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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I share with you a response that I have gotten and note that it is quite timely.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b>From:</b> Westphal, Robin <Robin.Westphal@sos.mo.gov> <br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, March 16, 2022 11:50 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'gwunder@earthlink.net' <gwunder@earthlink.net>; creatingcommonground@outlook.com<br><b>Subject:</b> RE: Letter of Concern about Wolfner Library<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'>Good morning Gary and Peter-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'>Thank you for your email. We take your concerns very seriously. I am the director of Wolfner and have a great team of managers working with me to make sure all of Wolfner’s patrons, present and future, are served with the greatest degree of prompt and professional customer service. I have almost 20 years of library director experience and have served as state librarian since 2018. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'>Since the switch to the Duplication on Demand process of providing materials to our patrons, we have personally contacted all patrons that we provide cartridges to in order to explain the process. Duplication on Demand has impacted the workload of our circulation department which has allowed for crossing training of staff so that we now, for the first time, have a person dedicated to entering new applications every day. This is an improvement over how applications have been processed in the past. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'>Currently, we are short one reader’s advisor because a current reader advisor has been promoted to another position within Wolfner. The position is currently posted and we hope to have it filled by the end of the month. We pay very close attention to the number of calls reader advisor’s receive and if needed can add reader advisors position. While it is true that we have transitioned to a new phone system and occasionally patrons do get sent to voicemail, this was also the case when patrons were assigned to readers advisors by the letter their last name started with. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'>Gary, I take your concerns very seriously and welcome a personal phone call, if you’d like. Also, please know that your comments will be discussed at the Wolfner Advisory Council meeting on Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'>My best,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'>Robin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#1F3864'>Robin Westphal<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#1F3864'>Missouri State Library<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#1F3864'>600 W. Main St.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#1F3864'>Jefferson City, MO 65101<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#1F3864'>573-526-4783<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><span style='color:#1F3864'><img width=237 height=51 style='width:2.4687in;height:.5312in' id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D8392B.FB1A2040"></span><span style='color:#1F3864'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Bookman Old Style",serif;color:#2F5496'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal'><b>From:</b> Gary Wunder <gwunder@earthlink.net> <br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, March 15, 2022 8:01 PM<br><b>To:</b> Westphal, Robin <Robin.Westphal@sos.mo.gov>; creatingcommonground@outlook.com<br><b>Subject:</b> Letter of Concern about Wolfner Library<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%;border-collapse:collapse'><tr><td width=10 style='width:7.5pt;border:solid black 1.0pt;border-right:none;background:#F00000;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'></td><td style='border:solid black 1.0pt;border-left:none;background:#FFD11C;padding:3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>CAUTION:</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> This email originated from OUTSIDE of the SOS organization. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you are expecting the email and know that the content is safe. If you believe this to be a malicious or phishing email, please use Phish Alert to report it. </span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></table></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:white'>The Columbia chapter of the National Federation of the Blind </span>rights as a result of our concern about several issues at our primary library for the blind in the state. We understand that the Wolfner Memorial Library will no longer have a director and note that this has been done without any consultation with blind people through their representative consumer groups. Unless we have been badly misinformed, it seems to us that the director has been kept very busy managing the library, conducting outreach, and seeing that Missouri got its fair share of federal benefits springing from the Library of Congress. This sounds like a rather significant change that at the least we should have been consulted about.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It is also our understanding that the library is short of reader advisors. This is very evident to those of us who have been longtime users, and in recent times we have suffered through waits that we have never encountered in half a century of being served by the library both when it was in St. Louis and in Jefferson City. We have always been able to get in touch with a reader advisor, but now we are getting voicemail, and it sometimes takes up to two days to get calls returned. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Our understanding also is that referrals to the library are taking several months to process, and this is of tremendous concern. Often if we do not serve blind people close to the onset of blindness, the chances that they will adjust to it well are significantly diminished. Learning that they can still have a way to read is an important part of letting them know that blindness does not mean they are broken human beings who will forever be deprived of information but simply that they will get material in a different way. Our Wolfner library is a vital cog in this wheel.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Although this letter is written with concern, we have the ability to listen and understand. Perhaps you will present to us a side we have not considered, or perhaps this letter will assist you in ensuring that Wolfner remains properly run and staffed.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Cordially,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Gary Wunder, President<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind of Missouri, Columbia chapter<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></body></html>