[Greater-Baltimore] The recording studio at State Library

Mon Mar 28 18:42:44 UTC 2016

Maurice,

Very well said and I could not agree more.  After becoming friends with
some of the people who work there, I feel their frustration and support
them 100%.  Kudos to those who do this valuable, het overlooked work.

Michael

On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 2:11 PM, Maurice Peret via Greater-Baltimore <
greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Gentlemen,
>
> I share the frustration expressed about the Library for the Blind &
> Physically Handicapped but have a polar opposite take on the problem.
> As was pointed out by my friend and colleague, Mr. Chris Danielsen,
> the LBPH has been woefully underfunded and under staffed for years and
> this problem has only grown worse with time, not better. Instead of
> pointing fingers and castigating these overworked and frankly, under
> paid public servants, we should all of us rally behind and support
> them and the heroic work that they do with so few resources. For
> example, a huge portion of the tremendous work performed by the LBPH
> is done by volunteers who are not financially compensated at all. When
> we've brought to the attention of law makers in Annapolis the
> financial and staffing crisis at the Library for the Blind &
> Physically Handicapped, many of the delegates and senators and their
> staff barely knew the facility existed let alone possess an informed
> understanding of the crisis. Marylanders have the benefit of a
> statewide public library network of services, many of which are
> located in their own communities. The blind, on the other hand, are
> relegated to just one central library with perhaps one or two other
> satellite locations for the entire state.
>
> Let's consider collective and productive ways to support this critical
> resource for Marylanders who are blind or who have other print
> disabilities instead of casting aspersions upon those doing the real
> work.
>
> Thanks for everyone's efforts to keep this invaluable service going
> and for imagining even greater service with the help and support of
> the Maryland legislature.
>
> Maurice Peret
>
> On 3/28/16, Danielsen, Chris via Greater-Baltimore
> <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> > Dear Mr. Innes:
> >
> > Thank you for posting to the list. As list moderator, I approved your
> post
> > based on its subject line. Had I read it more carefully, I might not
> have.
> >
> > It is of course entirely proper for you to raise concerns about how an
> > agency that serves blind Marylanders is being run. I believe, however,
> that
> > you could have done so without name-calling and gratuitous nastiness,
> > sticking to the facts of your case rather than characterizing employees
> at
> > the library as nerds, buffoons, charity cases, etc. I will therefore
> monitor
> > future attempts to post to this list from you more carefully for the
> > foreseeable future. If you cannot or will not moderate your tone, you
> will
> > be blocked from the list.
> >
> > All of us experience frustration with various state entities. The
> library,
> > in particular, is known to be understaffed and under-resourced. No doubt
> the
> > performance of its current staff can be improved in some areas. However,
> as
> > it is we are routinely obliged to fight for the library's mere survival
> and
> > occupancy of its current facilities. It is not helpful when individuals
> who
> > are dissatisfied with some aspect or other of the services provided
> engage
> > in name-calling and accusations about mismanagement which appear to be
> based
> > only on personal experience.
> >
> > Again, we welcome serious discussion of problems on this list and other
> NFB
> > lists, but name-calling and insults are unhelpful and uncalled-for.
> >
> > Thank you,
> >
> > Chris Danielsen
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Greater-Baltimore [mailto:greater-baltimore-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> > Behalf Of Charles Innes via Greater-Baltimore
> > Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 12:18 PM
> > To: Greater Baltimore Chapter NFB
> > Cc: Charles Innes
> > Subject: [Greater-Baltimore] The recording studio at State Library
> > Importance: High
> >
> >      Madam President
> >
> > It has come to our attention that the recording studio at the State
> Library
> > for The Blind at 415 Park Avenue  in Baltimore has recorded only one
> book in
> > three years and has a back-log of sixty books of interest to be recorded
> at
> > unspecified future times.This was as of late January.
> >
> >  This appears to be a remarkably dysfunctional agency .  the responsible
> > persons, Wilhelmina and the recording  technician are completely
> incapable
> > of fixit.
> > I've talked to the people in charge. Some are individually clueless and
> > beyond  correction.
> > Neither  one have any idea of how to manage volunteer readers or how to
> deal
> > with the technical problems.
> > They'll tell you its about a lack of money to buy new recording
> equipment,
> > but it isn't 1. The State Library is using volunteer readers.
> > No one in their right mind relies upon volunteer readers to do any
> important
> > jobs of any kind for blind persons.
> > Volunteers show up if and when they wish to.
> > 2. Studio employees only utilize a volunteer reader for one hour at a
> time
> > in therecording booth.   Wilhelmina has made this judgment.
> > There are between two and four complete soundproof recording studios,
> built
> > at great cost to taxpayers, but their use is *insignificant.
> > This is government waste at its worst.
> > 3.   The technician is a nice young man who understands all about the
> new
> > National Library Service recording protocols and software, but who has NO
> > social skills or concept of how to manage readers.
> > He has misguidedly decided  to undertake "teaching the NLS recording
> > software ... to the readers".
> > Its not going to happen.
> > This genius won't even run the recording equipment for them. Its not in
> his
> > job description.
> > Plus it is unfair and completely impractical to ask any reader,
> voluntary or
> > paid, to master  placing beep-tones etc.
> > He's there to operate the recording equipment and he won't do it.
> > And of course, none of these dedicated state-employees will sit down and
> > read a book into a microphone.
> >
> > 4.   The  laboriously built MARYLANDIA collection  of recordings and
> lots of
> > other valuable materials are  WASTING while the house nerds fool around
> with
> > re-mastering on new digital media.
> > This is a **dysfunctional agency, which has lost sight of its mission to
> > serve blind and disabled patrons.
> >
> > 5.  I have an overwhelming sense of  lethargy, laziness and greed from
> the
> > responsible  Library employees.
> > Their salaries  are more important to them than any of us blind persons.
> > Ken Jernigan tried to warn us: Given a lack of oversight and supervision,
> > State agencies sometimes utilize 95% of available budgets  on their own
> > salaries and employee perquisites, and pass-through only 5%, if we are
> > lucky, in direct benefits to blind clients.
> >
> > 6. it would cost little  to hire readers or solicit high-profile
> reputable
> > actors or librarians to read these books, as (*all other libraries in the
> > NLS cooperating system do.
> >  This library presently has a staff of 13 to 15 persons.   None of them
> read
> > to the blind?
> > If someone cleared the dead wood out of this agency, I am certain that
> the
> > annual budget would have enough money to  accommodate a couple of
> readers.
> >  Plus Many published books will never become available in accessible
> > technologies like I text or Kindle.
> > Even Recording For the Blind seldom takes more than six months to
> produce a
> > desirable book.
> >
> > 7.  These buffoons have  made a simple process very complicated,
> laborious
> > and improbable.
> > For instance, There must be *two volunteers present at any one time and
> two
> > copies of the book to be read for any recording to take place "so that
> one
> > can check the other for accuracy".
> > THEN the recording must be checked *again by someone listening to the
> > recording and reading the book at the same time!
> > Neither of the Library employees will do that, of course, its too much
> > *work.
> > These folks have lost their way. They have failed to deliver useful
> > recordings in  a timely manner.
> >
> > 8.  So these discussions have been going on between myself and various
> > librarians for over 36 months.
> > As requested, I  got the book cleared with NLS and locally, then found
> two
> > copies of it and brought them to the library in March 2013.  Nothing has
> > happened.
> >
> >  Back in the day, thirty years ago  I handed  the library two expensive
> > copies of the textbook  MARYLAND AND AMERICA: 1940 to 1980 by Professor
> > Callcott.  It was used by high school and college students studying local
> > political history. four months later  we received 22 cassettes containing
> > the entire book. Nothing complicated and was the default textbook on
> > Maryland state history at the time.
> >
> > ** We blind people are being *chumped by these bureaucrat tape-worms.
> > I think its time for the Major media to take a careful look at  the
> > Library's annual  BUDGET.    An official audit  by the Governor's  office
> > might throw some light on what they all are doing with our money.
> > Yes, I am a blind  TAX PAYER, not a charity case like some of these sad
> > sack state employees who consider their paychecks an entitlement.
> > We blind people aren't supposed to know what's going on anyway, are we?
> >
> > Yours respectfully
> > Charles H. Innes
> > phone 410 235 6272;
> > email   chinnes2@ gmail.com
> >
> >
> > CC President Mark Riccobono
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>
> --
> Maurice Peret, NOMCT
> ***
> National Orientation & Mobility Certified Trainer
> MOBILE/TEXT: 804.928.4015
> ***********************************************
>
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-- 
Thanks,

Michael E. Gerlach
INSIGHT ON disABILITY
Executive Producer/Host
work:  410-292-8138
www.insightondisability.com