Librarian
Library Open House 2014 - “Reading Inspires... “
BY SANDRA GARCIA, TELEPHONE READER TECHNICIAN
You are cordially invited to the Braille
Institute Library Annual Open House!
This highly anticipated event will take place
on October 17, 2014 from 10:00 a.m. to
2:00 p.m. Our theme this year invites you
to ponder the following quote “Reading
Inspires….” We welcome you to attend this
event to learn about the services Braille
Institute has available to inspire you.
Wes Craven, Joe Dante, Stephen King
and Blake Edwards. Ms. Wallace also has
recurring roles in two television series--the
popular NBC TV hit series Grimm, and the
upcoming ABC TV series The Whispers. As
an author and radio personality, she uses
her emotional, spiritual, and professional
journey as metaphors to expand lessons
into wisdom for her audience.
Previous Open House events have
featured exceptional guest speakers such
as well-known authors, narrators, and
entertainers. This year is no exception!
Another featured guest
speaker is entrepreneur
and author, Dr. Joseph
Dean Klatt, who is a
continuous member of
the prestigious La Jolla
Real Estate Brokers
Association Inc. since
1972. He is also the
founder and operating broker of Joseph
Dean Klatt Realty, Inc. Dr. Klatt survived
a car accident where he suffered multiple
injuries, and made a recovery that
exceeded his initial prognosis. Among his
many personal, educational, and corporate
achievements, he wrote Freedom Found:
7 Seeing Eye Miracles. In this book, which
is currently being recorded by NLS, Dr. Klatt
recounts how he achieved independence
through each of his “7 Seeing Eye” dogs.
With over 130 film and television roles
to her credit, actress,
radio personality and
author Dee Wallace
will be our inspirational
guest speaker. Ms.
Wallace
became
an icon in the role
that would define
motherhood for a
generation, as Mary
in Steven Spielberg’s ET: Extraterrestrial.
She has worked with countless directors,
producers and some of Hollywood’s
biggest names including Peter Jackson,
Continued on Page 2
.
FALL 2014
I N T HIS I SSUE :
Library Open House 2014...............1-2
Books to Read in a Lifetime......................3
TRP/El Programa Telefónico....................4
Brian’s Tech Tips: Unzipping a Book....5
Be a Part of Your Library’s History.......6
Free Money Reader...................................6
Open House 2014 Invitation ..................7
Attention Library Patrons!..................8
Library Open House 2014 - “Reading Inspires...”
Librarian is
published quarterly
in large print, Braille
and audio formats
to inform patrons,
volunteers, staff
and friends about
Braille Institute
Library Services. It
is also available
on our website
(www.braillelibrary.
org) and on
the Telephone
Reader Program.
Braille Institute is
private, nonprofit
organization
committed to
empowering the
blind and visually
impaired to live
fulfilling lives. For
more information
about the Librarian
Librarian,,
Library Services
or Braille Institute,
please call
1-800-808-2555 or
323-660-3880..
323-660-3880
LIBRARY SERVICES
©2014
Continued from page 1
California State Librarian Greg
Lucas, appointed byGovernor
Jerry Brown on March 25, 2014
will also be joining us. The
State Librarian not only collects
and preserves California’s
history and culture, but also
provides access to books for
visually impaired Californians
and conducts research at the
request of lawmakers and
the governor. Mr. Lucas has
worked as a senior editor at
Capitol Weekly, and wrote
3,000 articles covering the
state Capitol
for the San
Francisco
Chronicle.
Join us in
welcoming
Mr. Lucas to
California’s
l i b r a r y
community.
Following our morning program, a
Community Partners Workshop
will provide activity directors and
community leaders the opportunity
to acquire information about all
the services the Braille Institute
has available to keep their
clients connected.
You will also have the
opportunity
to
experience
Connection Pointe, Braille
Institute’s brand-new, state-ofthe-art technology center that
offers free tutorials on all of the
latest mainstream and adaptive
devices.
To keep with our theme of
providing you with services
to incite inspiration through
reading, the BARD and TRP
demo will allow you to learn
how you can have quick
access to literature.
As many of you know, lunch
and free parking will be
provided at our event. Arrive
early to secure a good seat for
you and your guest(s). Please
contact the Library before
October 13th to RSVP at 1800-808-2555. Our Library
staff has been working hard
to put together a sensational
Open House. For more details,
check out the invitation on
page 7 of this newsletter. We
look forward to seeing all of
you here!
Have you completed and returned your Library Patron
Survey yet? Send them in to us as soon as you can! If you
are planning to attend the Open House and want to fill out
a survey, be sure to stop by the Registration table to pick
one up. If you need help, give us a call at 1-800-808-2555.
2
Books to Read in a Lifetime
BY KOKOI ARYEE, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
If you were to ask 25 people for a list of their
top 25 favorite books, you would probably
get 25 very different lists. Some titles might
receive frequent mentions while others
may make only a single appearance, but
you might be hard-pressed to find any two
that are exactly identical.
- Deadpan science fiction parody about
sole Earth survivor Arthur Dent is forced
to take up a life of hitchhiking around the
cosmos;
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret
A. Atwood (RC 34695, BR 11911) Dystopian tale describing life in what
once was the United States, now called
the Republic of Gilead. Reacting to social
unrest, and a sharply declining birthrate,
the new regime has reverted to — even
gone beyond — the repressive tolerance
of the original Puritans;
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton
Juster (RC 23208, BR 3041) - A fantasy
for those who enjoy word play centering
around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who
goes through the Phantom Tollbooth and
finds himself involved in the feud between
King Azaz the Unabridged of Dictionopolis,
city of words, and the Mathemagician who
rules Digitopolis, city of numbers.
Recently, some online book sites and
retailers decided to take on the daunting task
of producing their own lists of the “top books
to read in a lifetime.” The editors of Amazon.
com wanted their list to cover all stages of
a life and they wanted to avoid having their
list look like a “homework assignment.”
Powell’s, an enormous bookseller in
Portland, Oregon opted to focus on 25 titles
that “reflect the diverse interests of their
staff and also have the ability to change
the way you think and feel.” After Amazon
released their list, Goodreads.com, a site
for readers, asked people to nominate their
own recommendations and based their list
on the responses. The result? Three very
distinctive lists reflecting an extremely
wide variety of genres including poetry,
children’s books, non fiction, classics,
science fiction and more.
With all the differences between the three, a
title appearing on more than one list is quite
the feat! Only four titles made all three, so
they might be worth a look:
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
(DB 77672 / BR 12850) - Classic, Pulitzer
Prize-winning tale of injustice, friendship,
and coming-of-age in 1930s Alabama;
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams (RC 18339, BR 14438)
3
What titles would you add to your own
catalog of books to read in a lifetime? It
is not easy to narrow it down, but here are
several other suggestions from the lists
that you may want to consider:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (DB 74888 / BR
19868); Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
(DB 67981); The Book Thief by Markus
Zusak (DB 62431); Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (DB
70661); Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
(DB 74950 / BR 17770); Cutting For Stone
by Abraham Verghese (DB 70131); Great
Expectations by Charles Dickens (RC
53991, BR 11178); The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins (DB 68684).
Telephone Reader Program / El Programa Telefónico de Lectores
BY SANDRA GARCIA, TELEPHONE READER TECHNICIAN
Do you miss your morning newspaper?
The Telephone Reader Program can
provide this and so much more to you from
the comfort of your home!
¿Extraña su periódico cada mañana? ¡El
Programa Telefónico de Lectores le
puede dar acceso a esto y mucho más
desde la comodidad de su casa!
The Telephone Reader Program
(TRP) is a free service offered
through the Braille Institute Library.
We offer access to daily national and
local newspaper articles, weekly
grocery ads, magazines, restaurant
and fast food menus, old time radio shows,
and announcements in both English and
Spanish. We are frequently adding new
material; most recently we have added
the grocery ad for Super King, Mother
Earth News magazine and revamped our
Old Time Radio publication.
El Programa Telefónico de Lectores
(TRP por sus siglas en inglés) es un
servicio gratuito ofrecido a través
de la Biblioteca del Instituto Braille.
Este programa le ofrece acceso a
las noticias nacionales y locales,
especiales semanales del supermercado,
revistas, y anuncios disponibles en inglés
y español. Agregamos nuevos artículos
constantemente; lo más reciente ha sido el
anuncio para el supermercado Superior.
Usted puede tener acceso a este servicio
24 horas al día 7 días de la semana usando
tres métodos diferentes. El primero es el
más común a través de cualquier teléfono
de marcado por tonos. El segundo es
usando nuestra página web a través
de cualquier computadora. Tercero es
usando la aplicación TRP en teléfonos
inteligentes incluyendo: iPhone, iPad, y
dispositivos compatibles con el sistema
operativo Android.
There are multiple ways for you to gain
access to this service 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. The first method is through
any touch-tone phone and the second is
our online website. The third is our TRP
App that can be used for the iPhone, iPad,
or any Android OS devices.
If you are a student in the Los Angeles
or Orange County Branches, the Student
Announcements are available to you
through TRP.
Si usted está interesado en usar este
servicio o tiene alguna pregunta llámenos
al (800) 808-2555. Usted puede probar
el servicio hoy llamando al (866) 3331211 usando la clave 5555.
If you are interested in signing up for this
service or have any questions simply call
1-800-808-2555. A demo is available to
you today by calling 1-866-333-1211
and using the I.D. number 5555.
Do you have questions about BARD, TRP & other Library
Services? Join the online Library Chat Room at 10:00 am on the
last two Tuesdays of each month! Call the Library at
1-800-808-2555 for more information.
4
Brian’s Tech Tips: Unzipping a Book
BY BRIAN ALBRITON, READER SERVICES COORDINATOR
Have you tried to download a book from
the Braille and Audio Reading Download
(BARD) site? Some of you are practically
experts now when it comes to downloading
books. For those who are new to computers
and the world of downloading, the whole
process can be overwhelming or even
maddening. Some folks are able to get
as far as downloading the book, but are
at a loss to figure out where the book
goes once it has downloaded and how to
get it to play on the machine. Do you
find yourself wondering where your book
went and what to do with it? Don’t let the
idea of downloading scare you! With a
little guidance and a bit of practice, you
too, can become a BARD expert.
3. A screen indicating where the
files will be extracted will come
up;
4. Click “Extract;”
5. The files will then be extracted
to another folder which will not
have the zipper icon;
6. Copy this entire folder using
“Control-C;”
7. Connect your flash drive to your
PC and open it from the computer
icon;
8. Paste the book onto your flash
drive using “Control-V.”
Now, some of you may wonder where
your downloads go. In Windows 7 or
later, books are usually downloaded to
the “Downloads” folder. This is a general
guideline and may change depending on
how your computer is set up.
For those of you who have successfully
downloaded a title from BARD, there
are a few steps to follow before you can
read your book. Well, to prepare your
downloaded title for the player, you will
need to “unzip” your book. When a book
is downloaded from BARD, it comes
in a “compressed” file format.
The
compressed item you download--let’s say
The Grapes of Wrath (DB 68308) by
John Steinbeck, for example--contains a
bunch of little files. All of these little files
need to be extracted to another folder in
order to be usable. We call this process
“unzipping” or “extracting.”
For any Mac users, BARD books are
automatically unzipped during download
by default and all you need do is find
the book in your “Downloads” folder and
paste it to your flash drive.
Now you are ready to read!
I hope these tips are helpful.
You can always call the
Library at (800) 808-2555 to
ask your BARD questions.
Also, if you are able to come to the Braille
Institute Library, I hold regular BARD
workshops for patrons where you can
get step-by-step instructions. The next
one will be on November 7th, so give us
a call if you’d like to attend. Good luck
and good reading!
The steps to “unzipping” using Windows
7 or later go a little like this:
1. Locate the book and do a
right mouse click, or press the
windows application key;
2. Click or select “Extract All;”
5
Be a Part of Your Library’s History!
Braille Institute Library Services recently
sent out a User Survey to many of our
patrons. Among all the responses we
received, we found that many patrons
included a lot of kind words and comments
about our programs and services. We
are still in the process of collecting more
surveys and compiling the results, but all
the positive feedback we’ve received has
inspired us to record all of these comments
and start a new archive project--a book!
be a part of your library’s history, please
send us your responses! This will be an
on-going project and you will have several
opportunities to participate.
If you are going to attend this year’s
Library Open House event, you will
be able to record your responses at the
program! There will be a special table
where you can leave your comments. If you
can’t make it to the Open House, feel free
to stop by the Library Counter and leave
your comments, you can always send
them in by email to bils@braillelibrary.
org, or you can mail them to:
This book is going to be a collection of the
notes we got from the survey along with
other notes we have received, and we
want to give all of you a chance to be in
this book, too. We would like to invite all
our readers to send us their responses to
one simple question: “What do you like
best about your library?” Your response
can be as brief as one single sentence or
you can be more in depth. If you’d like to
Braille Institute Library Services
741 North Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90029
Please be sure to include your name and
city with your message.
We hope to hear from you soon!
Free Money Reader
By now, some of you may
have heard about the
currency reader that is being offered by the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP).
These money readers are available to
blind and visually-impaired individuals in
the United States. The National Library
Serivce (NLS) has agreed to partner with
BEP in distributing its currency readers.
Qualified, active patrons can sign up with
their network library. For Southern California
library users, just call Braille Institute Library
Services! The device, called the iBill Talking
Banknote Identifier, is a compact reader
that announces a note’s value in one of
three ways: voice, pattern of tones, or
pattern of vibrations. Just insert a note into
the device and press the button on the side
to have the denomination identified. Only
registered patrons may pre-order currency
readers before December 31, 2014, so
others will have to wait until January 2015
when the money reader program will
open to other qualified residents and U.S.
citizens living abroad.
If you would like to be on the list to
receive a free money reader, please call
us at 1-800-808-2555. When you call,
take the time to make sure we have your
current address information so that the
money reader will be sent to the correct
address.
6
7
Attention Library Patrons!
We need your help! Isn’t it frustrating to
be put on a waiting list for a book that
you’ve been wanting to read? Well,
help us to help you get the books that
you want! The standard loan period
for a digital book is 30 days. Please
return your books as soon as you’ve
read them, so they will be available for
others to read. If everyone returns their
materials on time, we will be able to
have a continual flow of books coming in
and out of the Library and more reading
material will then be available to you.
As a reminder, returning empty
containers or books that have the wrong
cartridge in the container also prevents
that copy of the book from being available.
When you return your books, please
check the container before you send them
back to us. Here are some tips to help:
 Is there a cartridge in the container?
Feel free to shake the container
before you mail it to make sure there
is something in it!!
•Does
the number on the container
match the number on the cartridge?
We know you’re eager to check out all
the titles you’ve received in the mail,
but to avoid mismatching books, try
not to open too many books at once.
Please help keep the books in good
shape so that all may read!
Have a question about library services? Give us a call @ 1.800.808.2555 or 323.660.3880
LIBRARY SERVICES
741 N. VERMONT AVENUE
LOS ANGELES, CA 90029
TO:
FREE MATTER
FOR THE BLIND &
PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED
POSTAL MANUAL PART
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