Full Text (PDF) - Mississippi Library Association

Page 26 Vol. 75, No. 1, Spring 2012 Mississippi Libraries
New books in the Humphreys County Library
System purchased with a grant from the Libri
Foundation.
(LSTA) Focused Collection Development
Grant for materials, but now has been
enhanced with a $2,000 grant from Target
for additional resources, including promotional
activities and reading incentives. The
Development Services Division works with
public library systems to expand ideas into
successful grant proposals and help create
local partnerships to maintain the program
in future years.
Grant opportunities also supplement
traditional library services to children. The
Libri Foundation, headquartered in
Eugene, Oregon, has been a big supporter
of Mississippi’s rural public libraries for
the past fifteen years. In 2010, seventeen
small public libraries in Mississippi
received a $1,000 grant from the Libri
Foundation for new picture books.
Providing children’s services in public
libraries is a vital part of keeping communities
healthy. The Development Services
Division seeks to empower and support
public libraries in this very important duty.
Specialized Services for Children
and Young Adults with Disabilities
MLC provides a Summer Reading Program
for children and young adults with
visual disabilities. Utilizing the same theme
as the annual summer reading program for
public libraries, the Blind and Physically
Handicapped Library Services (BPHLS)
division develops a bibliography of appropriate
titles available in specialized formats
and a related activity book. These materials
are shared with public libraries across
the state for incorporation into local programs.
This enables children with disabilities
to participate in reading programs held
at their local public libraries and read many
of the same books as the other participants.
BPHLS staff also utilize the materials
to encourage children and young adults
unable to attend the local library programs
to participate in the agency’s summer
library program by mail and receive reading
certificates and prizes.
Services are not limited to the summer.
Children, young adults, and adults who
meet federal eligibility requirements may
borrow books and audiovisual material in
specialized formats directly from MLC’s
BPHLS Division. The National Library
Service (NLS) was established through the
Pratt-Smoot Act of 1931 to provide library
services to blinded veterans of World War I
through the Library of Congress, but now
provides material for all ages. Serving as a
regional library for NLS since 1973, MLC
administers this service to eligible Mississippi
residents. Through a cooperative
effort, NLS provides the books, equipment,
materials, and free-matter mailing
privileges; MLC provides the staff, houses
the collections, and provides the service to
eligible individuals.
To register for this free service, individuals
must meet one of the following four
federal eligibility requirements:
1) be legally blind,
2) be visually impaired and unable to read
standard print,
3) have physical limitations preventing
them from holding a book and/or turning
pages, or
4) have a reading disability from an organic
dysfunction, such as dyslexia, as certified
by a medical doctor.
In an e-mail message to Cindy Nugent,
one of the authors, on October 27, 2010,
William Sansing of Mississippi State University
wrote that the 2008 American
Community Survey indicates over 10,000
children and young adults in Mississippi
have substantial vision loss. Libraries,
schools, and other institutions serving eligible
students may also receive services.
Recorded books are available in specialized
digital (flash memory) and analog
(audio cassette tape) formats. The collection
includes the same wide range of fiction
and nonfiction found in large public
libraries, including such titles as A Journey:
The Autobiography of Apolo Anton
Ohno, and series books such as Artemis
Fowl, Twilight, and the Hunger Games.
While the collection contains recorded
books for all ages, over 9,500 are at the K-
6 interest/reading level and nearly
12,000 more are pre-teen and young
adult titles. New titles are continually being
added to the collection and a bi-monthly
annotated bibliography is mailed to
patrons. Magazines such as Cricket, Boys’
Life, Seventeen, and Sports Illustrated are
available as well. The specialized digital
and analog playback machines necessary
to listen to these titles are also loaned free
to registered individuals. Eligible individuals
may also register for the BARD: Braille
and Audio Reading Download service and
download titles in digital format to gain
immediate access from home to thousands
of titles on the NLS service.
Of particular interest is the descriptive
video collection which contains full-length
feature films, including most popular children’s
animated films and many G-rated
movies. A descriptive video is the same
movie as released in theatres or seen on
television but with an added touch. A narrator
track has been added to describe the
action, set, costumes, etc. The narration
does not interfere with the movie’s dialogue
and allows the blind or low-vision
individual to more fully experience the
story. These films are available in VHS and
DVD format and can be played on any
standard VHS and DVD player – no special
equipment is required.
Print and Braille books are also available.
In cooperation with MLC’s Library