[Nfbmo] Friends of Wolfner Newsletter

Fri Mar 21 02:01:59 UTC 2014

FRIENDS OF WOLFNER HIGHLIGHTS

Volume 9   Issue 1    February 2014

Friends of Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library

P.O.Box 24834

Kansas City, MO 64131

REMINDER:  Friends of Wolfner membership dues deadline is April 1, 2014.  If you need to pay your dues, use the enclosed application for membership renewal and write in your name.  Include any changes in information in address, phone number, etc.  If anyone wants to become a member, they can fill out the same kind of application.  Send check and application(s) to the above address.

President's Message  

Dear Friends members,

 I am pretty excited about our 2014 annual Friends of Wolfner meeting speakers.  That’s right, I said speakers, plural for speaker.  Deborah Stroup (Wolfner employee) is moderating a panel of five local readers to explain the A to Z process in putting a talking book together.  See the article by Deborah Stroup below.

The Friends of Wolfner annual meeting will be held on April 26, 2014 from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm. The location is Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library, James C. Kirkpatric State Information Center, 600 W. Main St. in Jefferson City, Missouri, 65102.

If you are interested in going to the meeting, please contact me and give me your phone number or email address so I can contact you if we have to cancel due to weather.  There will be some snacks and bottled water provided and there is a soda pop machine to get Coke, etc.  Wolfner is providing coffee and tea.  If you need to renew your membership at the meeting, there will be a table and helper to sign you up for 2014 to 2015.  We invite non-members to join the meeting but they cannot vote. They may voice their opinion if the president permits.

Three candidates have been selected 2014-2016 board members, to be voted upon at the annual meeting.  They are Jackie Peters, Anna Schell and Karl Cook .

If you think you would like to be a board member of Friends, please send a statement to me. Also, nominations are accepted from the floor at the meeting. Some preferred things for being a candidate for Friends are:

1. Access to a computer and a phone for communication.  (Computer is optional but very helpful.)

2. A Friends of Wolfner member for one year.

3. You are a member of Friends of Wolfner in good standing.

As you know, Wolfner Library isn't just for the visually impaired but for those with other reading disabilities.  Anyone can become a Friends of Wolfner member, even if he/she doesn’t use Wolfner’s services.

You, a member of Friends of Wolfner, will need to vote on Section 6.3 of the bylaws at the annual meeting.

The original bylaw reads:  At the meeting immediately following the annual meeting all of the records shall be turned over to the new Board.

The new bylaw would read:  At the meeting immediately following the annual meeting all of the records shall be turned over to the new Board.  The out-going President will preside over the Board meeting following the annual meeting.  He/she will have no legal, formal duties but will continue presiding until the meeting is adjourned, unless  the newly elected President wishes to preside at this time.

Transportation is available for 8 more people going to the annual meeting in Jefferson City.  Transportation will leave Brentwood from the Society for the Blind in the morning and return on the same day.  The cost of the round trip is $25 per person.  For further information, call 314 965-5301.

There have been a few interesting speaker ideas for next year’s annual meeting, our 30th anniversary.  Please keep them coming.  We would like to make it a really special annual meeting in 2015.  Food ideas, prizes, games or any other ideas would be very much appreciated. 

 Karl Cook

Uncanny Sentence

A canner can can anything he can but a canner can’t can a can, can he?

      Article written by Deborah Stroup

Ten years ago Wolfner built a recording booth and started a volunteer recording program for the express purpose of recording Missouri-specific books. The NLS records most of the books used in the library program, but they seldom record any regional materials. Therefore, the only way Missourians can read books like 'Outlaw Tales of Missouri', Jean Carnahan's 'Don't Let the Fire Go Out', 'Live at the Ozark Opry', or 'Across Our Wide Missouri' is if they are recorded here in Wolfner's studio. 
Have you ever wondered how all those books get produced and show up in your mailbox, or become available for download? Did you know it can take 2 or 3 years to make a book? The book is recorded by a team of two volunteers, a narrator and a monitor. Then a reviewer listens to the book on the computer while reading it in the book. They have to mark any mistakes they find. Then the narrator and monitor have to come back into the studio and correct any mistakes. After they finish, staff does a Z39 markup to add navigation points to the book, and run a conversion software program to create the digital book. Then Digital Rights Management is applied, and the finished book is posted for download from SHELF, and for Wolfner's duplication staff to make copies.
Today, Wolfner has 10 volunteer recording teams, and 8 reviewers who collectively work about 35 hours a week in the studio.  This year at the Friends of Wolfner Library annual meeting on April 26th, a panel of five volunteers, moderated by Deborah Stroup, Coordinator of Volunteers at Wolfner Library, will present the program. They will talk about how they became a volunteer at Wolfner, what books they’ve worked on, and just what it takes to get a book recorded and available to Wolfner users.

A bumper sticker idea: 

“Ban all bumper stickers!”

2014 is the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in America and it is the 10th anniversary of Facebook.

In 2013, what apparel had its 100th anniversary?  See answer at the end of this Newsletter.

Nancy Henry        by Karl Cook

I first met Nancy a couple of years ago.  She is described as having pretty eyes and a contagious smile.  According to Nancy, “The first five years of my second marriage, I gained a new husband, had two baby daughters and three surgeries for brain tumors.”  She says this with a smile in her voice. She was an avid reader long before losing her sight.  She started using Wolfner’s cassette tapes and player around 1994.  In 1995, her sight was completely gone after the third operation. Nancy read Wolfner’s braille children’s books to her two girls. Her two sighted daughters also learned braille. These days she uses BARD and the digital books from Wolfner. Watch her smoke!!  

Nancy feels that Wolfner Library saved her life when she first went blind, “because there were so many things I couldn’t do but I could still read.”  She always looked forward to receiving her books and talking with her Reader Advisor, Jenny Ryan. She reads mysteries, autobiographies, biographies, history and several other topics.  “Reading is my biggest entertainment,” she says. “This includes using Wolfner’s Descriptive Video and Newsline, a telephone newsletter.”  

Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday.

Friends of Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library

Board of Directors

April 1, 2013 – March 31, 2014

    Karl Cook, President

    Kirkwood

    314-965-5301

    castlescook at gmail.com

    Donna Neal, Vice President

       Saint Louis

       314-533-3409

       donna-neal at att.net

       Judy Burch, Secretary

       Creve Coeur

       314-392-9191

       Basil05 at sbcglobal.net

Jeremiah Wells, Treasurer

       Kansas City

       816-942-6337

       jeremiah54 at earthlink.net

Members

       Shirley Grauel

    Kansas City

       816-587-5406

       sagrauel at swbell.net

    Stanley Rock

       St. Joseph

       Faith53 at sbcglobal.net

    Joe Morgan

       Odessa

       816-565-2354

       Jmorgan55 at centurylink.net

       Jackie Peters

       Kansas City

       816-255-3563- home

       816-457-5010 – cell

       Bob Williams

       Mountain View

    573-694-8264 - cell

    williamsr13 at embarqmail.com

    Richard Smith, Wolfner Director - Ex 

    Officio  

    Jefferson City

    573-751-8720

    Richard Smith at sos.mo.gov

Answer: The first t-shirt was used in the navy in 1913 and the rest is history.
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