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.

Looking for articles in accessible formats?

The Jacksonville Public Library now offers an updated feature of the Gale database called 'Gale Powersearch' which includes Readspeaker technology that converts text to speech. Each article includes an embedded audio interface for activating the Readspeaker technology. There is also the option to download articles as mp3 files for listening to at a later date. Currently Gale Powersearch searches 24 databases of more than 20,000 publications with 55,000,000 documents. This form of added accessibility should prove useful to students or anyone else with a visual disability who is conducting research for school or personal reasons. To find Gale Powersearch visit the Jacksonville Public Library's website at http://www.jaxpubliclibrary.org/. Click on the link titled 'E-Research' in the 'Resources' category. This will lead you to an alphabetical listing of the library's databases;

scroll down to find Gale Powersearch. Call the Talking Book Library at 630-1999 or the Jacksonville Public Library at 630-2665 for more information.

PCs for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The Texas Center for the Physically Impaired offers free computers to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Actually, the computer is free but there is a $100 charge to cover packing, shipping and replacement parts. The computers that they provide have been refurbished by a staff of volunteers and include a monitor, keyboard, CD-ROM, modem and speakers. Also included are a word processing program, an email program and demo versions of two adaptive technology programs: Window-Eyes and Zoomtext. This service is available to any visually impaired person in the United States. Before receiving a computer an applicant must first be willing to listen to several audiocassettes that teach basic computer use. For more information call (214) 340-6328. Visit their website at the following address: http://www.handicapability.org/computers.html