Update
January-March 1999, Vol. 22, No. 1

ISSN 0160-9203

National Library Service 
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
The Library of Congress

Volunteer recording program celebrates twentieth year in
Texas

Twelve volunteers were recognized as the Texas volunteer
recording program celebrated its twentieth anniversary last
year. The volunteers included Margaret Barton, who has been
with the program thirteen years; Marisol Brown, eighteen
years; Cinda Cyrus, nineteen years; Millie Dalrymple, eleven
years; Therese East, twenty years; Frances Edwards,
seventeen years; Judy Evans, fourteen years; Tom
Fairbrother, eighteen years; Ollie Handley, eighteen years;
Janice Lathin, twenty years; Mary Jane Prall, seventeen
years; and Joel Rudd, twenty years.
     These "first-decade" volunteers, along with the many
others who joined the program more recently, have recorded
approximately four thousand books and magazines.
     "We are so fortunate to have such loyal, productive,
and enthusiastic support from our recording studio
volunteers," said Jenifer Flaxbart, director of the Texas
Talking Book Program. "Their hard work and commitment to
quality help us create books and magazines that are valued
and enjoyed by our patrons in Texas--and beyond."
     The Texas volunteer program was organized and launched
in 1978 by studio manager Carolyn Randall, who worked with
the staff of the Texas State Library and Archive Commission
(TSLAC) Talking Book Program. During the next two decades,
the program expanded from a handful of volunteers and one
recording booth to more than a hundred volunteers and three
booths.
     Ms. Randall, who was studio manager for its first ten
years and volunteered weekly for most of the second decade,
was honored at a celebration last year. She received a
Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by TSLAC director and
librarian Robert Martin, and a letter of commendation from
NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke. An honored guest at the
celebration was NLS audio book production specialist Bill
West, who was instrumental in starting the Texas volunteer
effort.
     The Friends of the Talking Book Program Volunteer
Recording Studio, Inc., formed in 1995, sponsored two
successful fundraisers in 1998. The first was a raffle for a
gourmet dinner prepared and served by Friends president Lori
Brix. This effort netted $250.
     The Friends also raised about $600 by gift-wrapping
holiday purchases for customers at an Austin bookstore
during December. The store provided the wrapping paper and
encouraged customers to tip the volunteers. The
gift-wrapping activity also provided an opportunity to
inform bookstore customers about the Talking Book Program
and the volunteer recording studio.
     During the year, the Friends, who help recruit
volunteers, also created a web site at
www.silentpartners.com/friends/friends.html.
(photo caption: First-decade and newer volunteers alike were
honored during the twentieth-anniversary celebration:
(seated, left to right) Janice Lathin, Stephanie Murphy, and
founder Carolyn Randall; (standing, left to right) Therese
East, Bill McLean, Joel Rudd, Frances Edwards, Tom
Fairbrother, and Ollie Handley.)
(photo caption: NLS audio production specialist Bill West
greets Carolyn Randall, right, and former studio staffer and
volunteer Tina Klinkhammer during the Texas Volunteer
Recording Program's twentieth anniversary celebration.)


North Carolina library holds volunteer workshop

The North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped (NCLBPH) invited NLS government
information/volunteer specialist Freddie Peaco to hold a
two-day workshop in January on recruiting volunteers. 
     Gary Ray, NCLBPH director of Volunteer Services,
explained, "We have about a hundred dedicated volunteers
working in three or four categories, but as we have grown
over the years our need for more volunteers has increased.
We have not launched a recruitment effort for more than five
years."
     On the first day, four staff members and one long-time
volunteer who has worked in several areas, including
volunteer administration, attended the session. The program
concentrated on volunteer-program evaluation and job
descriptions. It also covered strategies for recruiting,
interviewing, matching volunteers with tasks, and record
keeping.
     On the second day, Ms. Peaco provided tips and advice
to staff on a personal level. She held one-on-one sessions
with the director of Volunteer Services and with each of the
three staff members responsible for specific volunteer
activities such as the recording program and braille
services. 


Pound Ridge volunteer celebrates 100th birthday 

At age seventy, Edith Blockman Waters wanted to expand her
volunteer service to her community. She decided to learn
literary braille transcription, receiving her certification
in October 1970, and transcribed books for more than
twenty-six years.
     Sunday, December 6, 1998, more than eighty people
gathered at the Le Chateau Restaurant in South Salem, New
York, to honor Mrs. Waters for her community service, which
spans more than fifty years, and to celebrate her
one-hundredth birthday. Hosted by the Pound Ridge (New York)
Lions Club, the late-afternoon luncheon allowed Mrs.
Waters's friends and colleagues to recognize her braille
transcription work and her volunteer service at the Pound
Ridge Hiram Halle Memorial Library and other volunteer work. 
     Pound Ridge Lions Club vice president and project
leader for the event Silas Larry Smith presented Mrs. Waters
with a commemorative plaque from NLS, signed by director
Frank Kurt Cylke. She also received a letter of appreciation
from the Westchester Library System. 
     "We are so proud of Mrs. Waters and appreciate what she
does. She is motivation for all of us, and I have a special
affection for her," said library director Marilyn Tinter.The
centenarian received commendations and birthday wishes from
President and Mrs. Clinton, Governor George Pataki,
Congresswoman Sue Kelly, State Senator Vincent Leibell,
Assemblywoman Naomi Matsuow, and County Executive Andrew
Spano. 
     Memorabilia displayed at the luncheon marked the
volunteer career of Mrs. Waters, who retired from braille
transcribing in 1996 following a stroke. The exhibit
included her braillewriter, her initial certification exam,
some sample work, a list of the more than 110 books she
transcribed into braille, and other mementos.
     At the luncheon the Pound Ridge Lions Club contributed
an additional one thousand dollars to support the audio book
collection at the Pound Ridge library, which the group
established in Mrs. Waters's honor in 1997. The money is to
be used to purchase recorded books.
     Mrs. Waters initially volunteered in the community by
helping in the cafeteria of the Pound Ridge Elementary
School while her grandchildren were in attendance. She also
drove a school bus and worked in the library, where she
still assists on Fridays with book registration and other
tasks.
     She recounts that she became interested in braille when
she and her husband sold their grocery business and retired.
Looking around for volunteer opportunities, she learned that
braille transcription was being taught at the library so she
joined the class, which was sponsored by the Westchester
Braille Group. She transcribed a wide variety of books,
including novels and how-to books, that were sent to NLS and
the Jewish Guild for the Blind. When the Westchester Braille
Group disbanded in the early 1980s, Mrs. Waters began
transcribing textbooks for the American Red Cross Braille
Service in East Orange, New Jersey, where she continued
until she retired. "Volunteering is just a natural part of
life," says Mrs. Waters. 
     Mrs. Waters received the Good Neighbor Award in 1971
and the Westchester County Office Aging Volunteer of the
Year award in 1992. She was also honored in the "Young at
Heart" contest sponsored by U.S. Healthcare.
     The Pound Ridge Community Church, where Mrs. Waters has
been an active member for many years, held a service in her
honor on December 13--her birthday--with the support of the
library. She regularly donated her sewing and baking skills
for church fundraising efforts. After the service, a past
town historian and her husband presented a visual history of
Pound Ridge and the surrounding area and a photographic
retrospective of Mrs. Waters's life and times. 
(photo caption: Mrs. Edith Blockman Waters.)


Johanna Bureau celebrates seventy-fifth anniversary

At a special volunteer recognition luncheon on April 21,
1999, the Johanna Bureau for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped, Inc., will celebrate its past and look forward
to a future of continued service.
     The Johanna Bureau is one of the oldest volunteer
organizations to provide both braille and recorded
transcriptions in the United States. Volunteers began
producing handcopied braille in 1924, and in 1963 began
providing recorded products to clients with visual
impairments and dyslexia.
     Two members of Johanna Lodge #9, a now dissolved
pre-Civil War women's fraternal group, saw the need to
provide braille materials to veterans blinded in World War
I. They encouraged their fellow members to learn braille,
which led to the formation of the Johanna Bureau. The group
was eventually housed in the Chicago Public Library, which
circulated braille material produced by the group for
forty-two years. Later, the Bureau moved into its own
quarters, from which it continues to serve the Chicago
Public Library, the Illinois State Library System, the
Illinois Office of Education, NLS, and individuals and
school districts in nearly all fifty states. The Johanna
Bureau also provides scriveners for handicapped students
taking the Illinois bar exam.
(This article was written by Edith Weiner, Johanna Bureau.)


Big bash at the Montana State Capitol rotunda 

The Montana Talking Book Library celebrated its thirtieth
anniversary on September 29, 1998, by introducing patrons to
those who have worked hard on their behalf and honoring the
volunteers who have played a vital role in the library's
success.  Volunteer Barbara Baarson received a Special
Appreciation Award for her dedicated work on behalf of
library patrons. Chuck Wirth received a Telephone Pioneer
Award for his long hours spent repairing cassette book
machines. Lea Blunn, Mary Zednick, Jane Briney, and Giles
Walker were honored as Recording Team of the Year. Five
summer youth volunteers received special Life-Saver awards
for contributions made during school vacations. At least a
dozen volunteers received individual awards for service
ranging from five to thirty years. 
     The librarians thanked all the volunteers and presented
them with the staff's own creation, a glass plate etched
with the skyline of a nearby mountain range.
(photo caption: Tom Basinger receives a plaque on behalf of
the Telephone Pioneers from Carolyn Sung, chief of Network
Division, NLS.)


Braille Authority of North America elects officers

Elections were the priority when the Braille Authority of
North America (BANA) met in Boston, Massachusetts, November
9 and 10, 1998. 
     Serving the next term (1999-2001) are Phyllis Campana,
American Printing House for the Blind (APH), chairperson;
Bettye Niceley, National Federation of the Blind (NFB),
vice-chairperson; Frances Mary D'Andrea, American Foundation
for the Blind (AFB), secretary; Susan Reilly, California
Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped
(CTEVH), treasurer; and Dolores Ferrara-Godzieba, Associated
Services for the Blind (ASB), past-chairperson.
     The organization also formed a new technical committee
to develop standards for tactile graphics and announced that
an errata sheet correcting errors found in Braille Formats:
Principles of Print to Braille Transcription 1997 will be
available on the BANA web site at www.brailleauthority.org.
In addition, the list will be in transcriber newsletters by
the spring of 1999. 
     The meeting was hosted by the National Braille Press.
The next BANA meeting will be in Colorado Springs, Colorado,
May 2-3, 1999. On November 2-6, 1999, the U.S. members of
BANA will host the International Council on English Braille
(ICEB) in Baltimore, Maryland.


Books being selected for grade 1 braille

A variety of fiction and nonfiction books in grade 1 braille
are now being added to the NLS collection, an action
prompted by the National Advisory Group on
Collection-Building Activities. The group recommended that
NLS provide this format for adult readers who have a need
for or prefer the more elementary form of braille. 
     Mastering grade 1 braille, the letter-for-letter
substitution for print, is the first step to braille
literacy. Books in the NLS collection are generally in grade
2 braille, which contains a number of contracted forms that
speed the reading and take up less space. Mastering the
contractions is a more advanced braille reading skill.
     Approximately three to five books a year are being
selected for the grade 1 braille collection with an
anticipated limit of about fifty. A larger number is not
considered necessary because most patrons advance from this
level to grade 2 braille. More important than the number of
books, the collection must represent the varied interests of
people who are learning braille.
     Criteria used for selection include high general
interest, relatively short length, and low vocabulary. Such
popular works of fiction include classics, westerns, and -

romances. Nonfiction titles are generally subjects believed
to be of interest to many patrons.


Magazine article features NLS narrators

NLS narrators Laura Giannarelli and Ray Hagen and studio
director Margie Goergen-Rood were featured in "The People
behind the Talking Books," an article that appeared in the
March-April 1998 issue of Enable Magazine, published by the
American Association of People with Disabilities. Author
Kathi Wolfe also interviewed former NLS narrator Flo Gibson
and Suzanne Toren, who has narrated more than 1,000 NLS
talking books at the American Foundation for the Blind
(AFB).
     Ms. Wolfe, who identifies herself in the article as
"one of 780,000 patrons of the government program that
provides recorded books to people who are blind and/or have
physical disabilities," writes frequently on disability
issues. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post and the
Miami Herald.
     The article covers the recording process and some of
the attitudes narrators have toward their art and the
extensive work that goes into preparation of each recording.
     Wolfe describes Giannarelli's and Hagen's reaction to
fan mail. Says Giannarelli, "This can be lonely work. One
spends months reading a book. Then it's sent out. But, as
far as we know, it's resting in a vault somewhere. It's
wonderful to get a letter!" 
     Hagen exclaims, "So far as we know, we're just reading
to ourselves! We get fan letters--but never as many as we'd
like."
     The article contains photographs of Giannarelli and
Hagen, as well as images of NLS patrons and a photograph of
Helen Keller and Robert Irwin, both of AFB, with the
original talking-book machine.


Braille student-instructor dialog 

The Braille Development Section receives numerous questions
concerning a variety of problems in braille transcribing.
This article addresses some of them. The question-and-answer
format is intended to give clarity.

Student: I am transcribing a book written by Ann McGovern.
The name McGovern is printed in all capitals except for the
letter c, which is in the lower case. I realize that on the
braille title page, the book title and the author's name are
written in full capitals. Is it then correct to place a
single-capital sign before the letter m and a double-capital
sign before the letter g in McGovern?
Instructor: That is correct. When a book is written by an
author whose name begins with Mc or Mac, and the letters c
or ac are smaller than the other letters, a single capital
sign is placed at the beginning of the name and a
double-capital sign before the second part of the name. 

Student: I am aware that the ea contraction is used in the
word disease. However, should the ea contraction be used in
disease meaning ill at ease?
Instructor: No. When the word disease is used to mean ill at
ease, the word ease is preceded by the prefix dis. Section
34B1 of the official code, English Braille, American
Edition, says that a contraction must not be used where the
usual braille form of the base word would be altered by the
addition of a prefix. Therefore, the ea contraction should
not be used in the word disease meaning ill at ease.

Student: I recently completed my thirty-five-page trial
manuscript for Library of Congress certification. In one
instance, the word economy was divided between lines. In my
evaluation report, two points were deducted for not using
the con contraction in economy. Could you please explain?
Instructor: Certainly. It is true that when economy is not
divided between lines, the con contraction is not used.
However, the contractions for be, con, and dis may be used
when they constitute a syllable in a divided word unless
they are the last syllable in a divided word. Since the word
economy is divided after the letter e, the syllable con
appears at the beginning. Therefore, the con contraction may
be used. (See Section 43 of the official code.)

Student: I realize that the placement and format of captions
is not mentioned in English Braille, American Edition.
Section 18.1 of the Instruction Manual for Braille
Transcribing says only that captions that simply identify
the pictures themselves should be omitted. However, I am
transcribing a book in which picture captions provide
information not given elsewhere in the text. Therefore, I
feel that the captions should be included in the braille
text. Am I correct?
Instructor: Yes. Even though the official code and the
instruction manual do not address this problem, a suggested
solution is given below.
          Picture captions, maps, diagrams, etc., should start in
     cell 7 with runovers in cell 5. Begin with the word
     that tells the reader what it is that you are brailling
     (picture, diagram, map, etc.), and continue brailling
     on the same line. For example:
          Picture Caption: [exact wording as it is given in the
     print]
          If the caption happens to have more than one paragraph,
     start the next paragraph in cell 7 with runovers in
     cell 5. 
          Because of the change in margin, a blank line is not
     needed above or below, unless required for other format
     reasons (such as a major change of thought, scene, or
     action).

Student: In the book that I am transcribing, there are a
number of abbreviations written without punctuation such as
Mr, Mrs, Dr, etc. Should I insert the missing period in
braille?
Instructor: No. Section 27 of the official code says that
abbreviations may be written with or without the period or
capital in accordance with the print copy. Therefore, to
retain the flavor of the author's style, when abbreviations
such as Mr, Mrs, and Dr are written without a period in
print, a period should not be written in braille.


Meetings

National Braille Association (NBA)
Twenty-fifth National Conference, Antlers Doubletree Hotel,
Colorado Springs, Colorado; Thursday, April 29-Saturday, May
1, 1999
     Fall Regional Meeting and Workshops, Radisson Plaza
Hotel, Orlando, Florida; Thursday, October 14-Saturday,
October 16, 1999    Spring Regional Meeting and Workshops,
Holiday Inn University Park, Des Moines, Iowa; Thursday,
April 27-Saturday, April 29, 2000
     For more information about these meetings, contact
National Braille Association, Three Townline Circle,
Rochester, NY 14623-2513; (716) 427-8260.

California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually
Handicapped (CTEVH)
CTEVH XL Annual Conference, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Sacramento,
California; Thursday, March 25-Saturday, March 27, 1999
     For more information about this meeting, contact CTEVH,
741 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029-3594, (213)
666-2211; web site:
http://edtech.sdcs.k12.ca.us/epd/ctevhhome.html

Visual Aid Volunteers of Florida (VAVF)
VAVF 1999 Conference of Volunteers, Radisson Resort North
Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce, Florida, Wednesday, May 12-
Friday, May 14, 1999
     For more information about this meeting, contact
Florence Mathiesen, VAVF president, 6097 Blueberry Lane,
Crestview, FL 32536, (850) 682-7750, e-mail: fjmat@juno.com 


Volunteers master new skills

As a result of a delay in awarding evaluator contracts, no
literary braille trial manuscripts or mathematics braille
transcribing tests were scored during the months of October
and November 1998.
     During the month of December 1998, certificates in
literary braille transcribing were awarded to nine persons. 

LITERARY BRAILLE TRANSCRIBERS

Delaware
John R. Smith, Wilmington

Florida
Janet A. Kitsmiller, Orlando
Doris Sloan, Macclenny
Virginia M. Williams, Jacksonville

Kansas
Juanita A. Ryan, Prairie Village

Nebraska
Robert D. Powelson, Lincoln

Nevada
Richard J. Smith, Las Vegas

New York
Nancy J. Hester, Rome

West Virginia
Raymond E. Cox, Huttonsville


Audio art
Them
by Ray Hagen

If you've been following this narration series, you have--in
theory--learned to unleash your true self, reign in your
excesses, cope with punctuation, revel in research, accept
grim inevitabilities, and tweak your own ear. In short, you
now have your own room in Narrator Nirvana.
     So, enough about you. Now let's talk about . . . them.
Namely, all those folks out there who'll be listening to
these books over which you've sweated and slaved. It is safe
to assume that they (1) speak and understand English, (2)
have read a book before, and/or (3) have listened to a
recorded book before. This absolves you of the need to talk
v-e-r-y  s-l-o-w-l-y so as not to confuse them.
     We may also assume that they listen to recorded books
not because they're hard of hearing (you don't have to
shout) or, shall we say, intellectually challenged. If a
nonfiction book on any given subject is requested, do assume
that the reader cares about that subject, has read other
material on it, has some degree of expertise in or knowledge
of it (possibly a good deal more than you have), and/or
wants to learn more about it. And if the selection is
fiction, the reader may be a fan of the author or of the
genre, has probably read similar material in the past, and
simply wants a good story told well. (Gosh, just like the
reasons we read books! Amazing.) 
     And they know more about you than you suspect. They
know, for instance, that you are an adult human of the male
or female persuasion; that you have certain human attributes
(mouth, saliva, teeth, stomach, nose); and that you are
reading from a book into a microphone with the deliberate
intention of having it listened to. They know that you are
not a roomful of people, just one lone soul. This should
relieve you of the responsibility of trying to con them into
thinking otherwise.
     Also, except for the children, they're not children.
And even the children have their own smarts. None of these
listeners will appreciate being condescended to--that creepy
tone of charity some well-meaning but ill-advised narrators
use when they read to "those less fortunate." And, having
lives of their own, the readers tend not to much care about
your needs or your insecurities or your artistic vision, if
any. They just want to read the book, and it's your job to
get it to them. Tell them the story. What story? The one the
author wrote. Tell it how? The way the author wrote it.
     Now I ask you--what could be simpler?
(photo caption: Ray Hagen is a narrator in the NLS studio.
Photo by Yusef El-Amin.)


Update is published quarterly by:
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
Correspondence should be addressed to Publications and Media
Section.

Coordinating editor: Freddie Peaco
Publication editor: Jane Caulton
Braille student-instructor dialog: John Wilkinson
Audio art: Ray Hagen