Indiana Insights: Fall/Winter 2013

Indiana Insights

BARD Mobile App Has Arrived

BARD Mobile

The free BARD Mobile app for iOS devices is now available through the Apple app store.  With over 50,000 audio books, magazines, Braille books, and music scores available through BARD, the app makes downloading and listening to books easier and more convenient than ever before.  The app will both download and play books from BARD, removing steps such as un-zipping and transferring books to a removable storage device. 

The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, which should be accessible from an icon on your iOS device. Once in the app store, searching for “bard mobile” or “nls bard” will pull up the page for downloading the app.  Once the app is downloaded, patrons will log into the app using the BARD log-in ID and password.  The app has a built in user guide, accessible through the “bookshelf” tab of the app, which is also where downloaded books are available to select for playback. 

Development of a BARD Mobile app for Android devices is still ongoing.  Stay tuned to future newsletters for news about the development progress and release date for the BARD Mobile Android app.

With the holiday season upon us, and mail services possibly being interrupted due to library closures, now is a great time to sign-up for a BARD account and download the app. 

For more information on the BARD Mobile app, information about signing up for BARD, or if you are already signed up for BARD but have lost your password, please contact us at 1-800-622-4970 or at tbbl@library.in.gov.


Holiday Book Requests

With the holiday season in full swing, it’s time to start thinking about closures at the library.  The library will be closed on Tuesday, December 24th, Wednesday, December 25th, and Wednesday, January 1st.  As a result, there will be no incoming or outgoing mail on those days so your book deliveries may be sporadic during that period.  We encourage you to take a few moments and order any books that you may want to have on hand during that time; please have all requests in before Wednesday, December 18th to ensure that your books have plenty of time to get to you.  Since our mail goes out first thing in the morning, book requests made after Friday, December 20th will not be mailed until we re-open on Thursday, December 26th.

This is also a great time to think about signing up for BARD or downloading the new BARD Mobile app.  BARD will give you instant access to over 50,000 audio books, Braille books, magazines, and music scores from the comfort of your home, even when the library is closed! 

For more information on BARD, please visit www.nlsbard.loc.gov or call us at 1-800-622-4970.  If you are interested in signing up for BARD, please be aware that we will not be able to approve your BARD application on days the library is closed.


Indiana Voices Now Recording Indiana Classics

Indiana Voices

The Indiana Voices recording program is now producing works of classic Indiana literature previously unavailable on digital cartridge.  The move comes from an effort to update the voluminous collection of books recorded by programs existing in past decades.  Because the recording equipment used to create the original cassette versions of these Indiana classics was substandard when compared to the digital equipment currently used, Indiana voices is taking the time to record these books anew rather than digitize the old cassette master tapes.

Many classic works of literature are being digitally re-recorded by the National Library Service and the Indiana Voices project follows in that vein.  This project does not mean that Indiana Voices will suspend the creation of newly released books or magazines.  Instead, Indiana Voices will be scrutinizing more carefully what books will be recorded to make room for the addition of classic works which have never before been available in a digital format.

The first grouping of books to be recorded includes:

·The Harvester by Gene Stratton Porter

·The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson

·Brewster’s Millions by George Barr McCutcheon

·The Movers by Nancy Niblack Baxter

·Uncle Tom Andy Bill: a Story of Bears and Indian Treasure by Charles Major

·Alice of Old Vincennes by Maurice Thompson

Sign up to be a member of Indiana Voices to receive these books as well as others.  We certainly hope that you will enjoy them.


2014 Braille Calendars Available

The library has received a limited supply of small Braille calendars for the upcoming year.  Calendars are available to patrons on a first come first served basis; availability is limited to one calendar per patron.  Please call us at 1-800-622-4970 to request your calendar.


Indiana Talking Book &
Braille Library Calendar

Tuesday, December 24, 2013 ~ Library Closed

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 ~ Library Closed

Wednesday, January 1, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Monday, January 20, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Friday, April 18, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Saturday, April 19, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Tuesday, May 6, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Saturday, May 24, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Monday, May 26, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Friday, July 4, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Saturday, July 5, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Saturday, August 30, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Monday, September 1, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Saturday, September 27, 2014 ~ Vision Expo

Monday, October 13, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Thursday, November 27, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Friday, November 28, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Saturday, November 29, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Thursday, December 25, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Friday, December 26, 2014 ~ Library Closed

Saturday, December 27, 2014 ~ Library Closed


ISL~TBBL

Indiana Talking Book & Braille Library Hours

Monday – Friday    8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday    8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. .

140 N. Senate Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Local Telephone: 317-232-3684
Toll-Free Telephone: 800-622-4970
lbph@library.IN.gov

Happy Holidays from the Indiana Talking Book & Braille Library!

Volume XXXVII No. 1

Fall/Winter 2013



Indiana Vision Expo

Thank you to everyone who attended the 8th Annual Indiana Vision Expo on September 28th!  We featured 33 vendors, including 7 new to the Expo, and were treated to two excellent presentations by the Drs. Richard and Laura Windsor and blind artist John Bramblitt.

The Indianapolis VisionWalk, sponsored by the Foundation Fighting Blindness, was once again held in conjunction with the Expo.  Over 900 walkers participated, raising over $75,000 for sight saving research.  Congratulations and thank you to all who participated!  Online donations can still be made to the VisionWalk until December 31st  or via check sent to: Attn:  Indianapolis VisionWalk, 977 Lakeview Parkway, Suite 140, Vernon Hill, IL 60061.

As in 2013, the Expo will be featured on an upcoming episode of the Assistive Technology Update podcast, available on iTunes and Stitcher Radio as well as at www.eastersealstech.com.  

Thanks again to everyone to came out and mark your calendars for the 9th Annual Expo on September 27, 2014.


Thanks for Taking Our Survey

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Patron Survey conducted in our summer newsletter; over 500 people participated!  The results of the survey will be very useful in planning future events and in knowing which services we provide need to be explained further or marketed better.

About half of the respondents of our survey have reported experiencing slow delivery of library materials.  While there is nothing we can do to change the speed at which the post office delivers materials, we encourage you to return books as soon as you finish them, rather than waiting to return all of your books at one time.  Returning them as you finish allows us to get replacements out in the mail more quickly, keeping a steady stream of books coming your way.  If you return your books as you finish them and still do not have enough to read, please contact us and we can increase the number of books you are set to receive at once.

Results from the survey that we will address and explore in future newsletters include patrons’ unfamiliarity with services such as BARD, Newsline, Indiana Voices, and the Magazine on Cartridge program as well as patron interest in a book club.


Free Braille Books Available

The Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired has several Braille books for adults available on a first come, first served basis. If you are interested please contact TBBL. The titles are: The Bridges at Toko-Ri by James Michner, Dragon by Clive Cussler, September by Rosamunde Pilcher, Soar with Your Strengths: A Simple Yet Revolutionary Philosophy of Business and Management by Donald O. Clifton, and TekWar by William Shatner.


See the Movie, Read the Book!

See the Movie, Read the Book!

Winter is the perfect time to enjoy a good movie at home or in the theater. Keep up with all the new offerings from Hollywood with the books that inspired them!

Catching Fire: The Hunger Games Book 2 by Suzanne Collins (DB 69689, BR 18554, LP 19128)

Victorious district twelve tributes Katniss and Peeta, from the Hunger Games (DB 68384, BR 18488), have secured lives of safety and plenty for themselves and their families. But because they won by defying the rules, they have unwittingly incited a rebellion. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
Some violence.  2009.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (DB 62431, BR 17409, LP 17919)

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich in 1939, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
Some strong language.  2006.

The Monuments Men: Allied Heros, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter (DB 74650)

At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe.  In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture.  Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis. 2009.

Divergent by Veronica Roth (DB 73203)

In a future Chicago, society is divided into five factions. During the Choosing Ceremony, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must pick her lifelong faction. But Beatrice discovers she is an anomaly--a divergent--who does not fit anywhere. Some violence and some strong language. 2011.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (DB 48978, BR 11595)

The wandering wizard Gandalf recruits Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, to be the fourteenth member of an expedition. Hobbits prefer comfort to adventures, but Bilbo joins the quest and encounters many perils, including a dragon. Prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy (DB 47486, DB 47487, DB 47488). 1966.


Indiana Insights is a publication of the Talking Book & Braille Library, Indiana State Library, and is available online, in braille, or on a digital cartridge upon request. Any products and services mentioned in Indiana Insights is for information only and does not imply endorsement. This project is funded in part by the Institute of Museum & Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services & Technology Act.