Talking Books-ILAB Book Club has breakfast with bestselling author

On Saturday February 27th some members of the Talking Books-ILAB (Independent Living for the Adult Blind) Book Club had the pleasure of having breakfast at the Omni hotel with bestselling author Chris Bohjalian. Our thanks go out to Mrs. Maggie Hightower and the Jacksonville Public Library Foundation for graciously providing us with this opportunity. Mr. Bohjalian was in Jacksonville that weekend for the JPL Foundation's 2010 Much Ado About Books festival and our book club had just read his novel The Double Bind as February's book club selection. Everyone in attendance enjoyed themselves and Mr. Bohjalian was very entertaining and informative in regard to his experiences as an author, the current state of publishing, the themes of his books and many other subjects. His experience at this breakfast with avid readers who cannot read standard print because of a disability has made him aware of the need for books available in accessible formats. He has pledged to make sure that all of his books are available to anyone who wishes to read them and continue to promote this as a worthy cause to authors, publishers and anyone who might help make books more accessible. The breakfast was delicious and everyone at the table received a complimentary copy of Mr. Bohjalian's latest novel Secrets of Eden.

Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired

Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired is a website created by a visually impaired individual with the sole purpose of providing useful online information to those who are blind or have a visual disability. The website is structured in a way that makes it easily navigable for screen reading programs. A significant portion of this website is dedicated to employment resources for those who are blind or have a visual disability and includes an extensive list of consulting services and other organizations that match employers to disabled job seekers. There are also links to free screen reading programs as well as a list of Windows keyboard shortcuts which are applicable to those programs. All of this information is available at the following link: http://visuallyimpairedandtheblind.com/About.html

Customers on waiting list begin receiving digital Talking Book player

The new Talking Book digital player is now going out to those registered Talking Book readers who had placed their name on a waiting list. As of January 2010 the digital player has been sent to all veterans of the United States Armed Forces and those centenarians who requested one. The Talking Book library is still taking requests from customers who wish to receive Talking Books on digital format. We want to remind our customers that the digital Talking Book collection is much smaller than the audio cassette collection and, per state guidelines, customers are only eligible to have 4 digital Talking Books at a time. It is in most of our customer's best interest to continue reading Talking books on cassette even after they have received a digital player due to the greater availability and wider scope of the collection on cassette. Talking Book customers can expect to have a dual service of Talking Books on cassette and digital cartridge for a few years as the digital collection grows and the cassette collection is phased out.

Starting a Talking Book Club?

Have you read any interesting Talking Books that you would like to discuss with other avid readers? Do you live in a nursing home or assisted living community where other Talking Book readers reside? If you would like information about starting a Talking Book Club call the Talking Book Library at 630-1999 for information about recruiting members, selecting titles, finding discussion questions and holding meetings. The Talking Book Library currently supports 3 active book clubs for users of Talking Books.

VisionAWARE.org

VisionAWARE.org is a free website that serves as a self-help resource center for someone experiencing vision loss, their family, friends and professionals who specialize in various visual impairments. The website itself features accessibility options such as adjustable font sizes and the ability to change the contrast of the screen. There are exhaustive lists of state and national organizations that provide services and products to assist someone coping with vision loss. For those seeking to understand the changes that they are going through there is information in the 'Learning' section that details the inner workings of the eye and the conditions that may impair vision. In the 'Living' section you will find information pertaining to modifying one's home environment and the basics for gettting around. If you or someone you know is beginning to experience vision loss I think you will find this website to be a good starting point for the information, care and counseling that you might need. http://www.visionaware.org/

Change in Closed Caption Movie Series

The Closed Caption Movie series is now being held on the first Thursday of each month. The movies are still being shown in the Main Library Auditorium at 10:30am. Here is the link to the ongoing movie series:
http://www.jaxpubliclibrary.org/progs/main/main_ccseries.html
If you have any questions please call 630-1999.

Free Hearing Aids for the Needy

The Northeast Florida Lions Club chapter offers free hearing aids to those who do not have adequate income or resources to obtain one. The Northeast Florida Hearing Aid bank is located in Jacksonville and collects used hearing aids from the public and repairs them if necessary. The Lions Club relies on the volunteered assistance of local audiologists to conduct hearing exams and fit each recipient with the proper hearing aid. An application must be completed in order to receive a hearing aid. Here is the link to the online application: http://www.district35l.org/uploads/Hearing_Aid_Appilication_08.pdf The Lions Club is also accepting monetary donations in order to acquire hearing aids for those that have a specific need.