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Category Archives: Talking Book & Braille Service (TBBS)
2023 NLS Summer Reading Author Talk: Annette Bay Pimentel and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins
Join us on Zoom for an exciting author talk with Annette Bay Pimentel, author of All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything!
Author Annette Bay Pimentel will read from her picture book and be joined by the heroine of her story, Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins.
This event is specially designed for K-5th grade, but all are welcome.
- Saturday, July 22 at 1:00 pm EDT
- Webinar registration: Author Talk – Annette Bay Pimentel and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins
Mark your calendars for the following events happening this summer as part of the NLS Summer Reading program:
- Thursday, July 27 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA and Middle Grades) – Kwame Alexander, The Crossover
- Thursday, August 3 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA) – Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here
For more information:
Annette Hall
402-471-4033
annette.hall@nebraska.gov
2023 NLS Summer Reading Author Talk: Celia C. Perez
Join us on Zoom for an exciting author talk with Celia C. Perez, author of The First Rule of Punk!
This event is specially designed for middle grades, but all are welcome.
- Tuesday, July 11 at 7:00 pm EDT
- Webinar registration: Author Talk – Celia C. Perez
Mark your calendars for the following events happening this summer as part of the NLS Summer Reading program:
- Saturday, July 22 at 1:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (K-5th Grade) – Annette Bay Pimentel and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, All the Way to the Top: How One Girls’ Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything
- Thursday, July 27 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA and Middle Grades) – Kwame Alexander, The Crossover
- Thursday, August 3 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA) – Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here
For more information:
Annette Hall
402-471-4033
annette.hall@nebraska.gov
2023 NLS Summer Reading Story Time and Music
Join us on Zoom for an exciting story time and music with Matt Mazur of Turtle Dance Music! Come prepared to have lots of fun with stories, songs, and silly dances.
This event is geared toward K-3rd grade, but all are still welcome.
- Thursday, July 6 at 7:00 pm EDT
- Webinar registration: Story Time and Music
Mark your calendars for the following events happening this summer as part of the NLS Summer Reading program:
- Tuesday, July 11 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (Middle Grades) – Celia C. Perez, The First Rule of Punk
- Saturday, July 22 at 1:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (K-5th Grade) – Annette Bay Pimentel and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, All the Way to the Top: How One Girls’ Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything
- Thursday, July 27 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA and Middle Grades) – Kwame Alexander, The Crossover
- Thursday, August 3 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA) – Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here
For more information:
Annette Hall
402-471-4033
annette.hall@nebraska.gov
2023 NLS Summer Reading Author Talk: Shelby Van Pelt
Join us on Zoom for an exciting author talk with New York Times best-selling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt!
This event in the National Library Service Summer Reading Program is specially designed for adults, but all are welcome.
- Thursday, June 29 at 7:00 pm EDT
- Webinar registration: Author Talk – Shelby Van Pelt
Mark your calendars for the following events happening this summer as part of the NLS Summer Reading program:
- Thursday, July 6 at 7:00 pm EDT: Story Time and Music (K-3rd Grade) – Matt Mazur
- Tuesday, July 11 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (Middle Grades) – Celia C. Perez, The First Rule of Punk
- Saturday, July 22 at 1:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (K-5th Grade) – Annette Bay Pimentel and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, All the Way to the Top: How One Girls’ Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything
- Thursday, July 27 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA and Middle Grades) – Kwame Alexander, The Crossover
- Thursday, August 3 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA) – Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here
For more information:
Annette Hall
402-471-4033
annette.hall@nebraska.gov
2023 NLS Summer Reading Kickoff Program
You’re invited to attend the very first National Library Service Summer Reading Program!
It begins on Monday, June 26 with a kickoff event featuring Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, who will welcome everyone and read a picture book for the younger participants. All ages are welcome!
- Monday, June 26 at 4:00 pm EDT
- Webinar registration: Summer Reading Kickoff Event
The kickoff event will be followed by these weekly author talks and story times and music:
- Thursday, June 29 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (Adult) – Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures
- Thursday, July 6 at 7:00 pm EDT: Story Time and Music (K-3rd Grade) – Matt Mazur
- Tuesday, July 11 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (Middle Grades) – Celia C. Perez, The First Rule of Punk
- Saturday, July 22 at 1:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (K-5th Grade) – Annette Bay Pimentel and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, All the Way to the Top: How One Girls’ Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything
- Thursday, July 27 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA and Middle Grades) – Kwame Alexander, The Crossover
- Thursday, August 3 at 7:00 pm EDT: Author Talk (YA) – Jenny Torres Sanchez, We Are Not From Here
For more information:
Annette Hall
402-471-4033
annette.hall@nebraska.gov
New Summer Book Available on BARD!
“Jack and Noah’s Big Day: The Summer When Everything Happened Just Like No One Had Imagined” by Jay Patrick Slagle has been recorded by our Talking Book and Braille Service and is perfect for summer!
Best friends Jack and Noah are facing what promises to be a long boring summer. They decide that Jack needs the world’s greatest birthday party, for which they will need to raise a lot of money. As fundraisers, they start a summer camp, staff a slushie stand, and try to sell glow-in-the-dark necklaces at the city’s July 4th fireworks show. Along the way, a house is blown up; there are visits by police, foremen, and news reporters; and an elephant marches down the driveway.
TBBS borrowers can request “Jack and Noah’s Big Day,” DBC01984, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
New Autobiography Available on BARD!
“Behind the 8-Ball“ by Nebraska author Tom Frye is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD!
“This is the story behind all of my stories, starting from when I was a kid growing up in Havelock and moving on through the 45 years I spent in the field of youth work. I may have a wild imagination, but this one is non-fiction and filled with true stories of my life and times.”
Author, Tom Frye
TBBS borrowers can request “Behind the 8-Ball,” DBC01988, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
“Becker’s Farm” Now Available on BARD!
“Becker’s Farm: A Novel” by William Timmons is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD!
World War II prisoner of war Helmut Sommerfield is interned at a small POW camp in western Nebraska. He soon earns the good will of surrounding farmers as he puts his mechanical skills to work repairing farm equipment. Their admiration for him deepens after Helmut is severely burned while rescuing two farmers trapped in a burning barn. One of the farmers, a recluse, dies, giving rise to a plot to swap Helmut’s identity for the deceased farmer. His chance for a new life is threatened by an escaping POW who knows Helmut’s true identity.
TBBS borrowers can request “Becker’s Farm,” DBC01999, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
2023 One Book One Nebraska Selection available on BARD!
“The Mystery of Hunting’s End” by Mignon G. Eberhart has been recorded by our Talking Book and Braille Service!
Smack in the middle of the Nebraska Sand Hills is Hunting’s End, a weekend lodge owned by the rich Kingery family. Socialite Matil Kingery invites a strange collection of guests — the same people who were at the lodge when her father died of “heart failure” exactly five years ago. She intends to find out which one of them murdered him.
This title has been selected as the 2023 One Book One Nebraska. This dynamic program cultivates a culture of reading and discussion in our state by bringing our diverse state together around one great book by a Nebraska author.
TBBS borrowers can request “The Mystery of Hunting’s End,” DBC02012, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
New Book Available on BARD!
“Haven’s Wake” by Ladette Randolph is now available on cartridge and download on BARD!
When Haven Grebel dies following a tractor accident on his Nebraska farm, his Mennonite family gathers for the funeral service. Widow Elsa, estranged son Jonathan, and the rest of the family must navigate love, loyalty, and long-buried secrets.
“Haven’s Wake is about memory and silence, and about secrets and the fear of them. But above all, it’s a tale of love and loyalty. At the very heart of this deeply heartfelt novel is the story of the restorative power of family and tradition.”
Timothy Schaffert
This novel is part of the Flyover Fiction series and is listed on the 150 Greatest Nebraska Books list — a list that represents the best literature produced from Nebraska during the past 150 years.
TBBS borrowers can request “Haven’s Wake,” DBC01896, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
William Kloefkorn Book Available on BARD!
“This Death by Drowning” by Nebraska author William Kloefkorn has been recorded by our Talking Book and Braille Service!
“Is there any human corner left to illuminate? To surprise? Absolutely, as these wondrous recollections by poet Kloefkorn prove. This slim volume is filled with provocative perceptions garnered from daily life. . . . After the last line, readers will turn back to page one and start again, slowly.”
Publisher’s Weekly
“This Death by Drowning” serves as Kloefkorn’s personal memoir. It is an artfully assembled collection of reminiscences having to do with water and is listed on the 150 Greatest Nebraska Books list — a list that represent the best literature produced from Nebraska during the past 150 years.
TBBS borrowers can request “This Death by Drowning,” DBC02002, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
NCompass Live: New Technology for the Visually Impaired of Nebraska: Magnifiers and e-readers
Electronic video magnifiers and Braille e-readers will improve services to your blind and visually impaired patrons, and they are available via public libraries across the state. Learn about this equipment on next week’s NCompass Live webinar, on Wednesday, March 22 at 10am CT.
Erin Brandyberry and Mickie Saltzman, from the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Pat Fischer from NanoPac, will talk about and demonstrate how to use equipment that will improve services to your blind and visually impaired patrons. Electronic video magnifiers were placed in Nebraska public libraries by the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Braille e-readers are available to Nebraska patrons from the Talking Book and Braille Service (TBBS) at the Nebraska Library Commission.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
- March 29 – Pretty Sweet Tech: GrandPads: Creating Digital Connections for Older Adults
- April 5 – T(w)eens: Programming, Partnership, and Burnout
- April 12 – Art Show! Where Art and Science Meet to Bring the Community Together
- April 19 – Creative Aging Arts Program for Nebraska Libraries
- April 26 – Pretty Sweet Tech
- May 17 – Read the Rainbow: Serving the LGBTQ+ Community in Your Library
- May 24 – La Biblioteca Es Para Ti – Building Community Relationships in a Different Language
- May 31 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Bots for the Community!
For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
Posted in Education & Training, Talking Book & Braille Service (TBBS), Technology
Tagged NCompLive
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New Nebraska Book on BARD!
“Welcome to Pallywonkersville: My Irreverent, but Humorous, Memories of Growing up in Rural Nebraska” by Nebraska author David Hunt is available on cartridge and for download on BARD!
Hunt shares humorous stories about growing up in Palisade, Nebraska, (population 350), which he refers to as Pallywonkersville. Family, friends, and pranks fill these vignettes of small-town life.
TBBS borrowers can request “Welcome to Pallywonkersville,” DBC01990, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
New Book available on BARD!
“Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman“ by Kathryn Watterson is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD!
“Watterson has written one of the most powerful, painful, yet healing stories about our most explosive issue: race. Her book [Not by the Sword] is not only literally true but also symbolically true for us as people — if we acknowledge and transform who and what we are.”
Cornel West, author of “Race Matters”
Grand Dragon of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Nebraska, Larry Trapp was a wheelchair-bound amputee who led a campaign of fear against Jews and other minorities from his cramped apartment in Lincoln. After receiving death threats from Larry, Cantor Michael Weisser and his wife Julie extended friendship to him and later offered to take him into their home. Larry renounced all ties to the Klan, began working with youth groups to educate them about the danger of racist ideology, and, before dying from kidney disease, even converted to Judaism.
TBBS borrowers can request “Not by the Sword,” DBC01995, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
Happy World Braille Day!
Check out this story by KMTV on our braille e-reader and Talking Book and Braille services!
Nebraska Library Commission offers free use of braille e-reader
The device uses electronic displays to create braille letters. They are normally costly, but the Nebraska Library Commission’s talking book and braille service has them to use for free.
By: KMTV Staff
Posted at 5:31 PM, Jan 04, 2023
and last updated 8:21 AM, Jan 05, 2023
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Wednesday was World Braille Day and the whole week is dedicated to visual impairments.
A braille e-reader is a digital device that can make a big difference for those who read braille. It translates words on a screen to braille and it’s free to access for Nebraskans.
“I can read a text message in braille, so braille itself hasn’t really changed,” said Mickie Saltzman, technology training associate for Outlook Enrichment. “The technology and the tools we use to access that braille has changed.”
The braille e-reader can be used on more than phones. It works with computers and tablets, too.
New Book Available on BARD!
“George Norris, Going Home: Reflections of a Progressive Statesman” by Nebraska author Gene A. Budig and Don Walton is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD!
“Nebraskans need to remember George Norris. He truly was one of our great citizens. This book is a very enjoyable journey through those memories.”
Francis Moul, Lincoln Journal Star
This enjoyable book takes readers back through George Norris’ career and what he accomplished. It provides a contemporary perspective about a man who fought to improve everyday life for all American citizens.
TBBS borrowers can request “George Norris, Going Home,” DBC01907, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
“In Cold Storage” on BARD!
“In Cold Storage: Sex and Murder on the Plains” by Nebraska author James W. Hewitt is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD!
“In 1973 the small southwest Nebraska railroad town of McCook became the unlikely scene of a grisly murder. More than forty years later, author James W. Hewitt returns to the scene and unearths new details about what happened.”
Book Jacket
James W. Hewitt is president of the Friends of the Center for Great Plains Studies and was an adjunct professor of history at Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the author of “Slipping Backward: A History of the Nebraska Supreme Court” (Nebraska, 2007).
TBBS borrowers can request “In Cold Storage,” DBC01892, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
NCompass Live: Learning Opportunities and Resources from WebJunction
Come on a tour of WebJunction and learn how to build your library-specific knowledge, skills, and confidence on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, July 20 at 10am CT.
WebJunction provides a range of library-specific, online, and on-demand courses and webinars to help meet your continuing education needs. Whether you are looking to pick up a new skill, or to find inspiration for a new idea, these resources can help you take the first, or next step. With the support of the Nebraska Library Commission, all of the content, webinars and courses are free, and you’ll find topics ranging from customer service to organizational management to space planning. Join this session for a tour of WebJunction and to hear about these flexible and dynamic learning opportunities!
Presenter: Kendra Morgan, Senior Program Manager, WebJunction.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
- July 27 – Pretty Sweet Tech: CES 2022 and Libraries
- Aug. 3 – Building a Reading Community Through Podcasting
- Aug. 10 – Reinventing Programming Kits
- Aug. 24 – Team Up with your Community!
- Sept 7 – Retirement: Time to Ease on Down, Ease on Down the Road
For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
Posted in Books & Reading, Education & Training, Talking Book & Braille Service (TBBS)
Tagged NCompLive, TBBS
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NCompass Live: Talking Book and Braille Service: Continuously Evolving
Learn all about the NLC’s Talking Book and Braille Service on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, July 13 at 10am CT.
Join Gabe Kramer, Director of the Nebraska Library Commission’s Talking Book & Braille Service, to learn about the free audiobooks, audio magazines, and Braille available through the TBBS to individuals with a visual or physical condition, or a reading disability which limits use of regular print. We will take a look at the past, present, and future of the talking book program’s technology and services.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
- July 20 – Learning Opportunities and Resources from WebJunction
- July 27 – Pretty Sweet Tech: CES 2022 and Libraries
- Aug. 3 – Building a Reading Community Through Podcasting
- Aug. 10 – Reinventing Programming Kits
- Aug. 24 – Team Up with your Community!
- Sept 7 – Retirement: Time to Ease on Down, Ease on Down the Road
For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
Posted in Books & Reading, Education & Training, Talking Book & Braille Service (TBBS)
Tagged NCompLive, TBBS
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New Nebraska Memoir on BARD!
“Our Life Our Way: A Memoir of Active Faith, Profound Love, and Courageous Disability Rights” by Nebraska author William L. Rush and Christine F. Robinson is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD.!
“Our Life Our Way, A Memoir of Active Faith, Profound Love, and Courageous Disability Rights explores an extraordinary love story grown out of engagement with both disability rights advocacy and Christian faith communities. This important memoir contains thoughtful, often-entertaining, and sometimes heart-wrenching anecdotes of a couple’s journey to create their profoundly intimate relationship and Christian marriage, in a world not yet ready for them.”
Book Jacket
This memoir was written by a husband and wife, and is narrated by Christine Robinson, it is the sequel to Rush’s autobiography, “Journey Out of Silence,” which is also available on BARD and cartridge.
TBBS borrowers can request “Our Life Our Way,” DBC01986, or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
