[Nfbmt] A letter from Christie Briggs

Thu Oct 31 21:42:04 UTC 2013

Hello Everyone,

This correspondence was sent from Christie Briggs of the Montana 
Talking Books Library. She was unable to attend our convention due to 
her hectic schedule!  I decided to paste this letter here so all of you 
could read it at your convenience!

Jim

Subject:RE: NFB-MT Convention Agenda
Jim,
I'm playing catch-up with the National Library Service work that had to 
put on hold during those 17 days of furlough. Regrettably, I won't be 
able to attend the 2013 NFB-MT convention. Please express my regret. I 
have put together a library report below in a question and answer 
format. I hope this is satisfactory.

Montana Talking Book Library Report (MTBL) to 2013 NFB-MT Convention: 
1. How has the federal government shutdown affected talking book 
library services? -The 17 day federal government shutdown directly 
affected the Talking Book Library in cancellation of travel 
temporarily. None of my staff were furloughed. We did have a 
contingency plan ready if the shutdown extended beyond Oct. 17th. Other 
affects included no communications or daily operating activities with 
all National Library Service (NLS) employees who were furloughed. There 
is a lot of catching up we are doing now. -MTBL offered full library 
services, including online catalogues and BARD support. -The BARD 
website went down for only a short time after Oct. 1st and then was 
made available without NLS staff support. -No new books were added to 
BARD during the furlough (since Sept. 30th), but they are posting new 
books now. -Physical copies of new digital books were still being 
received at the Talking Book Library and USPS service continued during 
the furlough. -The week before the shutdown, the NLS consultant 
reviewed our library operations for two days. I expect an official 
report within 3 months.
2. Is there anything new with MTBL staff?
-Yes! Three things:
-I am proud to announce that my entire Talking Book Library Team- 
Carolyn (Circulation Manager), Diane (Director of Recording and 
Volunteer programs), Sandy (Readers’ Advisor), Martin (Readers’ 
Advisor) and Erin (Readers’ Advisor and Machine Lending Agent) were 
presented the 2013 Governor’s Award of Excellence by Governor Steve 
Bullock on Sept. 30th. - Sandy Stanton, who has been with us for nearly 
8 years, officially retired on Oct. 18th. She has been a terrific asset 
and is known for always being able to find her patrons “just the right 
good read”. You are welcome to call or email me to express your 
comments for a job well done and I will forward them to her. -We are 
currently interviewing to fill this position of Readers’ Advisor and 
hope to start the new person by Nov. 4th
3. Are the BARD iOS and Android APPS now available?
Yes, and No.
-The iOS APP, called the BARDMobile APP, is now available through the 
APP Store: www.apple.com/ for iPad, iPod and iPhone devices. -The 
Android APP has stalled in development. NLS had begun discussions with 
Google prior to the shutdown.  4. Are library players and accessories 
still available?
-Yes, our CenturyLink (Telephone) Pioneer volunteers continue to 
maintain a good supply of all equipment and accessories for patron loan.
5. How are digital magazines offered?
-They are offered in several ways. First, they are on BARD, second, 
NEWSLINE offers some, and third, many are now being offered on digital 
cartridge via USPS direct to patrons with a one to two week turnaround. 
If you receive them through the mail, PLEASE read these as quickly as 
possible and return them to the producers. Once returned, your next 
magazine issue will be returned to you. We maintain a list of magazines 
being offered for patrons. -The Talking Book Topics in digital is 
considered a magazine and is listed on BARD that way. This is also 
currently included in all magazines sent direct to patrons signed up 
through the mail. NLS is reviewing ways to offer the Talking Book 
Topics separately from magazines.

6. When will Montana titles be available on BARD?
- NLS invited us this year to participate in a pre-pilot project to 
prepare local recordings for NLS Quality Assurance review and eventual 
posting to BARD. The federal shutdown has only temporarily slowed this 
process down. I’ll keep you informed of our progress. Continue to 
either go to our Facebook page and/or our website for future postings: 
https://www.facebook.com/MontanaTalkingBookLibrary or 
http://tbl.montanastatelibrary.org/.

7. Does the Talking Book Library have a Facebook Page?
- Yes. Go to this website: 
https://www.facebook.com/MontanaTalkingBookLibrary. We post a weekly 
announcement about anything from the federal government shutdown to 
upcoming events (like the Volunteer Event held in October), and 
recommended good reads.
8. Are local Montana titles now available in digital?
We completed our "first born digital Montana book" in March, 2013. All 
subsequent completed local recordings are available in digital for 
mailing to patrons. - The Montana legislature allocated $25,000 from 
July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014, to transition as many of our local 
cassette titles to digital. We have over 30 available now. Call us or 
go to our online catalog and do an advance search for MDB (Montana 
Digital Book) titles.

9. When will Montana titles be available on BARD?
-NLS hopes to be able to offer local book recordings nationwide 
sometime in 2014. MTBL has submitted the "first born digital book", 
Hand Raised: The Barnes of Montana to NLS for Quality Assurance review.
10. Any other Interesting Library News?
-A Patron Center has been established at the library where patrons can 
walk-in and test out a small inventory of Optelec low vision equipment 
being provided by Leading Edge Vision. Also, demonstration of software 
and hardware is available with text to speech and magnification 
accessibility features.

Respectfully submitted by:

Christie Briggs
Regional Librarian
Montana Talking Book Library

Christie Briggs
Supervisor/Regional Librarian
Montana Talking Book Library
cbriggs at mt.gov
1-406-444-5399 (direct/vm)
1-800-332-3400 (in-state toll-free)

-- 
NFB of Montana

James Aldrich, President
 502 Miles Avenue
 Billings, Montana 59101
 Phone: 406–698-3729
 E-mail: jkaldrich at samobile.net
 Web site: http://www.nfbmt.org
 Web site: http://www.nfbmontana.org
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