Vol. 37, No. 3
September 2007
VOLUNTEER NEWS
THANK YOU! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - BTBL GOES DIGITAL
On behalf of the Arizona Friends of Talking Books, the Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library, and most importantly, the thousands of visually and physically disabled Arizonians using our library, we all want to THANK YOU for your generous donations toward our studio conversion project!
The Braille and Talking Book Library (BTBL) has gone digital with its recording studios. Funding was provided by Arizona Friends of Talking Books. The Friends raised the money through their annual “Whine & Cheese” event, a large print calendar, grants and letter writing. The conversion from analog to digital recording equipment and LCM software is now complete. Digital books will provide blind and visually impaired listeners with enhanced audio quality and navigation features including bookmarks, audio prompts, spelling of selected words and the ability to skip ahead or back at selected intervals. The library also has the ability to convert popular analog recordings to digital and improve the quality using Sound Forge editing software.
VOLUNTEERS LIKE DIGITAL RECORDING
As this newsletter goes to print we have had about six weeks use of our three digital recording booths in Phoenix and one in Mesa. Change, we all know, is not easy and our studio conversion was no exception but we are already seeing the many pluses of production in this new format. Training is complete for most of our recording teams and reviewers. Patience and persistence were evident in abundance and a little chocolate helped ease some of the stress. Studio volunteers and staff are surprised and pleased at how easy the digital recording process is. Many volunteers are finding that they can record considerably more pages per session than with the reel-to-reel technology.
Presently we have 21 titles in production using the digital software. We have three titles completed. These original recordings will be distributed on cassette until the National Library Service begins distribution of flash cartridges which is the next generation of talking books.
For additional information about the National Library Service’s plans for digital books see www.loc.gov/nls/newsletters/flash.
ART BEYOND SIGHT AWARENESS MONTH
Visit the Arizona Capitol Museum
The Capitol Museum has partnered with the Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library and the Foundation for Blind Children to create an exhibit that is also accessible to the blind and visually impaired community.
The museum is opening the Arizona’s State Symbols exhibit in conjunction with Art Beyond Sight Awareness month. This hands-on exhibit highlights Arizona’s 13 official state symbols, including the state bird (cactus wren), the state fossil (petrified wood) and the states newest symbol, adopted in 2001, the state butterfly (two-tailed swallowtail).
The general public is invited to the opening event on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the Museum’s first floor. The Arizona Capitol Museum is located at 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix. For more information please call 602-926-3620 or visit our website www.lib.az.us/museum.
SUMMER VOLUNTEER PROJECT
In July six junior high school students and two staff from Papago Butte Church of the Brethren joined us for a work session. They were participating in a vacation bible school program which included several hours of volunteer service each day at a different community organization. Their leaders wanted the students to experience practical application of the values they were being taught in class.
The group members assisted in our Technical Services Section, shifting and bagging books. It was especially nice to have strong young people to help in this area because of the lifting, stooping and climbing on library stools that was necessary. The group moved 200 book titles to other shelf locations and bagged 370 cassette books to be sent to other libraries. Our staff was grateful for this extra help with a job that is always on-going in order to keep our collection up to date.
CREATIVITY ABOUNDS
Over the years several of our machine repair volunteers have helped with numerous needs for repair of other library equipment. Many times they have also designed and manufactured specialized tools to accomplish a particular task.
Recently volunteer Jim Keller, working at his home workshop in Sedona, made box openers requested by one of the libraries for the blind in Florida. A staff person from the Florida library had seen a newsletter story about a box opener that a former Phoenix volunteer had designed and made. All libraries for the blind have thousands of cassette boxes to open daily, so it helps to have a tool that can save wear and tear on fingers and wrists. Jim made and sent the tools to Florida and made extras for us. Special thanks go to Jim for making this project happen.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT IS ON MESA RECORDING TEAM
The recording team of reader Janet Spielmann and director Nancy Gawkoski might not be a match made in heaven but it comes close. For nine years Janet and Nancy have volunteered as a recording team at the Mesa Recording Studio. They did not know each other prior to volunteering. Their successful partnership has resulted in 31 books added to the local Arizona Books Collection. A few years ago they completed Grand Canyon Women, 18 true stories about women whose lives are linked through a connection with the Grand Canyon. This book was submitted and accepted by the stringent National Library Service Quality Assurance Program for locally produced books. In his written evaluation, the Head of the NLS Quality Assurance Section noted, “The narration of Ms. Spielmann is first rate… Pacing, vocal inflection, pronunciation, interpretation, timing and overall tone, were right on the money. . . The technical quality was also first rate. Clear, strong and consistent …” Both women describe themselves as life-long readers. Each has praise for the other’s skills and commitment. They clearly enjoy working together.
Ten years ago Nancy retired from a career as an accountant with the Department of Defense and relocated to Arizona. She found her volunteer niche through an article in the Make a Difference section of the AZ Republic. It mentioned reading for Talking Books at the Mesa Public Library. When Nancy contacted the Mesa Library she learned that there were three studio positions available and that the greatest need at that time was for directors, the volunteers who operate the taping equipment. She said she would give directing a try and quickly caught on to the process. Nancy worked briefly with another partner before being matched with Janet.
A few years ago, Nancy returned to work part time as a tutor with the Chandler School District. She loves working with the children but said when she accepted the job that she had to keep time for her volunteer work with Talking Books. When she can take the time, she travels to Denver to visit her three grown children and nine grandchildren.
Janet and her husband also moved to Arizona following their retirement. Janet worked for more than 20 years in the Admissions Office at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York and she was Senior Associate Director of Admissions at the time of her retirement. A daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter living in Tempe and a desire to get away from Rochester winters brought them to the Valley of the Sun. Janet heard about Talking Books through a friend from church who was volunteering as a reader.
It took Janet awhile to follow up with the Talking Book Library but she says it has worked out beautifully from the start and she hopes to continue indefinitely. The wide variety of books that she and Nancy have recorded has been a “very broadening experience” she notes. Janet enjoys the pronunciation research that many of the books have required and says it can be like solving a mystery to come up with someone who knows the pronunciation of a little known person, place or thing.
The staff and patrons of the Talking Book Library are grateful to Nancy and Janet for their commitment and for the many professional quality books they have added to the Arizona Collection.