BTBL News Braille and Talking Book Library California State Library, Sacramento, CA New Series no. 28 (Spring 2023) In This Issue: * Director's Message * Borrow a Handheld Magnifier * Borrow a Handheld Talking Book Player * Borrow a Connection to the Internet * Borrow a Refreshable Braille Display * Summer Reading Program 2023 * Summer Reading Log * Books on Demand: Less Wait, the Books You Want * NLS Braille on Demand Program * Not Using Your Digital Book Machine? Please Return! * Keep Up with What’s New at NLS * Braille Calendars Available * Newest Titles from the Californiana Collection A Message from Mike Marlin, Director Greetings from the City of a Thousand Trees, your Sacramento National Library Service (NLS) Regional Library! Welcome to another packed issue of BTBL News, including offerings from our archival Californiana collection of local talking books and some BTBL staff recommendations to whet your literary appetite! You can also read about: 1) our 2023 Summer Reading Program and its intersection with a nationwide, inaugural, NLS Summer Reading Program, 2) the new NLS Braille on Demand program where patrons can obtain individual braille books to keep, and 3) ongoing opportunities for patrons to borrow assistive technology devices such as portable audio players, portable electronic magnifiers, internet-ready mobile hotspots, and refreshable braille displays. BTBL is proud to be hosting (as we did back in 2015) the NLS Western Regional Conference in late April in Sacramento. The conference is a continuing education opportunity for NLS staff from 15 Western states to converge and share knowledge. The conference brings librarians, readers advisors, technical and support staff, and administrators together in-person for training, education, technical discussions, and professional networking. We look forward to spending time with our dedicated colleagues from the West and elsewhere! I want to commend NLS for the rollout of a very exciting development, a Spanish-language website. This new, 24-page site provides general program information, lists of resources in Spanish, and provides an easy way to access Spanish-language materials including BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) information. Visit: loc.gov/nls/es. The launch of this website coincides with an important recent anniversary. On February 8, 2019, the United States became the 50th member state to join the Marrakesh Treaty, a landmark copyright agreement allowing for the international exchange of accessible-format titles to serve those unable to read traditional books because of a print disability. NLS continues to add more foreign language books to its catalog. To locate this growing collection of titles, see the online publication Foreign Language Quarterly found at loc.gov/nls/flq. And finally, if you are interested in synthetic voice audio, electronic braille, and now some human-narrated books, consider a free Bookshare membership through BTBL. Contact BTBL for details. Borrow a Handheld Magnifier The HumanWare Explore 5 magnifier is a compact and lightweight device. It has a 5-inch LCD screen, a camera, an image storage gallery, large tactile keys, a retractable handle, and 2 LED lights. The Explore 5 has a magnification range between 2X to 22X. This handheld magnifier can connect to another external display screen, like a TV or computer monitor, to enlarge text or images. The loan period is one year long, and it can be renewed based on availability. BTBL provides training on the device as well. Speak with your Reader Advisor to borrow this device free of charge. Borrow a Handheld Talking Book Player The Victor Reader Stream is a handheld audio player. Users can listen to books, magazines, newspapers, Internet radio, music, and podcasts, using online or offline options. The Victor Reader Stream can directly connect to the following libraries: NFB Newsline, Bookshare, and NLS BARD. Patrons must have a valid email address and an active BARD account prior to borrowing this device. The loan period is one year long, and it can be renewed based on availability. BTBL provides training on the device as well. Speak with your Reader Advisor to borrow this device free of charge. Borrow a Connection to the Internet The Orbic Wi-Fi hotspot is a portable Internet access tool. The device has a default 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi setting and will support up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices at a time, with unlimited data. Patrons requesting a Wi-Fi hotspot must consent to the California State Library Wi-Fi Agreement. The loan period is one year long, and it can be renewed based on availability. Speak with your Reader Advisor to borrow this device free of charge. Borrow a Refreshable Braille Display The Humanware eReader has a 20-cell braille display and an eight-key, Perkins-style keyboard. When connected to Apple’s iPad, iPhone, Mac, or a Windows computer using screen reader software, the eReader acts as a braille display. The eReader is compatible with screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver. This portable device has wireless and Bluetooth capabilities. Please note Android and Chromebook platforms are currently incompatible with this device. BTBL loans the eReader to patrons for the duration of their library membership and can provide access to training and technical support. Speak with your Reader Advisor to borrow this device free of charge. Summer Reading Program 2023 It may just be Spring, but Summer is around the corner, and that means Summer Reading at BTBL! Adult participants who read 5 books or more during the Summer Reading Program from June 1st to August 31st, will receive a Starbucks gift card for $10. Participants under the age of 18 do NOT have to read five books, they can track any books they read and how much time they spent reading OR use a bingo book card to track what they read. Participants under the age of 18 will receive a $10 Baskin-Robbins gift card AND their choice of a stuffed dog or earbud headphones. Please contact us if you would like a large print Summer Reading Program packet sent to you. The packet will include a large print reading log (or bingo book card for younger patrons), a book list to give you ideas for new books you might like to read, information about the program, and an envelope already addressed to the library to help you send back your completed reading log. For your convenience, a large print Summer Reading Log has been included in this issue (next page). You are also always welcome to email us the list of books you read for the Summer Reading Program. Please be aware that we cannot accept your list of completed books over the phone. For the first time, the National Library Service is also putting on a Summer Reading Program with online presentations by authors, Q&A sessions, and activities. More information about the program will be available as we get closer to summer. You can find the latest news at the NLS Patron Engagement corner: loc.gov/nls/about/services/patron-corner. [large print summer reading log] Books on Demand: Less Wait, the Books You Want Just about all patrons who receive audio books from us are now receiving our new Books on Demand cartridges. The containers for Books on Demand do look a little different, but they contain the same great audio books you are accustomed to receiving from us. Some patrons have asked how to tell what’s on each cartridge. Behind the mailing label is a second large print card which lists the titles of the books on that cartridge. You can also use the Bookshelf function to hear each title on that cartridge. But did you know that with Books on Demand, you don’t have to wait for an available copy of a book that’s in high demand? Take the new John Grisham book: The Boys from Biloxi (DB 110627). Instead of waiting months on a waitlist for one of the copies of that book to be available, BTBL can now make a copy of that book for you and send it out the next business day. With Books on Demand, you get new and popular titles a whole lot faster! You also have amazing customization options with Books on Demand. Did you want to read an entire series of books in order? Read biographies of US presidents in the order they served? Explore a decade’s worth of literature from Nobel laureates? With Books on Demand, we can make those requests a reality. To get you started with your customized, multititle Books on Demand cartridges, here are some recommendations from staff. Please let your Reader Advisor know if you would like to request any of these books or the entire booklist. Joan’s Favorite Dog and Cat Books: “I can read these over and over! It warms my heart.” DB 66787 The Art of Racing in the Rain DB 85389 Lily and the Octopus DB 70660 Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat Top 10 Music Biographies from the BTBL Studio: “Of the hundreds of music biographies, histories, and other related titles in the greater NLS collection we have both read, this assignment to narrow down to a list of ten musical titles was an absolute and maddening exercise in restraint for both Director Mike and Studio Coordinator Christopher! Below are some compelling works spanning rock, country, jazz, folk, and blues.” DB 106788 Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen DB 91244 David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music DB 105173 Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin DB 61088 Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race, and New Beginnings in a New South DBC 05930 Grit, Noise & Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock ‘n’ Roll DB 33198 Miles, the Autobiography DB 93691 The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry that Shaped Rock 'n' Roll DB 79522 Please Be with Me: A Song for my Father, Duane Allman DB 55484 Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters DB 105313 The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music Melissa’s Favorite Uplifting Books Read During the Pandemic: “I enjoyed all these titles because they helped provide perspective during such a difficult time.” DB 105146 The Book of Form and Emptiness: A Novel DB 92818 Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History DB 107705 Sea of Tranquility DB 81169 Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A Journey DB 93442 The Travelling Cat Chronicles NLS Braille on Demand Program Are you a braille reader who has a favorite book that you would like to read over and over again? Or is there a reference book that you would like to keep on hand, like a cookbook, handbook, or craft book? You can now order your own personal copy of a braille book through the Braille on Demand program! Choose from any of the 16,000+ eBraille titles currently available on BARD – any book, any subject! Just fill out the form at: surveymonkey.com/r/NLSbrailleondemand, or ask your Reader Advisor for assistance. After your request has processed, you will receive a hardcopy of your chosen braille book, bound with a soft cover and comb binding, through the mail. Requests are now limited to five books per month. Not Using Your Digital Book Machine? Please Return! Are you a patron who is exclusively using the BARD mobile app? Or are you using a third-party player? If your machine is not being used, we would like you to consider sending it back so that we can get it to another patron who needs it! To send your machine back to us, box it up and address it to: BTBL, 900 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Write “Free Matter for the Blind” in place of postage to ship it for free through the United States Postal Service. Or contact us at 800-952-5666 or btbl@library.ca.gov and we will send you a mailing label. Keep Up with What's New at NLS Want to get the latest news and updates from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled? NLS’s Patron Engagement Section now hosts an announce-only email listserv that will include announcements about NLS programs, services and products that might be of interest to patrons. New announcements will be posted to the list a few times a week. If you are interested in signing up for this listserv, please send your name and email address to the Patron Engagement Section at NLSPES@loc.gov. You will be able to unsubscribe yourself from the list at any time. Braille Calendars Available Please let your Reader Advisor know if you need a braille calendar—pocket- sized or wall-sized. Newest Titles from the Californiana Collection Staff of our Narration Studio have been busy preparing local books—California authors and subjects not covered by the NLS talking book collection. For a complete catalog of our Californiana Collection, ask your Reader Advisor. Here are the recently completed talking books: Ishi in two worlds: A biography of the last wild Indian in North America by Theodora Kroeber DBC 20158 In 1911, Ishi, the lone survivor of the Yahi people, was found outside of a slaughterhouse in Oroville, California. Starving, exhausted, and speaking no English, Ishi had abandoned his tribal home in the foothills in the Sierra Nevada to survive. This is an account of his life - before he was found, and afterward, where he lived out the rest of his life in a museum, under the guardianship of an anthropologist. 9 hours, 45 minutes. Narrated by: Mary Lovell. Arranged marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni DBC 16721 Collection of stories around the theme of Indian-born girls and women in America, their coming of age and the transformations forced on them by the two cultures as they immigrate. Some descriptions of sex. Violence. 10 hours, 14 minutes. Narrated by: Cathy Carlson. Bury the past: A Detective Penley mystery by James L'Etoile DBC 16159 Detective John Penley and partner Paula Newberry investigate the trafficking of street drugs by corrupt cops working the Sacramento area in this sequel to At What Cost (DBC 16158). Strong language and violence. 10 hours, 9 minutes. Narrated by: Phil Torres. Steinbeck remembered by Audry Lynch DBC 16728 Fascinating memories collected from Steinbeck's friends recall his charisma, colorful and difficult personality, and love of life. 3 hours, 15 minutes. Narrated by: Davida Feder. Bloodvine: A novel by Aris Janigian DBC 16730 One man resolves to learn the secrets kept by his family, Armenians farming in the great central valley of California in the 1950s. Contains descriptions of violence. 10 hours, 44 minutes. Narrated by: Walter Phelps Black sun of the Miwok by Jack Burrows DBC 19516 The author, who grew up in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Murphys, California, writes about six Miwok Indians he knew there in the 1920s and 1930s. His sympathetic portraits describe the devastation suffered for decades by the Miwoks, beginning with the gold rush, which nearly destroyed their culture. Descriptions of sex, strong language and violence. 6 hours, 12 minutes. Narrated by: Bill Rosenfeld. Second growth by Wallace Stegner DBC 19539 A young jewish tailor sets up his business in a small summer retreat for professors. He meets and marries one of the summer tourists and, as outsiders together, they struggle to make a life in the rather closed society of the village. 8 hours, 1 minute. Narrated by: Carla Hoffman Twice dying by Neil McMahon DBC 19513 Near San Francisco, several violent sociopaths who have been sent back to society are mysteriously missing. A doctor and a beautiful psychologist are caught up in a dangerous attempt to discover what happened to all of them. 6 hours, 55 minutes. Narrated by: Bill Rosenfeld. Blood double by Neil McMahon DBC 19018 This fast-paced thriller (sequel to Twice Dying DBC 19513) continues the adventures of Dr. Carroll Monks, an emergency room physician caught up in a mystery with high stakes in the scientific world of genetic engineering. Descriptions of sex. 8 hours, 13 minutes. Narrated by: Bill Rosenfeld. Highway 99: A literary journey through California's Great Central Valley by Stan Yogi DBC 20156 This multicultural anthology contains essays, fiction, poetry and drama showcasing seventy writers living along the length of Highway 99--the main artery through California's Central Valley. Explores how the agricultural opportunities of the region attract people from many walks of life: African American migrants, Oklahoma refugees, Filipino laborers, Chinese pioneers, Mexican workers, and Laotian immigrants. 16 hours, 10 minutes. Narrated by: Sandra Swafford. Bret Harte's gold rush: Outcasts of Poker Flat, The Luck of Roaring Camp, Tennessee's Partner, and other favorites by Bret Harte DBC 16732 An entertaining collection of fifteen of Bret Harte's best gold rush stories, which bring to life "a boisterous assemblage of rough-clad miners, pistol-packing preachers, iron-willed women, and philosophical gamblers." 7 hours, 34 minutes. Narrated by: Gerald Swafford. Endangered dreams: The Great Depression in California by Kevin Starr DBC 19542 The 4th volume of the author's Americans and the California Dream series focuses on the precursors and experiences of the 1930s. 24 hours, 4 minutes. Narrated by: Carl Holmes. The great Tejon Club jubilee: Stories by Gerald W. Haslam DBC 19545 Thirteen short stories featuring the patrons of the Tejon Club, a bar just outside of Bakersfield, California. Patronized primarily by union men, the bar gains a reputation as a place to blow off steam, tell tall tales, pull pranks, and share life stories. 4 hours, 37 minutes. Narrated by: David Michener. Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck DBC 19502 In this sequel to Cannery Row, Steinbeck's colorful characters of post-World War II Monterey try to help Doc out of his loneliness, often with comic results. Explicit descriptions of sex and strong language. 9 hours, 41 minutes. Narrated by: Bill Rosenfeld. Nimitz by E.B. Potter DBC 19540 A biography of Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was a key figure in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Over the course of his career, Nimitz established the submarine base at Pearl Harbor, developed engineering techniques that allowed for multiple naval victories, and served as Commander of the Pacific Fleet, overseeing thousands of ships and millions of sailors. Details the story of his life, from his childhood in Texas, to his eventual retirement in Berkeley, California. 25 hours, 10 minutes. Narrated by: Gerald Swafford. What I saw in California by Edwin Bryant DBC 20154 A journalist's account of his overland journey from Independence, Missouri to San Francisco and his further explorations of the West in 1846 to 1847. This book provided valuable travel tips for Gold Rush 49ers traveling by way of the California Trail a few years later. 20 hours, 54 minutes. Narrated by: Carl Holmes. Giants in the earth: The California redwoods by Peter Johnstone DBC 16738 Literary anthology of stories, poems, natural history compositions, and articles selected from three hundred years of writing about the California redwoods. Authors Walt Whitman, John Muir, Jack London, Tom Wolfe, Armistead Maupin, and others who visited the groves felt inspired to write about their experiences and feelings. 9 hours, 53 minutes. Narrated by: David Michener. To the stars: The autobiography of Star Trek's Mr. Sulu by George Takei DBC 26683 A biography of George Takei, one of the first Asian-American actors to win a starring role in television in the 1960s. Opening with the story of his family's internment during World War II, George recounts stories of his childhood at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California, his early career in Hollywood, and the behind-the-scenes difficulties and discrimination he faced in his role as the helmsman of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek. Unrated. Commercial audio book. 3 hours, 0 minutes. Narrated by: George Takei. Copy boy: A novel by Shelley Blanton-Stroud DBC 26681 In the midst of the Great Depression, Jane Benjamin escapes her murderous father by fleeing to San Francisco, changing her identity, and getting a job selling newspapers as a copy boy. But when a girl resembling Jane is beaten into a coma only one block from the newspaper offices, Jane fears that her father has caught up with her, and she'll do anything to avoid detection. Unrated. Commercial audio book. 9 hours, 20 minutes. Narrated by: April Doty. They saw the elephant: Women in the California gold rush by JoAnn Levy DBC 19509 Approximately ten-percent of the Gold Rush forty-niners were female. Overlooked by historians, this volume tells the stories of the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters who took the overland trail, mined for gold, and settled in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Nevada City afterwards. 8 hours, 30 minutes. Narrated by: JoAnn Levy. Inside the Oy Quong Laundry by Kathleen Kong Wing DBC 19515 A collection of stories, passed from mother to daughter, about what it was like to grow up as a Chinese immigrant in Central California in the 1920's and 1930's. Speaking no English and running a hand-wash laundry, the author's mother endeavors to maintain her traditional Chinese values, even as her American neighbors react with hostility and prejudice. 5 hours, 26 minutes. Narrated by: Barbara Reider. BTBL News is written and edited by staff of the Braille and Talking Book Library at the California State Library. It is available in braille, audio file, through email, and in large print upon request, or through our website. 916-654-0640 or 800-952-5666 (toll-free in CA) Email: btbl@library.ca.gov Website: btbl.ca.gov Catalog: btbl.library.ca.gov Library Service Hours: 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM, Monday-Friday Office closures: We will be closed March 31 (Cesar Chavez), May 29 (Memorial Day), July 4, September 4 (Labor Day), November 10 (Veteran’s Day), November 23--24 (Thanksgiving). Donations to BTBL are accepted at any time and are used to enhance and improve library services. In the case of memorials or donations in honor of a particular person or event, please include the name(s) and address(es) of those to be notified. Checks should be made payable to the California State Library Foundation and should include a note that the donation is for the Braille and Talking Book Library. Donations should be sent to: California State Library Foundation, 1225 8th Street, Suite 345, Sacramento, CA, 95814-4809. Donations can also be made online at: cslfdn.org. Follow the link to "Join/Donate Online." There is a place to designate BTBL as the recipient.