Talking Book review

This post marks the first installment of a series of weekly book reviews submitted by a long-time Talking Book customer, Erica. She will be reviewing books written by and about people who have a visual disability, the Independent Living for the Adult Blind Book Club monthly selection as well as fiction and nonfiction titles of interest.

Book Review on Taking Hold: My Journey Into Blindness by Sally Hobart Alexander

RC/DB 40247 (DB available for download only). Alexander's story of her adjustment to blindness reads like a gripping suspense novel with all the makings. She was a fit and healthy third-grade teacher when she first noticed a black line flit across her eye and disappear. After a series of various doctor appointments, temporary vision losses, and numerous hospital stays, she gradually realized that at some point she would be completely blind. She began to learn Braille and eventually checked into a center to learn new life skills. Her emphasis is not on the hospitals and the rehab center but on coming to grips with her disability and all the accompanying emotions of fear, anger, despair, loneliness, and acceptance. Her tension-filled relationship with her boyfriend is realistically portrayed. Since the ending downplays the serious obstacles she has yet to face, the story is uplifting, inspiring, and encouraging. Readers will find the pages turning quickly not wanting the book to end.

Attention Braille Volunteers!!!

The Temple Sisterhood Braille Group is looking for volunteers to train as Braille transcribers. The group meets at Congregation Ahavath Chesed at 8727 San Jose Blvd. For many years this group of volunteers has transcribed all different types of printed material into Braille. The Talking Book Library often refers students who need education materials such as textbooks to this group. Throughout the year the group works to transcribe printed materials for local organizations such as the Florida Instructional Material Center, Duval and Clay County Schools, and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind as well as filling requests submitted from other parts of the country. Training classes for men and women over 18 are on Thursday mornings. You can reach the Temple Sisterhood Braille Group at (904) 955-8831.

E-newsletter

Due to a temporary shut-down of newsletter printing and distribution at our regional center in Daytona Beach the Jacksonville Talking Book Library is offering its latest installment of our quarterly newsletter, The Insight, in electronic format. You can access the Spring 2013 newsletter at the following link: www.jaxpubliclibrary.org/lib/pubs/Insightspring13.pdf
As of today we don't expect to print and mail another newsletter until sometime this Fall. If you would like to receive a printed version of our newsletter please call our office at 630-1999 and a staff member will try to send a copy to you.
We apologize for the inconvenience.

Continuing Digital Magazine transition

Our customers who subscribe to audio magazines are beginning to see them delivered on digital cartridges. These are the state produced magazines which are now only available in anthology groupings. Individual titles are no longer available. The anthologies will be distributed every 2 months and are grouped into 7 separate categories: Senior Living, Women's Interest, Men's Interest, General Interest, Youth and Young Adult, Literary/Historical/Cultural and Spanish Language.

It is very important that all of our customers know that these cartridges must be returned to the location they were issued from. The cartridges will circulate just like ordinary digital Talking Books with a postage-paid mailing card; the only difference being the color of the cartridge and mailing container. Failure to consistently return the cartridges will result in the suspension of a customer's audio magazine subscription.

Customers who subscribe to audio magazines may find it easier to navigate the new anthology cartridges with the advanced digital Talking Book machine rather than the standard digital Talking Book machine. In this case customers who currently have the standard machine may request that it be switched with an advanced machine. 

The image below lists each magazine title per anthology grouping.

Perhaps as soon as next month Florida residents who subscribe to federally produced audio magazines will begin to receive them on digital cartridge as well. We will pass along the information regarding this digital transition in a future post.

Cars for Blind People

Motor vehicle independence for the blind and visually impaired is being improved by the development of both self-driving vehicles and sensory driven vehicles.

In October 2010 Google unveiled a self-driving automated car that allows drivers to travel to pre-programmed locations. In essence the driver isn't actually "driving" the car so much so that he or she is going along for a ride. As part of the car's sophisticated on board technology are cameras, radar and lasers that aid in navigation. Google's self-driving car will give visually impaired drivers the freedom to choose their own destination(s), change the route as needed and experience the independence that other drivers enjoy. 

In February 2011 Mark Riccobono, a blind executive at the National Federation of the Blind, drove a Ford Escape at 25 mph around the Daytona International Speedway while dodging obstacles thrown from another vehicle. The event was part of the Blind Driver Challenge and the car had been equipped with an array of sensory equipment, laser-range finders and global positioning that provided cues on how to navigate the race track.The development of this vehicle is a major advancement for blind drivers in that it allows a blind individual to "drive" the car and not just ride along. The vehicle's sensory equipment included features that allowed the driver to experience tactile, physical stimuli integrated into the steering wheel and driver's seat that compensated for the lack of visual stimuli. Furthermore, the continuing development of sensory driven vehicles for those who are visually disabled will invariably lead to advancements in safety and operation of standard vehicles such as devices that alert a driver when a vehicle is in their "blind spot" or assisting drivers in navigating in conditions like fog that impair visibility.

Magazines on Digital Cartridge

A summer 2012 edition of Talking Book Topics informed Talking Book readers that audio magazines are beginning the transition to the digital cartridge medium. We have now learned that circulation of audio magazines on digital cartridge will begin in early 2013. With this implementation, production and distribution of audio magazines on cassette format will cease.

The digital audio magazine format will be nearly identical to the digital audio book format. The only exceptions are that the digital audio magazine cartridges are blue and their mailing containers are red. Both cartridges play the same in the standard and advanced digital Talking Book machines. Some cartridges may contain multiple issues of the magazine to which a reader has subscribed. In this case, the cartridge will include audio instructions describing how a reader may navigate among the separate issues.

Digital audio magazines will be circulated according to the print magazine’s regular frequency like the audio cassette magazines were. All digital audio magazine cartridges must be returned as they are recycled and rerecorded. Inability to promptly return the cartridges may result in a reader’s service being interrupted.

For more information contact the Jacksonville Talking Book Library at 630-1999.

New Hours for the Talking Book Library

Beginning October 1st the Talking Book Library will have new public service area hours. The hours will be:

Monday, Thursday & Friday - 10am to 6pm
Tuesday & Wednesday - 11am to 6pm

We would like all of our customers to know that staff members can still be reached via phone at 9am.

For more information on the changes to the operational hours of the Jacksonville Public Library please visit the following website: http://jpl.coj.net/lib/branches/index-fy13.html