Director's Corner: Library Update, Mail

 

Director's Corner: Library Update, Mail

Contributed by John Owen, Director

To our LBPH patrons, caregivers, and stakeholders,

The coronavirus pandemic has presented all of us with an unprecedented situation.  At this time LBPH wants to update you on our service and the challenges we are all facing during this time.  We understand how important reading and information is to you, and we are committed to providing you with excellent customer service. 

Many of you are experiencing delays in receiving your materials, and you have called to let us know that.  We share your frustration, and we are looking at the factors that contribute to this. Especially in recent weeks, the United States Postal Service has experienced challenges with policy changes as well as coronavirus cases impacting their staffing and delivery schedules of mail, including LBPH materials.  Also, LBPH has been quarantining materials throughout the pandemic, and even now we are adjusting that quarantine period to reflect new information.   On August 18, the REALM Project released a study that indicated that the virus can be viable on hard plastic surfaces like our Digital Talking Book cases for up to 5 days.  We are adjusting accordingly for our staff’s and your safety.  

Despite these factors, LBPH continues to do its part to maintain service to you in a timely manner.  Our staff sends out materials daily and process returns promptly after the quarantine period.  We are also adjusting capacities for your library account to allow books to continue to flow to you, mitigating delays in the return process.  We have been fortunate here at our library that mail service has been consistent daily also, so at least here at the hub, there is a steady flow of materials.  We have been able to do this throughout the pandemic and will continue to safely do so. 

Please understand also that the library continues to be closed to the public and working with limited staff on site.  Staff are checking voicemail throughout the day to respond to your requests and questions. 

For you, our patrons, here are some tips for dealing with these delays:

• Send back books as soon as you have read them.   This helps generate new books to be sent to you. 

• Fill your request lists either by going to our catalog online at https://mdlbph.klas.com/ or calling us at the reference desk at 410-230-2443 or emailing us at reference.desk@maryland.gov

• Register for the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) service https://nlsbard.loc.gov/.    And if you are already a BARD user, take advantage of the always-available books in the catalog at nlsbard.loc.gov.

• Tell us your concerns and your joys, so we can get a good picture of where the biggest challenges are and where things are going well.  Please contact your local post office to see if they are experiencing delays.  Let them know you appreciate them, but that you’d really like to get your books.  Together we can advocate for the importance of this service to the blind and print disabled citizens of Maryland.

• Listen in on a virtual program or get assistive technology instruction as another means of getting information from our library.  If you are a blind or print disabled college student in Maryland, ask about our Maryland Accessible Textbook program.  Find out all that’s happening at lbph.maryland.gov.  

Stay safe and well.  

John Owen

Director

Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

Free Community Event: Folger's New Virtual Book Club

Try out the Folger's new virtual book club 

Contributed by Ashley Biggs, Marketing and Outreach Librarian on behalf of Folger's Shakespeare Library

Join the Folger as we search the stacks for our favorite novels inspired by Shakespeare and the early modern era. 

Held on the first Thursday of the month, this informal Book Club is free and open to all. Our picks range from historical fiction to adaptations of Shakespeare's plays and will be sourced from a different indie bookstore each month.

To spark the discussion, Folger staff will be on hand to provide historical context and speak to relevant items from the library collection.

 Grab your reading glasses and make a plan to join us for our first session on Thursday, August 6 at 6:30pm (EST) when we'll be talking about Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. 

Participation is free but registration is required. Sessions will be conducted through Zoom, so keep an eye on your inbox the day before for an access link, along with recommendations for quick bites and beverages to enjoy while we chat.

Register here: 

https://www.folger.edu/events/words-words-words-station-eleven?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TSM2020BookClubAnnouncement&utm_content=version_A&promo=13356

Hope to see you there!

LBPH Note: BARD and Bookshare have many of Shakespeare's plays and poems available for FREE download. Contact the library with any questions. 

MAT Program: Update

MAT Program: Update

Contributed by Joseph Beckett, Program Coordinator for MAT

Just ninety days into 2020, the world as we know it was twisted beyond our comprehension.  The United States was in near panic mode, paralyzed by a novel virus called COVID-19. Perhaps, since the virus was primarily in Asia ad Europe, citizens of the US felt that they were ‘immune’, even safe, from the deleterious nature of the highly contagious infection. Then, just a month into 2020 the first case of the infection was reported. Still, the nation was unprepared for what it all meant, what was rapidly to come, and the possible seriousness of a virus not yet fully understood.   By March, the number of cases increased exponentially, bringing concern and pre-panic. One of the most affected areas was the education system, from pre-kindergarten through graduate school. The virus brought the system to nearly a standstill, as administrators spent days deciding and strategizing the best methods to provide continued academic services to their students. Several months later, schools are still working out the kinks as they prepare for the Fall.

The aforementioned concerns have had only a slight impact on the Maryland Accessible Textbook Program. As Maryland college and university students were readjusting to their new normal, the MAT team continues to edit, and convert requested materials fully. Fortunately, the program will always have the ability to serve its students. The Maryland Accessible Textbooks program’s hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 9 am-4:30 pm.  Questions and comments can be emailed the MAT program at any time at accessible.textbook@maryland.gov. 

We look forward to continuing our service to Maryland’s print-impaired college students.

 

Editorial: MAT Program

Editorial: MAT Program

Contributed by Joseph Beckett, Program Coordinator for MAT*

Recently I was asked if the Maryland Accessible Textbook program converts books for school-aged children. While this is a common question and one which I would answer with a quick negative, I thought carefully about how I would respond.

Admittedly, I am uncertain of the number of K-12 students with print disabilities, especially those in public schools. Still, I know that the services needed and the ready availability of service providers are not encouraging. As a former public school teacher/administrator, the number of students with visual disabilities was often small,

resulting, unfortunately, in these children being almost overlooked. I asked the school worker how accommodations were made for print-impaired students. Her response was disappointing but not unexpected.

“We usually read to them or try to give them large printed materials,” she said sadly. “Because we have so few students needing these services, there hasn’t been much emphasis placed on giving better accommodations. We have some technology, but not

nearly enough.” We talked for a while, and she spoke of budget constraints, regulatory uncertainty, and the principal interest of the special education department being on other learning disabilities. 

Indeed her admissions were honest, but for the students, there was much being missed: academically, socially, and emotionally. What the school lacked (although they did their best for print disabled students) was, mainly, an under-acknowledged gateway to their adulthood challenges.

So, despite informing her that the MAT program does not convert materials for K-12 students and that many schools often have the most basic of necessary technology for print-impaired students, I provided her the names of several organizations that might be willing and able to help. With this information, her expression relaxed.

As we parted, she asked if I’d be willing to speak to her school’s Special Education department. I said I would. She smiled, and I smiled too. Although there was little I could offer regarding accessible materials, as a former special educator, speaking to her colleagues was the least I could do.

*The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the LBPH, MSL, or the employees.

Director's Corner: Library Updates

Director's Corner: Library Update

Contributed by John Owen, Director

This update was given at the National Federation for the Blind - Maryland Chapter's annual meeting on November 9, 2019.

On behalf of Irene Padilla, the State Librarian, the Maryland State Library Agency, the Maryland State Library Board and the Staff of the Maryland State Library for the Blind and (for now) Physically Handicapped, I thank you for the opportunity to address this convention about Our Library, Our Story and our Future.

But first, a seemingly unrelated story:  Fifty years ago in 1969, a Saturn V Rocket launched carrying three astronauts to the moon.  Their names were . . . Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon Jr., and Alan Bean.

Those weren’t the names you were expecting me to say, were they?  You were expecting Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin.

But in 1969 the United States successfully sent two ships to the moon – one in July and one in November.  In fact, all told, we landed on the moon six times (it would have seven if things had turned out differently for Apollo 13).  Each time we took new technology like cameras and land rovers, we explored new landscapes and we brought back more moon rock to study.  Each mission built on the last.  Each mission taught us something new.

One year ago, the Maryland State LBPH celebrated its 50th Anniversary.  We told our story, celebrated our legacy, acknowledged patrons who’d been with us since the beginning and we looked ahead.  Since that celebration we have:

• Put 147 Marylandia books on BARD that have been downloaded over 8000 times by patrons both here in Maryland and across the country.
• We re-opened our recording studio and are working with 11 weekly volunteers to record new projects.
• Hosted a Center Stage Mobile Theater Unit performance of Antigone with audio description and a touch tour followed by a thoughtful and lively discussion.
• Took our Technology User Group on the road to Hagerstown, Frederick, Greenbelt, Leisure World, Elkton, Bel Air, and Broadneck.
• Sponsored an accessible tour of the Goddard Space Flight Center
• Partnered with maker space group Full Blast STEAM and Baltimore YouthWorks to begin the Build a Better Book project to create multi-modal tactile storybooks
• Presented at multiple public libraries on the Build a Better Book project to encourage more maker spaces to create new tactile, multi-modal storybooks
• Sent Braille Bettie across the state to promote Read Braille across Maryland, a program in cooperation with the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and Governor Hogan to Read Across Maryland.  Braille Bettie appeared with many of our Braille readers and partners through social media posts.
• Encouraged reading through the summer for both youth and adults with the Summer Reading Program theme “A Universe of Stories”
• Assisted with making NASA learning kits accessible.  These kits are being used by public libraries for programming across the state.
• Visited all three NFB Bell Academies
• Provided service to 13 inmates at the Roxbury Correctional Institute in cooperation with librarians there
• Began planning for a transition to creating customized cartridges for patrons in the coming year
• Began offering Bookshare accounts to patrons of our library who are new to Bookshare
• Hosted Teleconferences on Microagressions, One Maryland One Book, and Weather and Disaster Preparedness
• Created a program and curriculum for accessible STEM programs through a grant from the Rural Maryland Council.
• Served alongside 36 dedicated volunteers who gave over 1970 hours of service
• Served over 50 students at 11 colleges and universities with accessible textbooks through the Maryland Accessible Textbook program
• Added more than 800 new patrons and circulated over 220,000 items including digital cartridges, Braille books, large print, downloadable content, DVDs and equipment.
• Served 6700 active patrons in every county across the State of Maryland
• Connected with Nonprofits, Social Workers, TVIs, and other professionals to help them connect their clients to us
• Welcomed new staff:  Kevin Middleton (IT), Taryn Tranby (Secretary/Patron Services), Brittney Lee (MAT program associate), William Jones (Maintenance)
• Said goodbye to Leslie Bowman, a fierce advocate for our library and the blind community, as she moved to Missouri to lead the Wolfner Talking Book Library (and be closer to her granddaughter).  She led many new initiatives in the few years she was here.
• Announced a new director – that’d be me.

So perhaps we’ll call this our Apollo 12 . . . or our Apollo 17 . . . or even our Apollo 13 but whatever happens in or out of our control, we will listen, we will learn, we will ask questions, we will solve problems, we will turn difficulties into successes and grow in our service to our patrons – you all -- across Maryland. 

This next voyage is already in progress:

By this time next year but much sooner, we will be the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled.  This will line us up with the language of the Marrakesh Treaty, ratified by the US in February 2019, and with the NLS which changed its name on October 1.  It will reflect our commitment to making information and reading material accessible for all.

By this time next year but much sooner, we will have implemented the Duplication on Demand service model which will enable the efficient creation of custom cartridges with multiple titles for patrons.  Patrons who get cartridges from us will see more books available more readily.  These changes benefit you the patron because we can focus on our energy on serving your information needs.

By this time next year but much sooner, we will have hosted a fourth Center Stage Mobile Theater production, offered more creative tactile tours, presented a series of teleconferences in cooperation with the University of Maryland Extension, experimented with hosting TUG through Zoom or other online remote meeting applications, encouraged readers to “Imagine Your Story” through the Summer Reading Program, and recorded more books and completed another phase of our Analog-to-Digital conversion of retrospective Marylandia books.

By this time next year and much sooner, we will be connecting with our blind and print disabled veterans, and people seeking job readiness skills.

By this time next year and much sooner (meaning right now), we will offer our patrons accounts with Bookshare.

By this time next year and much sooner, we will have discovered more of the informal networks that bring our patrons together so that we can connect you to services, information, resources and reading materials as information providers across the state.

We are grateful to our partners in NFB, MSDE, BISM, DoRS, MDTAP, our Advisory Council and our Friends group for serving our shared patrons alongside each other.

So talk to us.  Let us hear from you.  We will walk alongside you.  It took people from all walks of life bringing their pieces to the puzzle to get to the moon again and again.  It will take the same philosophy to continue the mission of serving the blind and print disabled community in the State of Maryland.