Director's Corner: Our New Name!

 

Director's Corner: Library Update, Our New Name

To all of our patrons, caregivers, and stakeholders,

Today is the official day that our library becomes the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (LBPD).  We have put aside the phrase "physically handicapped" so that we can better reflect the people and communities we serve in a more inclusive way.   Our new name aligns with the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (https://www.loc.gov/nls/) and with the Marrakesh Treaty's language (https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/marrakesh/summary_marrakesh.html).  Our commitment to excellent and creative customer service continues. 

You will notice that the address of this email is different:  lbpd@sailor.lib.md.us (the old email address will no longer be used)

Also, direct access to our library catalog is now at mdlbpd.klas.com.  If you have our catalog directly bookmarked, please update your bookmarks.  You can also access it from the Library Catalog link on our website.

Our website now contains the full new name of our library: https://www.marylandlibraries.org/Pages/Maryland-Library-for-the-Blind-and-Print-Disabled.aspx 

If you had this page bookmarked, you'll need to update the bookmark.  You can still get to this website by typing the shorter https://lbph.maryland.gov into your browser.  It is the old URL for now and continues to redirect.

Here's a reminder of our other communication tools:

 Blog at https://mdlbpd.blogspot.com/

• Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MDLBPD (@MDLBPD) 
• Twitter at https://twitter.com/MDLBPD  (t@MDLBPD)
• Reference Desk:  410-230-2443 or reference.desk@maryland.gov

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

MAT Program: Accepting Materials

 

MAT Program: Accepting Materials

Contributed by Joseph Beckett, Program Coordinator for MAT

THE MARYLAND ACCESSIBLE TEXTBOOK PROGRAM is accepting textbook conversion requests for print-impaired students attending Maryland’s two and four-year colleges and universities for the upcoming academic year. 

We offer the following formats:

• ·      Audio (MP3)
• ·      Large Print
• ·      PDF
• ·      WORD
• ·      Epub
• ·      Victor Stream loaner with 2gb SD card
• ·      Textbook and academic document scanning, editing, and conversion

Although the Maryland Accessible Textbook Program team can convert textbooks in many subject areas, we, unfortunately, are limited in our ability to convert math, foreign language, or science textbooks into the audio format. We’re diligently working to erase that limitation and will announce when we find conversion software we’re satisfied with.

So, if the services offered by the Maryland Accessible Textbook Program fulfill your textbook conversion requests or if you have additional questions, please contact us: accesible.textbook@maryland.gov

Adult Summer Library Program!

Hi everyone! Are you ready for Summer? I certainly am! And guess what! It's time for our annual Summer Library Program! 

It's Sign up here: https://marylandlbph.beanstack.org/

More information below! 

Once upon a library program, there lived summer fun and engagement   Why don’t you be part of the story?  From June 22nd – August 8th, Maryland LBPH will participate in the “Imagine Your Story” Summer Learning Program! This year, our theme challenges you to explore myths, legends, magic, and folklore. All ages are welcome to participate as there is a challenge for everyone.

We challenge our patrons to read books, attend library programs, and complete activities throughout the summer. Keep track of your reading on our Beanstack site!

 

Adults 19 and older, you will earn badges for each activity you complete. You earn badges for:

·       Logging 50 hours of reading time

·       Complete at least one bingo card from the three available (Read description for rules)

·       Attend at least one library event for adults (held virtually only)

·       Complete at least one weekly trivia quiz

·       Complete at least one additional activity listed

 

Each week, those who complete the weekly trivia challenge will be entered into a drawing for a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

To be eligible for one of two $50 gift cards, you must complete the challenge in full. To complete the challenge, you must earn at least 10 badges overall. Additional self-directed badge earning opportunities will be added throughout the summer, so be sure to check back!

Sign up here: https://marylandlbph.beanstack.org/

 

Check out updates on Facebook and Twitter

 

Be sure to use #summerstories when sharing on social media!

Need help? Email: Ashley.Biggs1@maryland.gov or call 410-230-2430.

Tween/Teen Thursday!

Hot Reads for Cold Days!

Contributed by LaShawn Myles, Youth Services Librarian

December 21^st, is the first day of winter.  Reading some great winter reads, will help stave off the chill.  Here are some great picks.

Young Adult

Frozen
Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

DB084361 (audio)

More than a century after a catastrophic disaster wiped out most of humanity and covered much of the earth with ice, fifteen-year-old Cass yields to the voice in her head urging her to embark on a dangerous journey across a poisoned sea to the mythical land, Blue.

After the Snow
S.D. Crockett

DB075997 (audio)

Fifteen-year-old Willo and his family are "stragglers," independent homesteaders who reject the repressive government that seized control after a new ice age brought an era of scarcity. When his family vanishes from their home, Willo sets out to find--or avenge—them.

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod
Gary Paulsen

DB043280 (audio)

Paulsen and his team of dogs endured snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, and hallucinations in the relentless push to go on.

Shadow & Bone (Book 1)
Leigh Bardugo

DB075094 (audio)

After exhibiting new-found powers during an attack on her convoy, Alina Starkov is taken from her post as a lowly assistant cartographer--and away from her only friend, Mal--to become the protégée of the mysterious and deadly Darkling. Some violence. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2012

Grades K-3

Blizzard

John Rocco

BR021045 (Braille)

After a massive blizzard, a boy becomes a hero when he manages to walk to the local store and bring supplies back to his neighborhood, which has been snowed in for days. PRINT/BRAILLE.

Snowflake Bentley

Jacqueline Briggs Martin

DBC08707 (download audio)

BR012032 (Print/Braille)

A biography of a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of individual snowflakes in order to study their unique formations. 

Upcoming Events

Maryland Regional Braille Challenge

Braille is an important key to literacy! It allows for the enjoyment of reading, leads to school success, and opens the doors to future employment. Each year in February, students who read braille in grade Pre-K through grade 12 are invited to participate in the Maryland Regional Braille Challenge reading and writing contests. Parents are invited to participate in workshops about current topics related to visual impairment, the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) and education, while students are taking the tests. Teachers and school staff are invited to assist with test proctoring and scoring and helping to facilitate the day.

Students whose test scores qualify for the National Braille Challenge will be invited to compete at the annual competition which is held at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, CA each June. 

Save the Date: the 2020 Maryland Braille Challenge will be held on Saturday, February 8, 2020

See 2020 MD Braille Challenge Flyer for more information

Register for the Maryland Braille Challenge by completing this 2020 MD Braille Challenge Registration Packet and this  2020 MD Braille Challenge Permission Form.

Enter the Student MDBC Creative Writing Contest

For more information, contact:

Jackie Otwell
410.444.5000, ext. 1488 | jacquelineo@mdschblind.org

Enoch Pratt Library Poetry Contest

Maryland poets, this FREE contest is for YOU!  If you are a Maryland resident age 18 and older and enjoy writing, submit your work to the Enoch Pratt Free Library.  Rules are listed below.

• Paid or volunteer staff of the Enoch Pratt Free Library and Little Patuxent Review and their immediate families are not eligible, nor are previous Pratt Library Poetry Contest first-place winners.
• Please send only one original poem, on any theme and in any form, for consideration.
• Your entry must be unpublished, either in print or on the Web, including personal blogs, Facebook, or Twitter. It cannot be currently under review for possible publication. 
• Your entry must not exceed 100 lines.
• Submit your typed entry as a Microsoft Word attachment by e-mail to contest@prattlibrary.org or by mail to:

Poetry Contest, Fiction Department

Pratt Library, 400 Cathedral St.

Baltimore, MD 21201-4484.

• Entries received after Sunday, March 1, 2020, will be disqualified.
• Please submit your name, address, phone number, and a brief biography on a separate page. Please do not put your name, address, phone number, or biography on the entry itself. Our judges will see only the poem.
• Confirmation of receipt and comments on your entry will not be provided, nor will your entry be returned to you. These rules are also available on the contest page, where an announcement of the winner will be posted in mid-April: www.prattlibrary.org/poetrycontest

The winning poem will be published in Little Patuxent Review, enlarged for display in a Central Library window and celebrated at a public reading at the Library.

Thank you for Hosting Braille Bettie

Thank you for Hosting Braille Bettie

Contributed by LaShawn Myles, Youth Services Librarian

During the month of October, Braille Bettie traveled across the state visiting schools, libraries, organizations, and even outdoor spaces.  It has been a blast and the support has been enormous.  The Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped wants to thank all those who participated and advocated for “Braille Literacy” across the state.   A special thank you to the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives. We shall continue to encourage and raise awareness of reading for ALL!  #ReadBrailleMD.

Please enjoy this "thank you" video! 

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.