<div dir="ltr">Hello everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. <div><br></div><div><b>Teleconference Program Information:</b></div><div>As promised, I'm attaching presenter notes from our Voting 101/Voting Accessibility Teleconference last week. Our presenters were Ralph Watkins of the <a href="https://www.lwvmd.org/">League of Women Voters</a>; <a href="mailto:erin.perrone@maryland.gov">Erin Perrone</a> and <a href="mailto:cortnee.bryant@maryland.gov">Courtney Bryant</a> of the State Board of Elections. The program was not recorded, but all three of our presenters were kind enough to share their notes with us! It was a great event, filled with a lot of information! I have attached them in PDF format - if you need them in Word format, please let me know offlist. </div><div><br></div><div>Additionally, Ms. Lou Anne Blake from the National Federation of the Blind would like to make additional resources available for Blind and Low Vision voters. The direct link to this information is <a href="https://nfb.org/hava-legislation">https://nfb.org/hava-legislation</a>. There you will find a wealth of information, including a video on the Blind Voter's experience. You will also find voting guides in BRF, Word, and Audio formats, in both English and Spanish. </div><div><br></div><div><b>Great American Read Information: </b></div><div>The library is excited to be part of the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/home/">Great American Read program</a>. This program is a literacy initiative hosted by PBS and hopes to have Americas vote on the country's all-time favorite book. This is an interactive event that is held online and on television! <br></div><div><br></div><div>Here is how it works: </div><div><ul><li>Read through the list of 100 books selected by PBS - see which titles you've read and which you've haven't. We are attaching the list for your review. </li><li>Read new books, revisit old favorites</li><li>Vote on your favorite book; Voting is held open and will continue from now until October 18th at Midnight. </li></ul><div><br></div><div>How to vote:</div><div><ul><li>Patrons can visit <a href="https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/vote/">https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/vote/</a> to place their vote via PBS's website. The website is designed to have the look and feel of an application, so it is very responsive to mobile devices. You will need to register with PBS in order to cast your vote. It's easy and it's free.</li><li>If you'd prefer, you can vote via Facebook or Twitter using the official hashtag of the book you've chosen. Each book has an official hashtag found beneath the book on the attached list. To vote, either make an original post on the social media platforms OR comment on the official <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GreatAmericanReadPBS/">PBS Great American Read Facebook page</a>. <br></li><li>You can also vote via SMS with one of the unique hashtags for the book. Just send an SMS to 97979 with your hashtag vote, and you'll have voted! Standard data rates apply.</li><li>In September, PBS will have a toll free call-in method of voting as well. </li></ul><div>You are able to vote once per day, per voting method. That means if you vote for #VOTEBESTROMANCEEVER (not a real title), you can vote via Facebook, Text, and the Website - but only once per day. </div><div><br></div><div>We also are encouraging our patrons to watch the PBS specials associated with the Great American Read. The videos will be added to the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/watch/">PBS website</a> as they become available. The television series launches September 11th at 8:00 PM. The direct link to the videos: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/watch/">https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/watch/</a></div><div><br></div><div><b>The results will be announced on October 23rd on PBS!</b></div></div></div><div><br></div><div>If you have any questions, please let me know!</div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div><br></div><div>Ashley</div><div><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;border-collapse:collapse">
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<p style="line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Ashley M. Biggs</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br>
<i>Outreach Librarian</i><br>Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped<br>Maryland State Library<br>415 Park Avenue<br>Baltimore, Maryland 21201-3603<br>
<br>410-230-2430 (office) | 667-209-1563 (cell) | 410-333-2095 (fax)<br>
</span><a href="mailto:ashley.biggs1@maryland.gov" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(17,85,204)">ashley.biggs1@maryland.gov</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(17,85,204)"><a href="http://www.lbph.maryland.gov/" target="_blank">http://www.lbph.maryland.gov</a></span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p style="line-height:normal"><br></p><p style="line-height:normal"><a href="http://www.doit.state.md.us/selectsurvey/TakeSurvey.aspx?agencycode=MSDE&SurveyID=86M2956" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial">Click here</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"> to complete a three-question customer experience survey.</span><br></p>
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