Inside this Issue


Notes from the Editor

By Josh Easter

Spring can be a time of renewal and change. Changing seasons on earth and in life can be rocky but also revitalizing.

Lynette is retiring after joining us in the Braille and Talking Book Library in 2018. We are going to miss her greatly! She included her parting words in this newsletter. Our team is stepping up to make sure we continue services to ensure 'That All May Read.'

Watch your mail or email and our Facebook page for more information about our 2025 summer reading program happening in July and August.

Parting words from Lynette

An excerpt from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll:

"The time has come,' the Walrus said, To talk of many things: Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax - Of cabbages - and kings - And why the sea is boiling hot - And whether pigs have wings.'"

Yes, fellow readers, my time has come. It's time to turn the page and start the next chapter. I will be retiring. My last day with Accessible Library Services is Friday, May 23.

When I started working here, seven years ago, I wasn't sure what this job would be like. I've always liked to read, and I have a huge bookcase at home, which still holds the books I got from Santa in the second grade. I had worked at the Sturgis Public Library for seven years, back in the "olden days" when we still had a card catalog and only two computers. I was working at an eye clinic when this position became open, and I heard many patients ask the doctor, "Will I still be able to read?" after being diagnosed with certain visual impairments. That nearly broke my heart, because I cannot imagine not being able to read. So, when I saw this job advertised, I applied right away without really even reading the job description. I guess I applied because the job description had the words "library" and "reader" in it.

All I've ever done my entire adult life is customer service, but honestly, I don't like talking on the phone. Yet, here I am, seven years later, on the phone with you, and really enjoying it. I've become friends with some of you and recognize your number even before your name pops up on caller ID. I've heard about your trips south for the winter and about the new grandbabies. I celebrated your 100th birthday and felt sad when we lost a reader who had read thousands of books in their lifetime. I have a list of book recommendations from you that I probably never would've picked up on my own, or even heard of. I got to see your smiling faces at our quarterly Social Clubs. You've made a difference in my life, and I hope I've made a difference in yours. I think I have.

In my introduction in the Prairie Trails newsletter seven years ago, I said, "I love dogs, reading, going to movies and laughing with good friends. I enjoy a good margarita and looking at cookbooks even though I have no intention of cooking." Those things have not changed. Now I just have a much longer list of books to read!

The staff of Accessible Library Services remains here to help you. This is an incredibly rewarding job, and I have no doubt you will continue to receive the best service they can give. Please - keep reading. After all, we need to find out "whether pigs have wings."

Lynette’s final day in the office
Lynette's final day in the office. Staff pictured L to R: Josh Easter, Lynette Thum, Jack Mortenson, Barb Nicholas, Jeanette Munyer, Ginny Kaus

Adult Winter Reading Challenge 2025 and Spring Social Club

The Adult Winter Reading Challenge 2025 once again included six books on a custom cartridge, five by South Dakota authors and one that was not. 21 patrons signed up for the challenge with 13 returning a questionnaire to be put into a drawing. The six books were:

  • Accidental Rancher — Eliza Blue DBS004902
  • Little & Often — Trent Preszler DBS004908
  • Vanished in Vermillion — Lou Raguse DB120546
  • The Cheyenne River Mission Quilts, Mission Quilts Series, book 1 — Jan Cerney DBS004910
  • The Boarding School Quilts, Mission Quilts Series, book 2 — Jan Cerney DBS004911
  • The Day the World Came to Town — Jim DeFede, which is the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical, Come From Away, and does not take place in South Dakota. DB092429

For the Spring Social Club, we did not have a guest speaker and just talked about the six books. Sometimes it's best not to have a plan but just let people start talking! It was very enjoyable and patrons liked all the books. The winner of the drawing was Rich C from Sioux Falls. The prize was a basket full of spring and Easter items.

We've already started planning for the Summer Reading Challenge. More details in the near future.

Youth Winter Reading Program 2025

We held the 2025 youth winter reading program in February and March. We added a month for youth to participate so they have the same period as the adults. Students who returned their charts received an APH Paint by Number Safari tactile coloring book.

Adult Reading Challenge, Summer 2025

Interested readers contact their reader advisor to sign up to receive a customized Adult Reading Challenge cartridge with 6 books from various genres. This is a chance to try something new and maybe discover a different author. Participants answer a short questionnaire, and a prize drawing is held at the end of the program. 2025 summer reading program is in July and August.

  • Golf 2 Tango 4: The Story of an American GI by Dale H. Petersen, DBS004918
  • Honoring Anna: Book 1 by Douglas Hoff, DBS004914
  • Sturgis Stories: Celebrating the People of the World's Largest Motorcycle Rally by Thomas G. Endres, DBS004901
  • The Divorce Colony: how women revolutionized marriage and found freedom on the American frontier by April White, DB109259
  • Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy (South Dakota Biography, 6) by Etulain, Richard W. Etulain, DBS004906
  • The Birdcage Quilts: Mission Quilts Series, Book 3 by Jan Cerney, DBS004912

Youth Summer Reading Program, Summer 2025

Open to all registered library patrons ages birth to 19, Participants are asked to read at least 20 minutes every day for eight weeks during July and August.

A reading chart is sent to each participant. To be eligible for the grand prize, just mark the chart for each day you read at least 20 minutes and return the chart at the end of August.

Senior High students can also participate in the Adult Summer Reading Challenges.

Attention Continuing Care Facilities Staff

This is a big thank you from Jeanette Munyer:

YOU, the wonderful Activity Directors, and other facility staff matter! (I don't want to leave anyone out.)

I know that you are all so busy in the important job of helping people. I want to thank you for all that you do because you brighten the world of many!

Braille and Talking Books also matters!! It is completely free! Thank you for getting Talking Books to your residents!

It is easy to apply and qualify. Let me know if you have questions, you can email or even mail, or call me 605-773-6609 and we can do the application over the phone. I will fill it out for you! Email jeanette.munyer@state.sd.us

Application https://library.sd.gov/ALS/apply.aspx

South Dakota Collection

The following books are added to the South Dakota collection.

Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy

Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy book cover

By Richard W. Etulain

Best remembered as the man who carried the United States through a civil war and emancipated four million slaves, Abraham Lincoln has been the subject of nearly seventeen thousand books. While historians have chronicled his life and presidency, they rarely go beyond his assassination by John Wilkes Booth on 14 April 1865 to look at his legacy in the American West.

Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy reveals how the sixteenth president shaped the country beyond the Mississippi River. Having grown up on the frontier and taken part in its political development, Lincoln often turned his attention westward after becoming president. By overseeing policies such as the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railroad Act and making key political appointments, Lincoln opened American Indian lands to settlers who forever changed the landscape and laid the foundation for the regions modern politics and identity.

Author Richard W. Etulain focuses on Lincoln's role in remaking the West while providing a concise overview of his life. He also advances Lincoln scholarship by looking at efforts to memorialize the president in the decades following his assassination. Etulain's original research, including his use of correspondence between local figures such as Senator Peter Norbeck and historian Doane Robinson, provides unique insight into the discussions that led to Lincoln's immortalization on a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy is the first book in the Mount Rushmore Subseries of the South Dakota Biography Series highlighting the presidents depicted on the national memorial and other figures connected with its history.

DBS004906

Honoring Anna: Book 1

Honoring Anna: Book 1 book cover

Honoring Anna: Book 1
By Douglas Hoff

Even at the tender age of nine, Anna Ingevich knows her life will never be the same when her mom, Karin, dies at the age of thirty. Anna's father, Bjorn, is a hard man-but that is what living in Norway requires. Life does not get any easier for her when he marries Marion, who already has three children of her own. As the days go on, she begins to ask herself one question, over and over: "How do I escape Norway and get to America?" Iver Olson loves his family in Norway, but as a boy at the docks, he begins to hear about a faraway paradise called America. A land of milk and honey, they say, where farm ground was so abundant that the government just gave it away. He knows he must go there. Rasmus Johnson was born to love wood and to create not just homes or pieces of furniture, but works of art and family heirlooms. As a young man, he falls in love with his childhood friend and sweetheart, and tells her of his dream to start a new life in America. Follow three Norwegian immigrants circa 1900 on their journeys of love, courage, and honor in Honoring Anna. 2018 (a volunteer is currently working on the 2nd book)

DBS004914

Golf 2 Tango 4: The Story of an American GI

Golf 2 Tango 4: The Story of an American GI book cover

Golf 2 Tango 4: The Story of an American GI
By Dale H. Petersen

In July 1969 a young American GI-barely 21 years old and enticed into the military just a year prior by his dream of flying-finds himself on a plane bound for South Vietnam and the 101st Airborne Division as a CH-47 Chinook helicopter pilot. So begins a year-long journey in a combat zone of the Vietnam War-a journey of fear and exhilaration, pain and joy, sadness and survival. Surprises of both grief and delight pockmark the daily grind and accompanying countdown to the day he can fly back home to the USA (called by soldiers simply "the world") on the wings of a Freedom Bird. But the one-year journey in Vietnam was also the beginning of another journey-a spiritual journey of self-identity-which would take a lifetime to unfold. In his memoir, Dale Petersen uses descriptive prose and excerpts from letters to give the reader an intensely personal view of that life-shaping experience over 37 years ago. Golf 2 Tango 4 takes readers back in time to what it felt like to be 21, homesick and unsure of what lay ahead...but willing to reach down inside for the courage to find out.

DBS004918

The Birdcage Quilts: Mission Quilts Series, Book 3

The Birdcage Quilts: Mission Quilts Series, Book 3 book cover

By Jan Cerney

As in most communities, relationships and kinships develop, revealing some surprising connections. For women, quilting and sewing become measures to maintain sanity and celebrate life's events. Elijah and Evangeline encounter financial challenges that threaten to change the Mission forever. Will Evangeline's return East secure a solution or just uncover secrets from her first marriage? 2015. (the fourth book should be available this summer)

DBS004912

What We've Been Up To

January 27, 2025, Josh shared an update on new equipment and ways of accessing Braille and Talking Books with staff of the state Services to the Blind and Visually Impaired during their online staff meeting.

February 11-13, 2025, Josh, George, and Kathleen traveled to southeast South Dakota and visited libraries and other partners. They went to Sioux Falls Siouxland Libraries Downtown Branch, Wegner Health Sciences Library, Harrisburg Community Library, Beresford Public Library, Vermillion Public Library, USD I.D. Weeks Library, Yankton Community Library, Gregory Public Library, Tripp County Library (Winner). They went to the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls to visit Pheasantland Industries Braille Shop/Tactile Graphics where textbooks in accessible Braille/Large Print/Tactile Graphics and more are created. We visited the Yankton Federal Prison Camp where we have talking book recording studios and a talking book machine repair unit.

March 3, 2025 Josh's interview with SDPB's Lori Walsh was broadcast "How public libraries became 'palaces for the people.'" SD Public Broadcasting then replayed the interview on April 29, 2025. More requests for Josh to present have come from this.

March 17-20, 2025, Josh attended the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference in Indianapolis, IN. KLAS (Keystone Library Automated System) is the ILS (Integrated Library System) we use for the Braille and Talking Book Library. Josh is the Vice President of the KLAS Users' group. May 11, 2025, Josh had a booth at the 2025 Optometric Society Spring Convention in Sioux Falls, SD. He visited with optometrists and others involved in the field of work about our services.

Josh Easter in front of the Indiana State Capitol building.
Josh Easter in front of the Indiana State Capitol building. The 2025 KLAS Users' Conference was held at the State Library in Indianapolis


March 18-19, 2025, we had a booth at the 2025 South Dakota Special Education Conference at the Rapid City The Monument Convention Center. It was manned by Kathleen Slocum.

This was a great opportunity to share how we can support and partner with educators.

We provide library services for all South Dakota citizens with standard print reading disabilities. We also help South Dakota students access textbooks and educational materials in accessible formats, including Braille, large print, Print/Braille (Twin Vision), and resources for those with standard print disabilities (including dyslexia and others).

State Library booth at SPED Conference


Wednesday, April 2, 2025 we had a presence at a Transition Services Liaison Project (TSLP) workshop in Fort Pierre, SD.

Our Talking Books Reader Advisor and Cataloger was invited to speak.

Michelle Loffelmacher shared about her journey of early challenges (including dyslexia) in school and college, finding and building her own tools and resources for success, and building a career, and the importance of growing and learning while being her authentic self. She shared how talking books made a difference in her growing up and education along with organizations along the way including vocational rehab.

We had a vendor booth as well to share about our library and educational services manned by manager Kathleen Slocum. She connected with multiple educators and students.

The mission of Transition Services Liaison Project (TSLP) is to enable students with disabilities to reach their maximum potential in their transition from high school to the adult world. TSLP staff members provide support and technical assistance to students, families, and local education agencies seeking information on transition planning.

TSLP is funded by SD Special Education Programs Office and Division of Rehabilitation Services, with Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC) being the program management agency.

Michelle Loffelmacher holding up a tape cassette player from the 1980s.


April 11, 2025, Josh had a booth at the 2025 Optometric Society Spring Convention in Sioux Falls, SD. He visited with optometrists and others involved in the field of work about our services.

May 14, 2025, Josh presented the history of the SD Braille and Talking Book Library and our current services to the group OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) in Brookings, SD to about a dozen in-person and more on Zoom for almost an hour and a half.

May 23, 2025, was reader advisor Lynette Thum's final day in the office before retirement. We had parties for her on May 21 & 22.

Gifts and Donations

The SD Braille and Talking Book Library thanks all our generous donors who have contributed to the library in the past several months.

  • Doug Puetz
  • In Memory of library patron Joyce Ann Lerdal
    - Davis and Kathryn Szott; Joellen and Kenneth Kimball; Terri and Daniel Tjaden; Kim and Sean Skelton; Peter Hoeger & Debra Lerdal; Daniel and Catherine Heinemann; and Women Who Read Book Club – Peg Carls, Rhonda Berg, Kim Schutt, Irene Jensen, Jo Ellen Kimball, Naomi Shadis, Mary Ann Cauchy, Joan Ewald, Kay Voigt, Jeanne Lango, Lisa Schoelerman, Emily Marino

Gifts and bequests that are donated to the Braille and Talking Book Library are used to enhance the services that we provide. We appreciate the generosity of those who give, and we miss patrons honored with memorials. All donations are considered charitable donations and therefore are tax-deductible. When donating, please include the address of those to be notified for memorials or donations in honor of a special occasion or person.

The donations that you make are used to help us better serve our patrons. Donations have been used to support programs including the summer/winter reading program, provide DVDs with descriptive audio, and honor volunteers or our readers who are 100 years old or older. You can designate a specific purpose for your gift. If you have any questions, call your reader advisor.

Donations can be sent to:
SD Accessible Library Services
800 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501-2235

Please make checks payable to the "SD Accessible Library Services."
Thank you for helping to enhance and improve library services.

Holiday Closings

The Library will be closed for the following holiday(s). Please plan to order your books accordingly. Keep in mind that the books you return will take longer to reach us. You may want to order extra books at least one week in advance of the following holidays:

  • Friday, July 4, 2025 - Independence Day
  • Monday, September 1, 2025 - Labor Day
  • Monday, October 13, 2025 - Native American Day
  • Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - Veteran's Day
  • Thursday, November 27, 2025 - Thanksgiving Day
  • Thursday, December 25, 2025 - Christmas

Be prepared for interruptions in service due to weather events. You can ask your reader advisor about possibly increasing the number of books you receive so you don't run out. Or ask about how you can download books at home from the BARD website or on the BARD mobile app for smartphones and tablets.