IN.gov - Skip Navigation

Note: This message is displayed if (1) your browser is not standards-compliant or (2) you have you disabled CSS. Read our Policies for more information.


Subscribe for e-mail updates
Print This Page Rate This Page Suggest a Link E-mail This Page HELP Find a Person Find an Agency

In Touch Spring 2008

A Newsletter for Parents and Teachers
Lissa Shanahan, Regional Librarian
Carole Rose, Editor
Spring 2008

2008 Summer Reading Program

With the end of school only a few weeks away, why not register your child for the 2008 statewide summer reading program, sponsored by the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library. This year's theme is "Catch the Reading Bug."

From June 2-August 1, children will be able to earn some terrific prizes just for reading. Prizes include: stickers, reading certificates, bookmarks, growing spiders, jumping ladybugs, plush butterflies, hand puppets, spider rings, cockroaches, and much more. Children should love these items; parents may not be as thrilled. Each child wins at least three prizes just for joining and reading a book.

The outstanding reader in each grade will win a shirt and a tote bag. Outstanding braille and large print readers will also win special awards. Participants who read at least one book from our "Buggy" reading list (not all of the books are about bugs) will earn an extra entry for one of two grand prize drawings-grades K-3 and 4-7. Prizes will not be awarded until all books borrowed during the program have been returned.

By the time you read this newsletter, you should have received an application for this program. Please complete and return it to the library in the enclosed stamped, self-addressed envelope by Monday, May 12. However, applications received later than this date will be accepted.

Children need to be encouraged to experience the joy of reading and the staff appreciates the support we continue to receive from parents and teachers. Please don't hesitate to request an application for the talking book program if you know of students who are not registered and would enjoy being a summer reader. If you have questions about the summer program, want to request specific books, or if your child just wants to call and talk about the books he/she is reading or about summer activities, contact Carole Rose, Coordinator of Children's Services, at (317)232-0609 or (800)622-4970 or e-mail: crose@library.in.gov .

Indiana Voices

In January 2008, the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library launched Indiana Voices, a program funded by a $950,000 grant from the Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation. Volunteer narrators, monitors, and reviewers will narrate and produce books by Indiana authors as well as titles with an Indiana-related theme.

Narrators and monitors will work in the library's state-of-the-art recording studio, using the latest digital equipment. Until the NLS flash memory delivery system is available to network libraries, the material will be produced on cassettes.

Volunteers will be producing fiction and nonfiction titles for all ages. Titles for children and teens will be selected from nominees and winners of the Young Hoosier Book Award, the Elliot Rosewater Award, and the Best Books of Indiana competition. Recommenda-tions from teachers and media specialists will also be considered.

Indiana Voices program director, Drake Land, is a recent graduate of Ball State University, with a secondary education major in Social Studies. Although he has only been with us since December, eleven books, some for younger readers, are already being narrated. Completed titles will appear on the Indiana Voices link on the Talking Book and Braille Library web page. Titles may also be listed in this newsletter as they become available.

Drake is also recruiting narrators, monitors, and reviewers. Narrators and monitors generally work in the recording studio for an hour once a week. Volunteers need not come to the library to review completed material. If you know someone who might want to volunteer in one of the above areas, please contact Mr. Land at (317) 232-3683 or e-mail dland@library.in.gov .

2008 Indiana Vision Expo

For the past two years, the Talking Book and Braille Library has hosted an Indiana Vision Expo at the Indiana State Library. Its purpose was to introduce persons with vision loss, their friends and families, educators, service providers, and other interested consumers to a variety of products and services designed to promote independence at home, at school, and at work. More than twenty exhibitors distributed information and displayed and sold products for children and adults.

In 2006 and 2007, the Expo was held in April. However, the 2008 Indiana Vision Expo will be held at the State Library on Saturday, September 27, from 10 AM.-3 PM. Several of the 26 exhibitors attending this year's event will be displaying items of interest to children and teens. The American Printing House for the Blind will display computer games, puzzles, board games, and much more. Bosma Industries will also exhibit toys and games. National Braille Press will feature a children's book-of-the-month display as well as braille jewelry. Humanware will exhibit a hand-held global positioning system, a notetaker, and the popular Victor Stream, a hand-held digital player and audio recorder. Persons who purchase the Stream at the Expo will receive a discount.

The Indiana Vision Expo continues to grow in participation and attendance. The list of exhibitors has grown from 15 in 2006 to 26 in 2008. In 2007, 612 guests attended the event and we hope to increase that number in 2008. Please join us in September.

Beginning in May, please visit our Expo web site at indianavisionexpo.org. You'll find profiles of our exhibitors, brief descriptions of products and resources, information about parking, food, and more. The site will be updated through Friday, September 26. If you don't have access to a computer or would prefer getting information from the Talking Books staff, contact Carole Rose, Expo Coordinator at: (317) 232-0609, (800)622-4970 or e-mail: crose@library.in.gov .

Expanded Large Print Collection

Thanks to a generous grant from the Alpha Xi Delta National Foundation and money from our gift fund, TBBL was able to purchase 139 large print books for children in grades K-4. Even though publishers insist that the print in books for younger readers is large, it is not large enough for many of the children on our program who want to read large print material.

Until our recent purchase, we hadn't added books to this part of the collection since 1984. We continue to circulate these books but their print is no larger than 14-point. The print in these new titles, purchased from Library Reproduction Services, is at least 16-point or larger. Many of the books include colorful illustrations. The collection features titles from the Magic School Bus, the Magic Treehouse, Nate the Great, and Frog and Toad series. There are also titles by Marc Brown, Kevin Henkes, Cynthia Rylant, William Steig, Judy Blume, Maurice Sendak, Eric Carle and other well-known authors. We even bought a copy of Flat Stanley.

To search our collections visit the Indiana State Library web site www.library.in.gov and click on the catalog link, then click on the Talking Book and Braille Library catalog. The library will produce a limited number of large print catalogs listing this special collection which will be available for loan. The books will be ready for circulation before the beginning of our summer reading program.

We are excited about the opportunity to expand our children's large print collection. Now very young readers who can use large print will have the option to enjoy reading books themselves. The staff will be actively promoting this collection and we hope that parents and teachers will encourage children to use it. We plan to add more titles during the coming year.

Because these books are reproductions, they are more expensive than books purchased from publishers who offer large print material for older children and adults. We were able to purchase only one copy of each book, so we are asking that they be handled with care. Please read and return titles promptly so that others may enjoy them.