BULLETIN BOARD

A Newsletter of the Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
Summer 2006
Volume 24, Number 1

REMODELING RESUMES

Over the next six months, the Regional Library will be undergoing its long-postponed renovation, shifting work areas and installing new shelving. During this period, the Braille Reading Room will be closed. Patrons may come to the Milwaukee Public Library Drive-Thru or to the Regional Library receptionist's window to return or pick up materials, but the accessible computers, CCTVs and VCR/monitor combinations for watching described videos-even the seating-will be unavailable. We hope to have completed our renovation by Christmas, at which point we will welcome our walk-in patrons again.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Axel Schmetzke, a professor in the university library at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, has received the Francis Joseph Campbell Award. Given by the Libraries Serving Special Populations Section of the American Library Association, the award recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of library service for the blind and physically handicapped. It consists of a citation and a medal. Schmetzke received the award for his efforts to create a barrier-free online environment, a virtual learning space that is accessible to everyone including persons with disabilities. Schmetzke has performed extensive research on the topic and presented his findings at several conferences. He also has served as co-chair of the UWSP Online Accessibility Taskforce, lobbied the Association of College and Research Libraries for distance learning guidelines that are sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities, and participated in a summit regarding accessible distance education policies. Schmetzke also moderates AXSLIB, an electronic discussion forum on accessibility issues related to the library environment, and serves as a free consultant on the topic.

Diabetes Self-Management has been added to NFB-NEWSLINE. This magazine has a circulation of 437,000 and will be located under option 7 with the other three magazines. As of May, The Oregonian is also available on NFB-NEWSLINE. This brings the total number of newspapers to 224 and the total number of magazines to 4. Several other newspapers will be added over the next few weeks including The Austin American Statesman and The Dallas Morning News. Also, every morning the National Federation of the Blind sends over 125 newspapers in DAISY format to Bookshare.org. The newspapers can then be downloaded to a DAISY compatible audio device or to a refreshable Braille machine. The service has been available for over a year in test mode. The program is now officially out of test mode and is fully available.

Additional magazines also have been added to those the Regional Library offers on cassette. Patrons may phone 1-800-242-8822 to request Humpty Dumpty, Southern Living, National Geographic Traveler, and/or The Smithsonian.

RESOURCES

Tiflolibros is an electronic library where you can download e-books of different genres. It's free for blind or visually impaired people from all over the world (potential users must send the staff a copy of a document telling them about your blindness). The service is located in Argentina, and therefore, the large majority of the books available are in Spanish. But there are also books in other languages (they have about 200 books in English, some in German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Basque...). To have a look at this service, go to www.tiflolibros.com.ar. The site is in Spanish, but an English translation can be found easily. Potential users may also send enquiries or apply for membership in English.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Book Discussion Aids

Many of our readers are enthusiastic members of local book discussion groups. For them, and for those who would like to discover what book discussion groups do, we have prepared this bibliography of tapes in our collection of National Public Radio's broadcast Storylines Book Discussions, together with the books discussed.

Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop. A tale about the exploits of Bishop Jean Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant, French Catholic priests who organized pioneer and Indian missions throughout the newly created diocese of New Mexico in the second half of the 19th century. RC 56535. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5632.

Chavez, Denise. Face of an Angel. Soveida Dosamantes, a waitress at El Farol restaurant in the small New Mexico town of Agua Oscura, has learned from her mother the Mexican tradition of servitude to husbands and to God. A divorcee and widow, she has also learned to survive with humor and to treasure what life offers, including family and a slightly crazy community. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 41974. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5631.

Davis, Harold L. Honey in the Horn. A story of Oregon in the homesteading period at the beginning of the 20th century features memorable characters, a wide range of country, and a restless, lusty life. Some strong language. Pulitzer Prize 1936. RC 12123. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5634.

Guthrie, A.B. The Way West. A novel of the emigrant trek from Independence, Missouri to Oregon in the 1840s. Pulitzer Prize 1950. RC 60818. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5633.

Jackson, Helen Hunt. Ramona: a story. A novel about a half-Indian young woman who is adopted by a Spanish family in mid-19th century California, but who rejects their way of life to elope with an Indian man and face persecution by the advancing white people. RC 21805. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5630.

McCarthy, Cormac. All the Pretty Horses. John Grady Cole, sixteen, is on the threshold of adulthood when his world turns upside down. His grandfather has died, and his mother has no desire to keep the 18,000-acre ranch, which is the only home and way of life John knows. With a friend, he sets out for Mexico and finds work on another ranch. But John falls for the owner's daughter and finds himself in jail. Strong language and violence. Bestseller. NCHF Western Heritage Award 1993. National Book Award 1992. RC 34043. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5629.

MacLean, Norman F. A River Runs Through It, and Other Stories. The author reminisces about fly-fishing with his brother and father in the 1930s. Other stories deal with summer jobs in logging and firefighting. Some strong language. RC 53083. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5636.

Momaday, N. Scott. House Made of Dawn. When Abel returns home from World War II to his grandfather on the Kiowa reservation, he searches for a place in his old culture or in the white world outside. Pulitzer Prize 1969. RC 12198. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5628.

Nichols, John Treadwell. The Milagro Beanfield War. A feisty Chicano hustler with a talent for trouble sets off the great beanfield war by illegally irrigating an arid patch in which to grow beans. Strong language. RC 14857. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5627.

Robinson, Marilynne. Housekeeping. The story of Ruth and her memories as she grows from childhood to adulthood on a brooding glacial lake in the towering mountains of Idaho, with her sister Lucille, under the care of her grandmother, two great-aunts, and the transient sister of her dead mother. RCW 725. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 527.

Silko, Leslie. Ceremony. A Laguna World War II veteran tries to resolve guilt and despair as he searches for meaning through human relationships and the traditions of his people. RC 13366. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5626.

Stewart, George Rippey. Ordeal by Hunger: the Story of the Donner Party; with a supplement and three accounts by survivors. The definitive work on the ill-fated party of pioneers trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the winter of 1846. RCW 2323. Storylines Book Discussion (2-track cassettes) RCW 5588.

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)
1-414-286-3102 (FAX)
lbph@milwaukee.gov (e-mail)
http://dpi.wi.gov/rll/wrlbph/index.html (website)
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 8:52:01 AM