print books available from us.
You may search this catalog by Author, Title, Word-in-Title, Subject or Narrator.
Anyone can search the OPAC. Only registered patrons of the Philadelphia
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
can borrow books through the OPAC. Registered patrons should contact the Library
at 800-222-1754 or 215-683-3213 to receive a User ID and Password necessary to
borrow books through the OPAC.
NFB-NEWSLINE
Newsline is a national service sponsored by the National Federation for
the Blind and in Pennsylvania, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Newsline offers over the telephone, many newspapers and some magazines
from around the United States. If you would like to sign up for this free
service, please call the Library at 800-222-1754. If you would like further
information about NFB-Newsline, please call NFB at 410-659-9314.
BLINDNESS AND MATHEMATICS
There is a new listserv available to those interested in math. The
Blindmath website is a place where interested people
can discuss all issues related to blindness and math, including sources for accessible texts,
information about tactile and auditory graphing programs, suggestions for ensuring that math lectures
are accessible to blind students and strategies used by blind math instructors.
ONLINE INFORMATION FOR SENIORS
An official government site called
Firstgov for Seniors provides easy access to seniors looking for government
information online
You will find information relating to consumer protection, education, health, and retirement.
EXTRA LARGE PRINT
Do you or someone you know enjoy reading large print but wish the
print were just a little bit larger? Until now, the largest large print
was 16-point font. Despite growing demand for larger print books, larger
print books were not widely available. Now, with advances in printing and
formatting, larger print books including children’s titles on demand are
possible. Huge Print Press, the makers of the new larger print books, will
individualize any book. The customer chooses the book, the binding, the
contrast and the font size. Check out the Huge Print Press website,
email at info@hugeprint.com or give the press a call at 866-484-3774 to discuss options and pricing.
NEBA
The “Art Beyond Sight” Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibit of NEBA is on display
at the Central Library Gallery, Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street in
Philadelphia. This exhibit of sixty works of art will be showcased from April 18 until July 2, 2005.
Limited supplies of the color catalog with braille insert are available for
$10 contribution. Contact the NEBA Touch Gallery at 800-222-1754.
Visit the free NEBA virtual tour of this show and prior
ones on the NEBA website.
ONE PROGRAM, MANY STUDIOS
Our readers/listeners sometimes ask us where our books are recorded. The National Library Service for
the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) in Washington DC coordinates recording activities along with
all the other processes on which this service depends.
NLS contracts the book narration out to a variety of companies and organizations with recording studios
set up for audio book production. These include the American Printing House for the Blind in New York,
Magnetix Corporation in Orlando, FL and Potomac Talking Book Services in Bethesda, MD. In addition, NLS
maintains its own studio in Washington DC because being involved in the production of audio books helps
NLS keep abreast of technology and techniques.
E-BOOKS: THE POTENTIAL OF NEW FORMATS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Register now for this mini course scheduled for Tuesday, May 10, 2005 from
9:00 a.m. to noon in Room 108 of the Central Library, Free Library of Philadelphia,
1901 Vine Street. The location is easily reached by public transportation or parking
is available in a lot entered from Callowhill Street. Paratransit riders may wish to
use the accessible ramp on Wood Street.
Dr. Judith M. Dixon, Consumer Relations Officer at the National Library Service
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, is the workshop presenter.
This session will focus on how persons who are blind or have other disabilities that impede
access to print can take advantage of several types of alternate and electronic formats – text,
audio, and braille. A variety of e-book formats, both text and audio (narrated human speech)
will be demonstrated from commercial and specialized publishers. Dr. Dixon will also address
the future of electronic material usable by persons with disabilities and new developments and
their implications for people with disabilities.
There is no cost for the mini course sessions. The Mini Course Series on
Disabilities is a community education program provided to people who are interested
in enhancing their knowledge and skills in innovative approaches and promising practices
for people with disabilities.
The program is sponsored by the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University,
Pennsylvania’s Initiative on Assistive Technology, The Mid-Atlantic Consortium on Accessible
Electronic and Information Technology in Education and the Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
For questions concerning registration, please contact Stephanie Marcella at
215-204-2933 or stephmar@temple.edu.
SUB-LENDING AGENCIES UPDATE
During March, representatives of the Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped/Free Library of Philadelphia, Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped/Carnegie
Library of Pittsburgh and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Libraries met with representatives from many
of the Machine Sub-Lending Agencies located throughout Pennsylvania. We depend upon these agencies,
which are primary County Blind Associations to inform and register eligible readers in their service
areas. We also rely on them to deliver and pick up cassette playback equipment, provide in-house
services, and make referrals to other appropriate agencies.
We would like to remind our blind and visually impaired cassette users that they should contact
their local Sub-Lending Agency for registration information and playback equipment and replacement if
they live in the following counties: Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Chester, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin,
Delaware, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montour, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry,
Pike, Schuylkill, Snyder, Susquehanna, Union, Wayne, Wyoming, and York.
Readers in other counties, as well as patrons with physical and reading disabilities, should
contact the Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped for registration or equipment questions.
ACCESS TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
Mr. Dan Simpson, Access Technology Consultant is available by appointment for
free computer training that will introduce a blind or visually impaired user to the
access technology available to registered library patrons in the Talking Book Center
at the Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. The access
technology is also available at several other Free Library of Philadelphia agencies.
The initial training and evaluation session with Dan is approximately ninety minutes.
To make an appointment with Mr. Dan Simpson, please leave your name and number at
215-686-5411 or with Susan Horvath at the Library, 215-683-3213 or 800-222-1754.
Look for updated software and hardware in the coming months at the LBPH Talking
Book Center and various agencies at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The updated
access technology and the training is possible through a Library Services and Technology
Act (LSTA) grant received from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries in Pennsylvania.
PAFT
PAFT is an alternative way for people to obtain the assistive technology
devices and services they need through affordable loans up to $25,000. This
unique program offers lower interest rates than those of most banks.
Assistive technology is any device or service that helps a person with a
disability live more independently and productively. For more information,
please contact PATF:
102 Pickering Way, Suite 200
Exton, PA 19341
(toll free) 888-744-1938
or email patf@amex.com