Vol. 51, No. 2/3 Fall/Winter 2021/2022

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FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR

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JANET FISHER

Things have been bustling at the library during the fall and winter, with two new Reader Advisors starting work with us and the 2022 Large Print calendar being distributed. We have also pulled together some newsletter articles discussing the Talking Book Topics catalog, the National Library Service announcement of an internship opportunity with the NLS Aspiring Leaders Internship Program and the library’s Book Chat. This combined-issue of the newsletter (Fall and Winter) includes a breadth of topics.

Two new Reader Advisors were hired to fill two open positions in our library. Please help us in welcoming Jenn (serves the last names from E through K) and Jennifer (serves last names from L through R). Read about the RAs in this newsletter!

As the library is implementing changes and trying new things in 2022, I am also moving ahead with plans to retire at the end of February. Working at the Arizona Talking Book Library has been a wonderful part of my library career — working with good colleagues and using my skills to serve appreciative patrons. Thank you for welcoming me to this library in 2015 and helping to make this such a good experience I will always remember.

Happy reading and good health to you!

Janet Fisher, Administrator

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NLS ASPIRING LEADERS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

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Established through the National Library for the Blind Endowment, this paid internship offers legally blind individuals the opportunity to work at NLS in areas that support services for the blind, including collections building, program delivery, and business oversight and management. Interns will gain valuable experience and explore potential career options while being guided through mentorships and developmental activities. The program has spring, summer, and fall sessions, between ten to twelve weeks each session. All interns work remotely.

Application Process
Currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students and those who have graduated within the past five years from an accredited two-year or four-year college or university are eligible to apply. In addition, applicants must be:

US citizens
legally blind
able to work remotely

A complete application package includes a cover letter expressing interest, a federal-style resume, a recent official or unofficial transcript, and an application form that is completed online.

Applicants interested in the Summer 2022 session should submit a completed application by March 1.

To learn more about the program and the application process, visit www.loc.gov/nls/about/internship-program. 

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ADDITIONS TO OUR STAFF

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JENNIFER McLAUGHLIN

My name is Jennifer McLaughlin and I joined the Arizona Talking Book Library in August 2021.

I am the Reader Advisor for patrons whose last names begin with the letters L-R. In addition to being a Reader Advisor, I am also the Librarian for Reading Disabilities and will be developing a program to reach out and connect this community with the Arizona Talking Book Library.

I’ve previously worked in public, medical and college libraries and enjoy traveling, cooking and reading non-fiction.

JENN MICHALICEK

My name is Jenn Michalicek.

As Teresa returns to her much deserved retirement, I have the honor of being the librarian for our patrons with the last names that begin with the letters E through K.

I was born in Albuquerque and lived all around the United States, but I have always returned to Phoenix. I’ve worked in libraries including the Science Fiction Association in New York, the Orlando Public Library in Florida, and the Payson Public Library in the heart of Arizona.

I am looking forward to talking to you about what you are interested in reading.

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TALKING BOOK TOPICS --
PRINT COPIES ON HIATUS

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If you receive the Talking Book Topics (TBT) catalog in large print, please be aware that you will not receive the January–February 2022 issue in paper format due to ongoing supply-chain issues and worldwide paper shortages. This hiatus may extend into 2023.

For computer users, you are able to access TBT January–February 2022 online in HTML (web page version) and PDF right now at www.loc.gov/nls/tbt. TBT in HTML contains direct links to BARD for downloading or adding books to wish lists, and TBT in PDF contains printable order forms for mailing.

TBT January–February 2022 issue in audio was made available on cartridge and on BARD and BARD Mobile the first week in February. Additionally, TBT Abridged will be available through Braille Book Review in hardcopy braille and BRF on www.loc.gov/nls/bbr

Here are the formats available through NLS:

• HTML, www.loc.gov/nls/tbt, linking to BARD for downloading or adding books to wish lists
• PDF, www.loc.gov/nls/tbt, containing a printable order form
• Audio cartridge, which comes with a print order form
• BARD audio magazine, downloadable to cartridge or to BARD Mobile wish list
• Braille Book Review’s TBT Abridged section in hardcopy braille
• Braille Book Review’s TBT Abridged section as a BRF downloadable through BARD or from www.loc.gov/nls/bbr

Newsline also has TBT available to listen to through their system, including if you have an Alexa or other device. Please call the Arizona Talking Book Library for more information on Newsline.

The National Library Service will keep the library informed, and we will inform you, as they learn more about the long-term outlook for printing Talking Book Topics.

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GO PAPERLESS!

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Electronic versions of the Talking Book News newsletter are available from our website in audio and plain text.

https://azlibrary.gov/talkingbooks/newsletter

Or, if you would prefer to receive this newsletter through e-mail, contact the library to make the change today!

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SELECTIONS FROM THE ARIZONA
TALKING BOOK LIBRARY’S BOOK CHAT

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Looking for some good books to talk about? Here are some that the Arizona Talking Book Library’s Book Chat group has enjoyed this year and in prior years:

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate – DB88202
Reading time: 14 hours, 31 minutes.
Historical Fiction
The five Foss children are left alone at home in 1930s Mississippi and subsequently kidnapped by notorious child dealer Georgia Tann. In the present day, Avery Stafford meets elderly May – who used to be Rill Foss and is the sister of Avery's Grandma Judy. Avery investigates her family's history. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2017.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett – DB54190
Reading time: 12 hours, 20 minutes.
Psychological Fiction
The private performance of lyric soprano Roxane Coss entices Japanese industrialist Katsumi Hosokawa to attend a party in his honor in South America. While the audience applauds, guerrillas occupy the mansion taking everyone hostage. As the outer world recedes, relationships between captors and captives come into play. Some strong language. PEN/Faulkner Award. 2001.

Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper – DB69557
Reading time: 9 hours, 12 minutes.
Author describes adopting Homer, a small abandoned kitten whose infected eyes were surgically removed. Details the adventures of spunky, active Homer over the next dozen years – living with two other cats in New York apartments, surviving 9/11, and endearing himself to everyone he met including (eventually) the author's future husband. 2009.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear – DB67808
Reading time: 9 hours, 28 minutes.
Historical Mystery Fiction
Thirteen-year-old Maisie is lucky to be a maid in the home of a wealthy London suffragette who sees to her education. Maisie becomes a private investigator in 1929 after serving as a nurse during the Great War. Her first case involves a shelter for wounded veterans. 2003.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles – DB86668
Reading time: 6 hours, 16 minutes.
Historical Fiction
1870. Captain Kidd rides across Texas delivering the news of the day. He is asked to take ten-year-old Johanna Leonberger, recently rescued from a Kiowa tribe, to her family near San Antonio. The captain must deal with Johanna's inability to reacclimate to white culture. Some violence and some strong language. 2016.

Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero by Michael Hingson & Susy Flory – DB73300
Reading time: 7 hours, 19 minutes.
Michael Hingson, an executive who worked in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, recounts his escape after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Hingson, blind since birth, describes what he and his guide dog, Roselle, experienced as she led him down seventy-eight flights of stairs to safety. 2011.

Virgil Wander by Leif Enger – DB93336
Reading time: 10 hours, 39 minutes.
After his car crashes in an icy Lake Superior, Virgil survives with damage to his language and memory. The people in the small Minnesota town where he owns a struggling movie house help Virgil piece back together his personal history. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

We’ve also had lively discussions on these Arizona-focused books --

These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 : Arizona Territories by Nancy E. Turner – DBC05810
Reading time: 15 hours, 39 minutes.
Inspired by the author's family memoirs, Sarah's diary portrays the joys and hardships of living out west at the end of the 1800s. Beginning at age seventeen, she recounts events over twenty years, including Indian attacks, marriages, births, and deaths.

Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life by John McCain and Mark Salter – DB58324
Reading time: 4 hours, 22 minutes.
Meditations on courage and its costs by Senator John McCain. Includes accounts of Vietnam veteran sergeant Roy Benavidez, civil rights leader John Lewis, Hungarian resistance fighter Hannah Senesh, and others, demonstrating exemplary fortitude, discipline, and self-sacrifice both in daily living and under extraordinary duress. Bestseller. 2004.

And coming up…

July 14 --
Ladies of the Canyons: A League of Extraordinary Women and Their Adventures in the American Southwest by Lesley Poling-Kempes — DBC03329
Reading time: 14 hours, 38 minutes.
True story of remarkable women who left the security and comforts of Victorian society to journey to the American Southwest in search of a wider view of themselves and their world. Natalie Curtis, Carol Stanley, Alice Klauber. Mary Cabot Wheelwright.

Call the library if you want to join these intriguing morning or evening book discussions!

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TECH TALK --
IOS PHONE DETECTS PEOPLE NEARBY

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On iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max, you can use the Magnifier app to detect people and help you maintain physical or social distance from others. When iPhone detects people nearby, you’re notified with sounds, speech, or haptic feedback. The feedback is more frequent when a person is closer to you. For more information visit:
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/detect-people-around-you-iph41bdfe6c7/ios

Also available is the NLS Guide to GPO and Wayfinding Apps that offers other software suggestions for navigating your environment. The guide can be found at:
https://www.loc.gov/nls/resources/general-resources-on-disabilities/gps-and-wayfinding-apps/

(taken from CTBL News, Winter 2022)

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FACEBOOK PAGE FOR THE
ARIZONA TALKING BOOK LIBRARY

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Our library maintains a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/aztalkingbooks.

Feel free to “Like” our page and check in frequently for information about upcoming events, such as the VRATE expo, Summer Reading and our Book Chat book club. We also share fun facts about the library and stories related to the blind and print disabled community at large.

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ARIZONA FRIENDS OF TALKING BOOKS

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https://www.azfotb.org

The best Friends a library could have!

The Arizona Friends of Talking Books is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports the Arizona Talking Book Library, its volunteer programs and local recording studios through fundraising, advocacy, and outreach. Thanks for all of your support! For more information, visit https://www.azfotb.org.

(Tax ID: 86-1008453)

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