KidsNews Newsletter
South Dakota State Library
Braille and Talking Book Library
Spring 2007, Volume 2, Issue 1
Editor: Karen Duenwald
Notes from the Director
Digital Update
Dan Boyd
For the past six months a group of NLS patrons have been doing a pilot test of the NLS Digital Books and Digital Player. The first set of surveys from this group is now in and the initial feedback is very positive.

The pilot tests main goal is to assess such aspects of the usability of digital talking books and playback equipment with regards to the number and placement of navigational markers, audio quality, ease of operation and the overall reading experience.

This is the largest pilot test conducted to date. it included one hundred patrons from across the country. They were selected based on their interest in the project and their technical expertise.

The patrons are currently reviewing a collection of 1,800 books and 12 magazine titles. Download offering reflects the full NLS collection, comprising approximately 55 percent fiction and 45 percent nonfiction titles.

Only titles that were originally recorded in digital audio are included to maximize the usefulness of the text data. The results appear to confirm that NLS is approaching the move to digital in the appropriate manner and that the development is on the right path. Research and Development Officer Neil Bernstein stated that, "Only when you put this technology into patrons' hands do you really understand how well or poorly it functions.

The rest of the steps in the move to digital to be started during 2007 and completed in 2008 are: Flash-cartridge production, Flash-cartridge duplication, Manufacture initial lot of Digital Talking Book containers and labels, and full digital player production.

The start of digital talking book players being shipped to patrons will begin in 2008 and will continue for three years before all library patrons in the US will have access to a player. Beginning in 2008, libraries will start receiving digital books along with the continuation of new titles being added to the cassette collection. Beginning in 2011, new titles will no longer be added to the cassette collection. All new titles will be digital - on flash memory.

The cassette players and the cassette collection we remain in use for another five years or until about 2015.


Important!!
Remember to return any or all books, including textbooks, or extra machines to the Braille and Talking Book Library when you have finished. Others may be waiting for the chance to enjoy them also.


NLS/BPH Digital Talking Book Player and Cartridge
The National Library Service will begin distributing new digital talking book machines and books on flash memory cartridges in 2008.

Here are some features of the new digital talking book machine:
  • 24-hour battery life, with capacity to recharge in two hours.
  • One-third the size and one-half the weight of the current cassette (C1) machine.
  • Turns off after 30 minutes of non-play.
  • Sleep mode available.
  • No moving parts.
  • Built in audio prompts make it easy to learn how to operate the machine.
  • Significantly better audio quality than the C1.
  • Large, well-spaced, color-coded control keys that are easier to press.
  • Full range remote control.
  • Remembers where you left off (if you are reading more than one book).
Features of the new digital talking books:
  • 95 percent of the titles will fit on one cartridge.
  • Slightly smaller than cassettes but easy to insert with an audible signal when inserted.
  • Large print labeling with Braille.
  • The cartridge needs no rewinding.



2007 Summer Reading Program
The 2007 Governors Summer Reading Program sponsored by the South Dakota Braille and Talking Book Library and supported by the South Dakota Lion's Foundation will run from June 11 through July 20, 2007.

"Get a Clue @ Your Library" is the theme of this year's program. The program is open to all registered students of the Braille and Talking Book Library between the ages of 7 to15. The reader's are broken into age divisions: 7 to 9 years, 10 to 12 years, and 13 to 15 year olds. The readers can only read recorded books or Braille books for the program. Participants are required to submit written or oral book reports. They may receive assistance in writing the report. The student submitting the most book reports will be the winner in their age division. Incentives are mailed throughout the program. The more book reports returned the more prizes they receive. Each age division has a winner in the recorded format and in the Braille format. Plaques will be awarded to the first, second, and third place winners in the recorded and braille division. The first place winners receive their plaques at an awards program in August. The awards program is attended by the winner's and their family and includes a luncheon and special program.

A registration form for the program may be obtained from the Braille and Talking Book Library. We encourage students to participate as this gives them the opportunity to do recreational reading during the summer. Students are encouraged to choose their books. The program may be incorporated into summer school that requires reading novels. For more information call the Braille and Talking Book Library at 1-800-423-6665 and ask for Mary.


Arthur books written by Marc Brown
Since 1976, Marc Brown has written and illustrated more than thirty Arthur and D.W. books. Our library has the following:
  • Audio Cassettes
    • Arthur's Pet Business RC 41178
    • Arthur's Eyes RC 41678
    • Arthur's New Puppy RC 41874
    • Arthur's Family Treasury: 3 adventures in 1 volume RC 50951
    • Arthur's April Fool RC 59205
    • Arthur and the Race to Read RC 60924
    • Arthur and the Seventh-Inning Stretcher RC 60934
    • Arthur and the Recess Rookie RC 60935
    • Arthur and the Best Coach Ever RC 60936
    • Arthur and the Goalie Ghost RC 61315
    • Arthur and the Pen-Pal Playoff RC 61316
  • Descriptive Videos
    • Arthur Writes a Story DVS 00200
    • Arthur's Lost Library Book DVS 00201
    • Arthur's Teacher Trouble DVS 00203
    • Arthur's Pet Business DVS 00204
    • Arthur's Chicken Pox DVS 00205
    • Arthur's Baby DVS 00206
    • Arthur's New Baby DVS 00208
    • Arthur's First Sleepover DVS 00210
    • Arthur's Tooth DVS 00212

New Fiction Books for Junior & Senior High Readers
    Here are some books that girls may enjoy:
  • A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life Dana Reinhardt. RC 62432
    Sixteen-year-old Simone, happy in her adoptive family - agrees to meet her birth mother. She revises her views on religion, love, relationships, and herself on losing battle with cancer.
  • Honey, Baby, Sweetheart Deb Caletti. RC 59694
    Ruby McQueen, age 16, and her mother help an elderly member of their book club reunite with a lost love. Nat'l Book Award Finalist.
  • The Wedding Dress Virginia Ellis. RC 59879
    In Post-Civil War Virginia, three sisters work their ravaged farm. A wedding dress is sewn for a sister hoping a groom appears. A soldier brings another sister her husband's dying words. While the third sister's husband returns blind from battle.
  • Ask Me No Questions Marina Budhos. RC 62372
    The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, drive the undocumented Bangladeshi family of fourteen-year-old Nadira and her older sister Aisha to flee New York for Canada. Border agents arrent their father, leaving Aisha fighting to the family's rights.
  • I'll Watch the Moon Ann Tatlock. RC 61357
    St. Paul, Minnesota; 1948. When nine-year-old Nova Tierney's older brother Dewey contracts polio, she is quarantined for the summer. Nova and her mother befriend a concentration camp survivor who helps restore the mother's faith in God.
    Here are some books that boys may enjoy:
  • Peeps Scott Westerfeld. RC 62387
    Nineteen-year-old New York City college student Cal becomes infected with a parasite that causes vampirism. Partially immune, Cal joins an organization that tracks down sick "peeps," including his exgirlfriend. Cal falls in love with Lace, but can't risk her health.
  • Reaper Man: A Discworld Novel Terry Pratchett. RC 62676
    Discworld reality auditors force Death into early retirement. While the Grim Reaper enjoys his time off, AnkhMorpork succumbs to chaos and unrest - literally .
  • Hollywood Hustle: Son of the Mob, Book 2 Gordon Korman. RC 62527
    Following Son of the Mob - RC 62117, BR 14671 - Vince Luca, son of a mobster, and girlfriend Kendra Bightly, daughter of an FBI agent, move to Los Angeles for college. Vince enjoys his film classes until his older brother arrives.
  • Full Service Will Weaver. RC 61927
    In the summer of 1965, teenager Paul Sutton, a northern Minnesota farm boy, takes a job at a gas station in town. His strict religious upbringing is challenged by the people and situations he encounters.
  • Every Man for Himself: Ten Short Stories about Being a Guy edited by Nancy E. Mercado. RC 61758
    Ten diverse short stories by well-known authors illustrate events that can shape a boy into a man. In Walter Dean Myers's "The Prom Prize" Fly raffles himself off for a date. In "Shockers" Steve finds a mentor in his girlfriend's father.
  • Hitch Jeanette Ingold. RC 61652
    in 1935, Seventeen-year-old Moss joins the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Moss learns to lead other men while working.

New Fiction Books for Younger Readers
    For grades kindergarten - 3:
  • Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm RC 58213
  • No Time for Mother's Day RC 59140
  • Jess and the Stinky Cowboys RC 59159
  • Iris and Walter and the Substitute Teacher RC 59213
  • Junie B., First Grader: Boo ... and I Mean It! RC 59229
  • Gus and Grandpa and the Piano Lesson RC 59242
  • Pearl and Wagner: Three Secrets RC 59390
  • Punctuation Takes a Vacation RC 59407
  • Andy and the Lion: A Tale of Kindness Remembered... RC 61829
    For grades 2- 4:
  • Rotten Ralph Feels Rotten: Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader RC 59206
  • Amber Brown Wants Extra Credit RC 59347
  • Hocus Focus RC 59381
  • Winter of the Ice Wizard: Magic Tree House, Book 32 RC 59444
  • Judy Moody RC 59948
  • Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid RC 60667
  • Gooney Bird and the Room Mother RC 61256
    For grades 3-6:
  • The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Treasury RC 59857
  • More Perfect than the Moon RC 60919
  • The Artsy Smartsy Club: A Hoboken Chicken Story RC 61114
  • One Final Firecracker: The Hamlet Chronicles RC 61453
  • Enemy Spy: Shredderman, Book 4 RC 62285
  • Annie and the Old One RC 62374
  • Nanny McPhee: The Collected Tales of Nurse Matilda RC 62380
    For grades 4-7:
  • Doing Time Online RC 57875
  • The Grim Grotto: A Series of Unfortunate Events, #11 RC 59697
  • The Marvelous Land of Oz RC 61110
  • Lunch Money RC 61147
  • The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters,... RC 61553
  • Revenge of the Sith: Star Wars, Episode III RC 61807
  • Peter and the Starcatchers RC 62169
    For grades 5-8:
  • The Ribbajack and Other Curious Yarns RC 59163
  • The Artemis Fowl Files RC 59937
  • Tracker RC 61479
  • Inkspell RC 61571
  • Heartbeat RC 62114
  • The Perilous Gard RC 62116
  • The Black Pearl RC 62509
    For grades 6-9:
  • A Boy No More RC 59432
  • Enna Burning RC 60327
  • The Boy from the Basement RC 60881
  • Eragon RC 61002
  • The Legend of Buddy Bush RC 61076
  • Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws RC 61459
  • Grace Happens RC 61744
  • Young Warriors: Stories of Strength RC 61916
  • The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp RC 62068
  • Shadow on the Stars: The Great Tree of Avalon, #2 RC 62081

Google Accessible Search
If you have done any web searching you have probably gotten frustrated with the advertisements and all the "junk" that fills the screen. Even without that, complex, graphical designs that pack a lot of information into web pages create much difficulty for low vision users who rely on screen magnifiers, and blind web searchers who rely on a screen reader to convert text into spoken words waste a lot of time identifying and skipping over extraneous page content.

To combat this, Google recently launched a new search site designed for use by people with visual disabilities. Google Accessible Search favors pages with few visual distractions, giving priority to pages that do the best job of balancing pertinent data with solid design, sorting the sites based on simplicity of page layout, quality of design, and the organization and labeling of information on each page.


Student Aid Available at www.studentaid.ed.gov
The U.S. Department of Education office has a variety of information resources available for blind and visually impaired students considering enrolling in or currently enrolled in education beyond high school. An audio guide is available at www.studentaid.ed.gov. It contains information on eligibility, notification, loan repayments and deferments as well as information on non-federal sources of aid. Other print guides are available online at this same site through the use of a screen reader. The braille version can be ordered by calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243.


Congress Approves Coin to Honor Louis Braille
Congress has authorized the U.S. Mint to produce a commemorative silver dollar honoring the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille's birth. Braille created the tactile alphabet bearing his name while a teenager.

The Mint will produce up to 400,000 silver-dollar commemorative coins in 2009. Coins will feature an image of Louis Braille and raised dots that spell the word contraction for braille, brl. The legislation authorized a $10 surcharge be added to the cost of each coin. This money is designated to support programs for the blind.


Holiday Closings
The Braille and Talking Book Library will be closed on the following holidays:
  • Memorial Day - May 28
  • Independence Day - July 4
The Kid's News, published quarterly, is our means of communication with the younger patrons of the Braille and Talking Book Library. The Kid's News is available in braille, on cassette, in large print, or on a diskette upon request and is posted on our website: www.sdstatelibrary.com/b&tb

If you have any questions or comments you would like to address, or wish to request this newsletter in alternative format, please contact the Braille and Talking Book Library.

The South Dakota Braille and Talking Book Library does not endorse any product or service listed in this newsletter.