BULLETIN BOARD

A Newsletter of the Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
Spring 2006
Volume 23, Number 4

Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales: Wisconsin's 2006 Summer Library Program

The Wisconsin Regional Library once more is working with the statewide Summer Reading Program being offered by libraries throughout Wisconsin. This year's theme is "Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales". Children interested in taking part in the summer reading program may sign up at their local public libraries, but read materials from the Regional Library. Libraries may request Brailled copies of activities from the summer reading program manual by phoning Patricia Froelich at the Colorado State Library (303) 866-6908. The Regional Library has available a .jpeg file with the Braille equivalent of the following phrases: "Paws, Claws, Scales, and Tales" and "Creature Feature" (the statewide program for young adults). Also available is a list of books in alternative format about animals and monsters. Children may request this list in large print, Braille, cassette tape or e-text format.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Regional Library wants to remind our "snowbirds" and others that patrons can take their service with them to a temporary address. Just give us about a week's notice for it to be processed. Then let us know when to revert to the Wisconsin address.

Playboy and Seventeen magazines now are available for circulation on cassette. Contact the Regional Library to subscribe.

Volunteer Services for the Visually Handicapped (VSVH) provides transcribed print materials for individuals who are blind, visually impaired or who have learning disabilities. Individuals can receive audio or braille copies of their chosen publication. These services are also available to businesses to transcribe marketing, promotional materials, document or publication. VSVH is pleased to announce the hiring of Al Westbrook as Audio Coordinator. Al's education and background in graphic arts, digital music composition and information and technology support at UMW Foreign Languages and Linguistics Department will be instrumental in the development of digital audio and braille transcription services at VSVH. The implementation of this new technology is in response to upcoming changes being implemented by the National Library Service (NLS) who have for the past four years been researching and developing a digital application for books/written materials. A flash memory format, which is roughly the size of a credit card, will be the medium for The Library Digital Talking Book (DTB) Program in the future. Materials currently held in taped format will be converted to flash format, with the distribution of digital books and equipment set for 2008. For more information call 414-286-3039.

RESOURCES

One of the Regional Library's greatest resources is our wonderful clientele. Not only do our patrons remember us with monetary gifts which allow us to purchase described videos and old-time radio shows, but last December Evelyn Kuper donated a Aladdin CCTV to our Reading Room. We want to thank them all so much.

Other patrons give us their time. Here Samuel Stern, our most active volunteer, is being presented with a small gift on his birthday. Mr. Stern volunteers at the Regional Library several days each week, assembling packets & stuffing envelopes for our ongoing outreach.

BOOKLIST: Book Awards. Most people are aware of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes, the Caldecott and Newbery Medals as indicators of quality reads. There are many other awards, however, which might be of interest to LBPH patrons. The Phoenix Award is given by the Children's Literature Association to a book of lasting quality, published 20 years previously, which did not win a major award at the time of its publication. Recipients in the LBPH collection include:

Queenie Peavy, by Robert Burch. Tormented by taunts that her father is in prison, thirteen-year-old Queenie retaliates by causing a lot of trouble until she discovers something important about her father and herself. For grades 4-7. RC 26280.

I am the Cheese, by Robert Cormier. A young boy desperately tries to unlock his past yet knows he must hide those memories if he is to remain alive. For junior and senior high readers. RC 56032.

Enchantress from the Stars, by Sylvia Louise Engdahl. Three civilizations from different planets in widely varying stages of development clash in what could be either a mutually disastrous or beneficial encounter. For grades 6-9. RC 52616.

A Long Way from Verona, by Jane Gardam. A girl who aspires to be a writer recounts her experiences growing up in England during World War II. For grades 6-9. RC 06744.

Smith, by Leon Garfield. A young pickpocket in eighteenth century London takes a document he cannot read from a man's pocket and a moment later sees the man murdered by two men who want the document. For grades 6-9. RC 52132.

A Sound of Chariots, by Mollie Hunter. A young girl growing up in Scotland after World War I tries to come to terms with her grief over her father's death and her increasing sense of the passage of time. For grades 5-8. RC 43357.

Throwing Shadows, by E.L. Konigsburg. Five short stories in which young people gain a sense of self. For grades 5-8. RC 18645.

Of Nightingales That Weep, by Katherine Paterson. The vain young daughter of a samurai finds her comfortable life ripped apart when opposing warrior clans begin a struggle for imperial control of Japan. For grades 6-9. RCW 2000.

A Chance Child, by Jill Paton-Walsh. Compelled to search for his half brother Creep who some people insist is nonexistent, Christopher locates Parliamentary Papers containing Nathaniel Creep's personal narrative of working conditions during the Industrial Revolution 100 years earlier. For grades 5-8. RCW 1919.

The Mark of the Horse Lord, by Rosemary Sutcliff. Set in second-century Britain, the adventures of a tall, red-haired gladiator who closely resembles the chief of a native tribe and becomes his impersonator. For junior and senior high readers. In process.

Dragonwings, by Laurence Yep. In the early twentieth century a young Chinese boy joins his father in San Francisco and helps him realize his dream of making a flying machine. For grades 5-8. RC 09784.

BULLETIN BOARD is published four times a year by the Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. It is available in large print, Braille, and audiocassette editions. The Wisconsin Regional Library makes no recommendations or endorsements concerning any products or services which may appear in this publication.

Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
813 West Wells Street
Milwaukee, WI 53233-1436
1-414-286-3045 (in Milwaukee)
1-800-242-8822 (in Wisconsin)
1-414-286-3548 (TDD)
1-414-286-3102 (FAX)
lbph@milwaukee.gov (e-mail)
http://wmbph.mpl.org/opac (on-line public access catalog)

For questions about this information, contact Shiela A. Pollock (608) 224-5395

Last updated on 2/28/2008 8:52:00 AM