Content provided by Kimberly Parsley. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Kimberly Parsley or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Demand and Disrupt »
Episode 64: We Talk, Talking Books

8d ago 1:00:20

M4A•Episode home

Kimberly talks with Jenny Smith, Branch Manager at the Kentucky Talking Book Library. They talk about the talking book library, its history, and who is eligible for services. Though KTBL is known for supplying reading materials for people with visual impairments, the benefits are available to people far beyond just that group. Give the episode a listen to see if you qualify.

Visit the Kentucky Talking Book Library at their Frankfurt location, 300 Coffee Tree Rd., for an open house from 1-4 PM EST on Sunday, October 10th.

Call KTLA at 1-800-372-2968.

Visit their website at Kdla.ky.gov

Thanks to Chris Ankin for use of his song, “Change.”

The book "A Celebration of Family: Stories of Parents with Disabilities." is available from Amazon here.

Be sure to follow the Advocado Press Facebook page

Visit Appalachian Assistive Technology Loan Fund for assistance.

Visit Moving Forward, the Advocado Press blog.

Send comments and questions to [email protected]

Demand and Disrupt is sponsored by the Advocado Press and the Center For Accessible Living.

You can find the transcript in the show notes below when they become available.

Transcript

You're listening to Demand and Disrupt, the podcast for information about accessibility, advocacy, and all things disability.

Welcome to Demand and Disrupt, a disability podcast.

I'm your host, Kimberly Parsley.

And I'm your cohost, Sam Moore, sitting here with a cup of black coffee.

So I'm all caffeinated.

And last time, Kimberly Parsley over here in Bowling Green, she had to settle for a black tea, but she's actually got cream in it today.

So she's clicking on all cylinders and so am I. We know you want two hosts that are both equally clicking indeed for sure.

But anyhow, Kimberly since you're clicking on all cylinders.

Why don't you go ahead and tell us who our special guest is this time around.

Yes, indeed, Sam.

I have Earl Grey tea with cream in it and all is right with the world.

And, and my special guest today is Jenny Smith.

And Jenny is the branch manager at the Kentucky Talking Book Library in Frankfurt, and we talk about the Talking Book Library, its history, what they do, who they serve, all sorts of fascinating things.

And as our listeners know, books are one of my most favorite things in the wide, wide world.

So you've even written a few.

I have written a few.

I am extremely happy to talk with Jenny and, you know, aside from that, Sam, do you know what one of my other favorite things is?

Uh, well, Bruce Springsteen.

We talked about that a few weeks ago.

That is true.

The boss is definitely one of my favorites, but October and Halloween.

They are synonymous.

Yes, all month long.

It's Halloween.

I'm so excited.

October is finally here.

Yeah.

And I feel like at some point it's going to cool down.

I, you just got to keep the faith here in Southern Kentucky.

Right.

Yeah.

It's one of those, it'll, it'll cool off with, with very short notice.

And, you know, a lot of times the, the high temperatures will drop from like mid seventies to mid fifties within like a couple of days.

So you don't have much time to prepare.

There's, you know, it's, there's no graduality.

Is that a word?

It is now.

Not, we made it a word.

But, uh, yeah, I'm ready.

I'm ready for that drop in temperature.

Yeah.

And, and pumpkin spice is all the craze now too.

I know you've noticed that Kimberly.

I have, I've had my, my pumpkin spice latte.

We are getting all the Halloween decorations out.

I have done the extremely annoying thing of waking up my children to Halloween music.

So what do you think is the number one, the first Halloween song I had to play?

The first Halloween song you played.

I'm going to guess it has to be Ghostbusters.

You know what?

You're wrong, but you're close.

Ghostbusters was the second.

It was not the first.

Yes.

But the first one was number one thriller.

It was good job, Sam.

Yep.

Yeah.

I was going to say, if it's not Ghostbusters, it has to be Michael Jackson's very popular thriller.

It was thriller.

Yep.

I wake them up.

They, they think it's amusing.

They don't want this to happen all the time.

So, but, uh, yep.

Play it on the smart speaker all through the house.

Wakes them up.

Something you do five days a week or just like certain days.

Well, um, just whenever I feel like it, honestly.

There you go.

Yeah.

Whenever you just want to, and I'm sure they just love it.

Whenever, whenever.

Thriller is blaring on the smart speaker.

I do like to kick off October.

You know, I do that and on their birthdays, this is a tradition.

I always play birthday by the Beatles to wake them up.

Right.

So that, uh, plays blaring all through the house on everybody's birthday.

They, so it's.

Yeah, it's a thing we do.

And we've got, uh, we're going to, we've had candy corn, pumpkin spice latte.

Oh gosh.

I've not had a pumpkin spice latte yet, but I will once the weather cools off, I'll be more in the spirit.

And, um, you know, I'll, I'll definitely have them.

I know, but Starbucks has had theirs for like at least three weeks already.

Yeah.

And, um, candy corn I can do in small doses, although I'm not.

Hooked on it, but I don't know how you're not hooked.

Cause I'm fairly certain it's made with cocaine.

It is addictive.

That may be part of the reason behind your addiction.

I feel like it's addictive.

I have this, well, it's sort of a guilty pleasure, but it's not Skittles.

I love some Skittles.

Really?

Huh?

That that's one of those things that I never outgrew.

And so, um, you know, whatever, we always help out with a trunk or tree that at my church, so we hand out candy and I always try to make sure that, um, Skittles are a, uh, a decent part of our, uh, candy assortment that we hang out that way, you know, whatever's left over.

Oh, I see.

I see.

Hopefully a lot of it'll be Skittles and I can get my share.

Evil genius right there.

Yeah.

But, uh, anyhow, I do, uh, I do enjoy tasting the rainbow still.

Do you enjoy tasting the rainbow at all?

You know, I tend toward more chocolate desserts as opposed to the, this, the, the sour and fruity, you know, yes.

Yes, exactly.

More M&Ms than Skittles.

Um, and of course we know you go through your share of candy corn.

I do love candy corn.

Our neighbor just got one of those great big, like 12 foot skeletons.

Oh, I know I'm excited.

I think I can't steal it.

Number one, that'd be wrong.

So I, I'm not advocating theft of Halloween decoration.

No, number two, no telling how heavy that 12 foot skeleton would be.

Well, and if I put it in my yard suddenly, then they know who stole it.

But you know, I wonder if they just let us go over and like decorate it every now and then.

Like if we could just go over and, Oh yeah, because you're all decked out with all your Halloween stuff.

We could just put, we could just, I don't know.

I don't know what we do, but it would be fun.

You know, it would be fun to decorate their skeleton.

You know, you should, your neighborhood should have like a Halloween decoration contest and, you know, you know, make it sort of a friendly competition.

You know, my kids always want it.

When you turn on our road, we live on a country road.

Off like, I know what that is, but I won't say it.

Just, just, just so you know, we don't, we don't want people knocking the door for autographs or anything.

There you go.

And you know, it would happen.

It would happen.

Uh, so right.

It, when you turn on our road, it's, uh, well, my daughter used to call it the scoop, the spooky forest, because it's like, it's lots of tall trees and stuff, right?

When you turn on and we always thought, wouldn't it be awesome to like decorate that area right there with like, you know, like, uh, spider webs and just hanging rubber bats and stuff.

Oh my gosh.

We never, we, we never, never did that far.

No, to, to decorate the whole neighborhood.

We didn't know how everyone would feel about that.

Some of these people, they guess, you know, I'll be, I'll be riding with mom and should we describe them to me, the decorations in some of these yards?

And some of these people just go so far and, and it's like, I hope they know that after Halloween, they've got to take all this stuff down and it's going to be a royal pain in the rear end.

Some people go in hard for that kind of thing, which I think is awesome.

It's like, they're doing it for their neighborhood, you know, for other people.

And I just think it's generous.

I really think it's awesome.

You know, and a lot of people obviously think it's, it's worth the, it's worth the agony of de-decorating for the time you have during the, you know, month or so leading up to Halloween.

I think, I think, I think they must be the people who really enjoy decorating.

You know, they enjoy the creativity of that kind of thing.

And then a lot of those same people here in a few months for Christmas, they'll be rolling out the red carpet.

Yeah, yeah, every, you know, every nook and cranny of their house with some sort of Christmas decoration.

Yeah.

And I appreciate that.

I appreciate the people who put decorations up for their community, you know, their neighbors and things.

I think it's nice.

They're just trying to add to the, the fun and, and, and the appeal.

And, and, you know, of course we'll have plenty of time to talk about Christmas and its decorations as it gets closer, but yes, exactly.

And honestly, the tackier, the better is my opinion.

That's the tackier, the better people would agree with you on that.

I'm sure there's a house that we pass here in town in Bowling Green.

Hi, if it's your house, they have a, a bush and they do like topiary and they.

Like they, what do you call it?

Shape the, the, the bush, like during Wimbledon one year, they did the shape of the bush in the shape of like, uh, John McEnroe and had like the sweat band around the head.

Oh my gosh.

So they, so they transformed that bush into different designs.

Yes.

Whatever that's called.

And it's my kids always love to drive by there.

That then they would always like tell me and describe it.

And it's, it's so awesome.

You know, they'd make a special point to see that bush just so they would, you know, so they could see what specially designed shape it was in at any given point.

Exactly.

And I thought, well, how cool to do, you know, so.

Yeah.

So you make sure wonder if the bushes in the shape of like a horse during Derby week or something like that.

It might be stuff like that.

Yeah.

It would be, it would be things like that, but I don't, I don't remember what it did for Derby.

I just, the John McEnroe one was, uh, and then it would do like a snowman sometimes.

You know, I don't know that is, is very artistic.

They are very artistic and they've got, they must have some serious miracle grow on that bush, you know?

Yeah, maybe some serious time on their hands.

Yeah.

Maybe they're transplanted and a whole nother bush.

I don't know who knows.

That's, that's an interesting food for thought right there.

It is.

I never thought about that till now, but it was, it was, it was very nice.

Very nice that they did that.

So, yes, but we hope you enjoy your Halloween.

We could even continue this discussion a little bit more in two weeks, Kimberly.

Oh, could we?

Yeah, we could, you know, cause that'd be middle of October.

Halloween still won't have happened yet.

Yes.

Everybody could, could, uh, email us with the tackiest Halloween decorations.

They've seen how might they go about that?

Sam demand and disrupt at gmail.com.

Send us your plans and your, your decorative, uh, movements.

And, you know, you just might get the big shout out on the air.

Ooh.

And Halloween costumes.

If you've got an awesome Halloween costume idea.

Yes, I love that.

But the last time I dreamt, well, actually I dressed up for Halloween trivia because I host trivia locally through two or three times a month at a local pizza place.

So when my partner, the restaurant owner and I, whenever we did Halloween trivia, we dressed up and, um, let's see, uh, one time we dressed up as a league of their own, you know, I was the coach.

Oh, awesome.

There's no crying in baseball.

There is no crying in baseball.

So I, I dressed up as the coach and, um, and then, um, Christie, my partner slash scorekeeper cohost, all the other roles she feels she dressed up as, um, Dottie, you know, the star player.

Oh yes.

Uh huh.

The team.

Oh, that was fun.

The last time I dressed up for myself, you know, before I started hosting trivia, I was a Stevie wonder.

Oh, well that is cool.

That is cool.

Wow.

I had the glasses and, um, you know, a friend of the family lent me his, um, hats.

It was a, it was a Troy Palamolo hat for those of you that know football, know that he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers forever and he had such long hair.

So this hat had, you know, long hair, wig type of thing spinning down.

So I had the, you know, I had the glasses and the long hair.

It went over pretty well.

Well, cool.

That's awesome.

I don't dress up usually.

I'm just usually trying to, uh, you know, uh, organize my kids costumes.

Yeah.

I try to get them, cause I tell them on Labor Day, if you're dressing up for Halloween, you got to tell me about it now.

Let me know now.

Cause I got to buy stuff.

Cause I don't, I don't make no homemade costumes, but I got to buy stuff.

So yeah, by October, you're too busy eating candy corn.

You know me too well.

No shame, no shame.

And you know what else October is?

October is, let me get this right.

Okay.

Oh, yeah, I know.

Right.

National disability employment awareness month.

There you go.

You nailed it.

It was, yeah, and it's, uh, by, um, the department of labor and this year is the 80th year, and I believe the theme is celebrating.

Oh, what was it?

Value and talent celebrating value and talent, which I got to tell you is just the biggest nothing burger of a word salad celebrating value and talent.

What does that even mean?

It's like, you could interpret that a number of different ways.

The opposite is like celebrating mediocrity, value and talent.

Really?

But I mean, you know, I feel valuable.

I feel talented.

So fine.

I'd like to think I'm valuable and at least somewhat talented.

I mean, it's just, it's, you know, I don't know.

These themes are weird.

Aren't they all the things for stuff.

And I can say, I know they, you know, they try to be original and come up with new ones every year.

And after 80 years, maybe it's getting harder, maybe it's starting to show.

They're really digging.

You know, if you've never, if you're an employer and you don't have much experience with, um, uh, individuals with disabilities, you may not, you know, you may think those disabilities are more limiting than they are, you know?

Oh, 100%, that, that is absolutely true.

And I mean, uh, celebrating, there's things to like celebrating different lived experiences, you know, uh, that because disabled people are. 100% the most creative problem solvers.

Oh yeah.

They, they are better at finding ways to do what they got to do.

Then absolutely finding ways of what they got to do, what you got to do, what anybody's got to do.

They will figure it out because our whole life is figuring stuff out.

Right.

Exactly.

So bigger stuff out, even when we don't realize it, right.

Maybe that should be the thing, you know, disabled employees, they figure shout, you know, I mean, yeah, exactly.

To put it bluntly, they figure shout.

That would be a theme right there.

That would, that would, as my kids would say, that would go hard.

That's what they say.

That would go hard.

Is that what they're saying now?

That's what they say now.

It means all of the, uh, modern, even that being 37 years old, I apparently don't know all of the modern lingo.

Oh, well, you don't have to worry.

Cause there'll be something different next week.

Yeah.

So it's, it's fine next week.

It'll be different.

So you're never really behind.

Yeah.

True.

There'll always be new lingo to learn.

Yes.

Yes, there will.

But we do want to always advocate for people with disabilities to be hired, to get jobs, uh, all the things.

And if you need help advocating for yourself, reach out to the center for accessible living.

That's one of the things we do.

We help out with that.

And, uh, you know, October 2nd was disabled authors day.

Ah, that was, as we record this, it was yesterday.

I know.

And I wish I had known I would have celebrated myself because I am a disabled author.

So yes, with the books you have written in the past.

Yeah, exactly.

And, uh, one thing, uh, we won't have without authors would be books and for books, we have librarians and that's who we're going to talk to in a minute.

So yes, uh, yeah.

Miss Jenny Smith is a proud librarian.

So yes.

Yes.

See, see how I did that.

Look, that was a neat tie.

You just sort of brought that all full circle.

I did.

My ability to segue is unmatched.

Yeah.

Don't get the big head though.

No, no, no, it ain't bragging if it's a fact.

There you go.

That's what you said.

Yep.

Here's my interview with Jenny Smith.

Interview

I'm here today with Jenny Smith and she is the branch manager at the Kentucky Talking Book Library.

Hello, Jenny.

Thanks for joining me.

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

I'm excited to be here.

I am talking with a librarian.

This is my dream come true.

Well, I, you know, we love to talk.

I know sometimes librarians have a reputation for being quiet, but if you spend any time in a library, you will, you will quickly fly in.

We love to talk and certainly, I really enjoy talking about the Talking Book Library.

Books are my favorite things in the world, aside from my listeners, of course.

They're my favorites and then it's books.

So tell me about the Kentucky Talking Book Library.

So we like to say we are the Commonwealth's accessible library.

We provide free audio books and Braille books to over 3,800 Kentuckians.

Who are low vision blind, have a physical or print-based reading disability.

We send out, we lend over 244,000 titles a year in audio and Braille formats.

And so that can be books that are downloaded from the BARD website.

That could be digital Braille that's downloaded.

That can be print Braille.

And it could be our audio books on cartridge.

So we have lots of ways to access our materials.

We do have a annual survey that we put out and 87% of our patrons say they would not have access to Braille and audio materials if it wasn't for KTBL.

So we really do think of ourselves as being a window to the world for people and opening up that space.

Of reading for them in a way that they would not have access to without us.

We also do include an onsite recording studio that allows us to record works by local Kentucky authors.

So we love to feature books and record books that have the people, places and history of Kentucky.

That is something that is really unique.

Oftentimes we get our materials from the people, places, and history of Kentucky.

From the National Library Service and they are recording for popularity at the national level.

So I think it's really special that we have a studio here that can do sort of those hyper local materials that our Kentuckians are going to be interested in.

I have read some of those and they are amazing.

The studio work that you all do.

I've read works by Bobbi Ann Mason, Kentucky author and Crystal Wilkerson.

She's the poet laureate or was of Kentucky and just amazing work in listening and knowing that the person reading that is a Kentuckian and has the accent down and knows what these things are.

Oh, it's really special to do that, to read a book like that.

It really is to, well, I say read.

I'm not getting into the is audio book.

It absolutely is.

Absolutely.

I will make a stand on that Hill.

I will die with you there, 100%.

I'm not even entertaining the notion that that's not reading.

Really not.

But I think, you know, whether you're reading print, Braille, audio, it's all reading and you know, one thing that we've been really trying to do is bring in authors to read their own works.

It's, you know, we, there's just something about listening to an author.

Read the words that they've written.

Nobody is ever going to read it better.

I think nobody's ever going to narrate it better than an author will.

So we just actually this week recorded a book by Kathleen Driscoll, our current state poet laureate.

She came in and recorded her next door to the dead book of poetry.

And then earlier this year, we had Brian Collier, who is an author and an illustrator, he recorded for us, one of the books he illustrated about Stephen Bishop and mammoth caves called lift your light a little higher.

So I think that's just kind of a fun little, little thing that we're really trying to do a bit more of that is awesome.

And I just want to, you, you said BARD earlier and all of, all of your, your patrons who are listening probably know what that is, but for people who don't, can you tell us what BARD is?

Sure.

It is the Braille and audio reading download website.

So it is basically, if you are familiar with public libraries and they might oftentimes have Libby or overdrive who plus something along that line, it's our version of that.

So it is where you can go and you can use either a computer or you can use your personal device, you know, a smartphone like that to download either an audio book or digital Braille.

Right.

And that is how I read.

That's how I personally read my books.

And I love BARD.

I get on the BARD website every single day.

I, it is the app I use most on my phone.

I love it.

It's a fantastic resource.

You know, and I love that they offer content, both in audio format, you know, that you can, you can download to your cell phone or your computer and in the Braille format that you can download to one of the e-braille readers that we can send you for free.

Right.

So, so amazing.

We're, we're so fortunate because not every, not everywhere in the world has that we are, we are ahead of most places in doing that.

So wonderful.

And I think Kentucky has always been on the cutting edge of stuff, of beta testing programs and things.

So we're really blessed here in Kentucky to have those options.

So Jenny, tell me about yourself and what you do there at KTBL.

Sure.

So I am the branch manager here at KTBL.

I came on in January after Barbara Penegor, my predecessor retired.

So my kind of like little fun fact that I love to tell people is this is actually my second go-around with Talking Books.

My first time was about 2006 and I was a librarian with the Talking Book Library here in Kentucky, and it was my very first library job when I graduated and got my master's in library science.

And I was here for about four or five years.

And then I moved to a different division within the state library for a few years.

And then I had been working in a large public library system here in Kentucky for, oh gosh, like the last 12-ish years or so.

And then this position opened up in Talking Books and I was so excited to see it.

And coming back has felt like this just really wonderful full circle moment to me.

As I left Talking Books the first time, we were just starting to get the digital cartridges and the digital players and BARD was in the beta testing and all of that.

So to see all of that happen and come back has been just really rewarding and fun for me.

And, you know, as to what I do here, I kind of do a little bit of everything.

So you might hear me answer the phone.

I do, you know, my shared customer service, do the strategic planning, budgeting, work with the National Library Service, those kinds of things, you know, day to day.

But I think what I really like to think that I do is I really like and hope that what I do every day makes life better for Kentuckians.

I think that what we do here is we build a community of readers and we connect our readers with the world.

And so I try, try to take that home every day.

And I feel so lucky that I have an amazing job that lets me do that.

Well, obviously I'm kind of a KTBL fangirl.

So I think you 100 percent do that.

You go way above and beyond.

Oh, thank you.

I appreciate that.

I think, you know, we're so lucky we get to work with youth and, you know, students at the School for the Blind.

We provide the School for the Blind with a print Braille copy of every youth title we get.

We serve veterans and seniors.

You know, we help people with education, entertainment.

We have programming.

It's just it's such a fun variety of people that we get to interact with and tasks that we get to do.

Wonderful.

So can you tell me a little about the history of the Kentucky Talking Book Library?

Sure.

So the Talking Book Libraries as a whole actually are part of the National Library Service and the National Library Service sits within the Library of Congress.

So we are what they call a network library.

So they offer us a lot of support.

We get the large majority of our recorded materials for them.

They provide us with the players.

They support BARD, that sort of thing.

And then we're a network library.

And we are at the same time a branch in the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives.

So the roots of NLS goes back to really World War I. So they had soldiers coming home from World War I and a lot of them had been blinded.

They had a lot of gas weapons and things like that that caused a lot of terrible injuries.

And they needed a way for these veterans coming back to be able to read.

And so they in 1931 passed the Pratt Smoot Act, which sort of founded the National Library Service as it exists today.

And then the Kentucky Talking Book Library was founded in 1969 with about 4,000 books on records.

And then in 1977, we added our two recording booths so that we're able to record that local content.

And then in 1982, we moved to the building that we're currently in, the Department for Libraries and Archives building.

And then you may remember in 2009 is when we moved from sort of the cassette player and cassette to our new digital format.

Yep.

I remember I got to 2009 is when I got a Victor Reader stream that where you download books and put them on there.

Lots of our listeners still use the Victor Reader stream.

I think it's on a is there a stream three now?

Something like that.

They use that to listen to books.

And of course, the audio players will we'll talk about.

So, yeah, 2009, big year, big year.

My reading went from about 50 books a year to over 100 books a year then.

Love it.

A heavy reader.

That's great.

Definitely, definitely.

So tell me, where is the library located and how many people work there?

All righty.

So like I said, we are located in the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in Frankfurt.

In Frankfurt.

So, yeah, we are we are in Frankfurt and we have, including me, seven people working here.

So you've got me and I'm the branch manager.

And then we have an assistant branch manager and she is also a librarian.

And then we have two readers, advisor librarians, and they're probably the people you're most likely to talk to if you give us a call.

So they're going to pick up and they're going to help you either set up your account or, you know, if you want to change the types of books you're getting or how many books you're getting, all that kind of stuff they can help you with.

We have an outreach specialist.

He helps out in our recording studio, works with our volunteers and travels across the state, talking to different groups and, you know, being at different events to tell people about our service.

And we have an audio technician.

He's the one that makes sure the players are all in good repair.

He replaces batteries if needed.

And then he also the locally recorded books goes through and puts what we call the markup in those books so that you can navigate the chapters and the sections and things like that.

And then we also have a circulation specialist.

And so that's the person who is responsible for checking out every day all of the Braille books and cartridges that are going out by mail.

Wow, wow.

So very busy.

Seven people, I imagine.

Yes, yes, indeed.

And so this is the most important question that I'm going to ask you, because I think that it's broader than people think.

So tell me who is eligible for services from the Kentucky Talking Book Library?

I'm so glad you asked this, because this is definitely something that I think that we run into.

So we used to be called the Kentucky Talking Book Library for the blind and physically disabled, which I think people saw that and thought, oh, well, I'm not blind.

It's not for me.

But it is.

So we are able to serve any patron that has low vision, and that could include somebody who is blind, but can also just include somebody that has difficulty reading regular print for an extended period of time comfortably.

So things like macular degeneration, cataracts, those sorts of things.

We also serve folks who have physical disabilities.

So something we talk about a lot in that realm would be maybe somebody who has had a stroke or another condition and can't hold the book or can't hold the book open and turn the pages.

But that could also be somebody that, say, has an allergy to ink or paper.

And then, of course, we also can serve folks who have a print based reading disability.

So if you have dyslexia, dysgraphia, aphasia, things like that, you are eligible for service.

So we, I think, cover a lot broader of a range than people might think.

And I would encourage anybody, if you have a question as to whether you might qualify or not, go to our website.

You can look at what would qualify you there or give us a call.

And we can talk to you and kind of say, yeah, that would definitely qualify you for service.

This is how you can get signed up.

OK. Do you know that number off the top of your head to tell people?

Sure.

You can give us a call at 800-372-2968.

You know, it's weird how as you get older, you can't remember things, but you remember things from when you're young.

I remember that phone number because I called it so many times to order books.

I could have told you that number.

I was like, maybe I have it wrong.

But no, it's in there.

It's lodged in my brain forever.

And then the website, of course, I'll link to in the show notes.

Do you want to tell what that is?

Sure.

So probably the best way to get to it is to just go to the website.

Kdla.ky.gov.

And we are a tab right up at the top.

And that's going to take you to our main page where you can do everything from read our newsletter, listen to our newsletter, get an application, you know, get marketing materials.

If you're a library who wants to market our service to some of your patrons that might qualify to use us as well, anything like that will be right there.

OK, great.

And it is more people are eligible than I think realize.

Absolutely, absolutely.

You know, and it's you.

Our application process does require a certification.

But again, I think it's a broader scope of folks who can certify an application than maybe people think it can't be a relative, but it could really be just about anybody else.

So it can be a doctor.

It can be a caseworker.

It can be a librarian, an educator.

All of those folks are able to certify the application and say, hey, yes, this person has a condition that prevents them from comfortably reading standard print for an extended period of time.

They qualify for service.

Awesome.

So if you're working with someone at folk rehab that your counselor might absolutely they they send people our way all of the time.

But, you know, if you're not, it could be as simple as going to your local public library and having one of the librarians there certify it.

You know, oftentimes we will get people kind of set our direction from a public library that, you know, they're they're having difficulty reading even large print or they've reached the point where the audiobooks that the public library has to offer just don't work for them anymore because they're difficult for them to use with whatever disability they may have.

Or, you know, they just they aren't able to access it on their cell phone.

They would prefer to have something physical like our cartridge, whatever that may be.

So they're a great place to go as well to get certified.

If you are not with folk rehab or, you know, you aren't able to get it from your doctor or somebody like that.

And I would I would just encourage anyone who thinks, hey, this service might help me, but I don't know.

Go ahead, give it a try.

Give it a try.

Reach out.

The people are nice.

No, it's not a weeding out process.

It's just trying to serve people in the best way.

So I absolutely encourage everyone to give give the service a try.

And you are our best advocates.

I think our patrons are just some of our best advocates to to send people our way.

You all know what a wonderful service it is.

And I'm always telling people, too, we're sort of unique from the public library in that we can serve folks in so many different ways.

We've talked about we can do it for free through the mail and it is free to return cartridges to us as well through the mail.

So the whole service is free like your public library, you're not going to pay for anything.

But we have such a variety where we have available on your phone through the app or you can download to your computer or you can get the cartridges through the mail.

There's a wide way to get our materials.

And then we are also able to do a lot of things that a public library may not be able to do.

And that's sort of tailor what you're getting.

So you can choose all of your books yourself, which is totally fine.

And we've got lots of folks who do that.

Or we can pick books for you and automatically send them to you almost like a subscription service, except it's free, which is even better.

So, you know, you can tell us, I love these authors and these subjects and these genres.

And we can say, OK, you know what?

We can send you two cartridges at a time with three books a piece.

So you'll have six books at a time and we'll pick them for you.

And that way, you know, if you don't want to or have the time to sit and select all your own books, we can do that on your behalf and send you things that we pick.

And, you know, just based on what you like and don't like.

And if you change your mind or you want to add in specific titles, anything like that, you can give us a call, talk to one of our wonderful readers, advisor librarians, and they will pick all of those books for you.

So tell me, how does someone enroll and what documentation might they need?

So to enroll, what you will need to do is fill out an application.

And again, you can get that application online or we're happy to mail it to you.

It might be something that your doctor or your public library or, you know, if you're working with a rehab specialist may already have.

So you fill that out, you get it certified by one of those certifying authorities that we talked about.

If you are under the age of 18, you'll need a parent or guardian just to fill out the little form that goes with the application that says they're aware that you're getting service and you send that in to us.

You can fax it, email it, snail mail it, however you want to get it to us.

And then at that point, we're going to reach back out to you and say, hey, we got your application, give us a call so we can talk.

We will talk to you, find out exactly what kind of service you might want.

If it's a service through the mail, if it's download service, both audio books, braille books, you know, what sorts of things you like to read.

If you want to pick your books or have us pick all of that stuff.

And then we get you set up and we can, if you would like us to, we can send you the equipment, we can send you the specialized player to listen to the audio books, or we can send you that braille e-reader.

And those are both free, right?

Those are free.

Again, everything is free.

It's one of the things that I think is so awesome about this service and the braille e-reader is especially cool because that you can actually also use in conjunction with your cell phone.

You can hook it to a cell phone or a computer and use it to do things like read websites and things like that.

So that's even kind of an extra special tool that we have to offer.

And those could be quite expensive if you're looking to buy one on your own.

So I think it's really a nice service that we have those available for free.

Yeah.

So let's go ahead and talk about the e-reader.

Since you mentioned that it is based on the HumanWare Chameleon device.

If any of our blind readers are familiar with that, it doesn't have all the functionality of the Chameleon, but it is a 20 cell braille display, refreshable braille display.

I have it.

I love it.

I use it.

You can read your Kindle books on it as well as books that you get from BARD.

And so tell me about the anything else about the e-reader.

And then I want to know also, aren't we getting an updated audio player as well?

Yeah.

So I think you covered the braille e-reader really well.

One little fun fact is that space wise, the braille files take up such little space that you can actually download all of our braille onto one device, which is pretty cool.

Not that you would do that.

That would be a lot to go through.

But I just think it's kind of a little little fun fact.

Oh, no, I might totally do that.

I really might.

I love it.

They also do have a Perkins style braille keyboard so that you can connect it with Bluetooth to like an iOS device and things like that.

So if that is something that interests you, if you're listening and you're interested in that, do give us a call.

We are more than happy to send one out to you.

And I'll just say, because I do use the one handed mode, it does have a one handed mode, which is very handy for people like me who can only use one hand.

So it's amazing.

Now, the part I'm excited about also is tell me about the new audio readers that are they out?

Are they coming out?

I can't.

I don't know.

Sure.

So we have we have a lot of new things on the horizon here at KTBL and nationally with the Talking Books National Service.

So one of those things is the the new machine, the new player.

It is called the DA2.

So if you currently use our DA1, the advanced player, it is based off of that model.

And we also have a standard player.

I do like to tell people, I think for most of our listeners who are using our audiobooks, they get the standard player at least to start till they kind of get familiar with it.

It's a little more straightforward.

And then the advanced player has some additional features where you can change tone and speed and things like like that.

And so they have used that DA1 model.

And we will be hopefully within the next couple of weeks getting our new DA2 players.

And the cool thing about the DA2 player is that it does everything that the regular advanced player does.

But if you want to, it also is able to connect to your Wi-Fi and access BARD.

So if you prefer to listen to your BARD books on your player and you don't want to download them to your computer and put them on your flash drive and then put the flash drive in the player, you can actually automatically download a number of books at a time to your player from your BARD wishlist, which is pretty cool.

That is very cool.

Awesome.

That is amazing.

And so does someone need to, internet slang, asking for a friend, does someone need to call and request the new player or will they be coming out automatically?

Is that yet to be determined?

Right now we don't have them.

We're waiting to get our shipment.

So they have ordered our shipment to be sent.

We're waiting for it to actually be shipped.

Now we are getting a limited number of players, so we are asking folks that are interested to give us a call and be put on the list and we're going to ask you a few questions when we put you on the list.

And so one of those questions is going to be, are you a veteran?

We do prioritize veterans and we are going to ask you if you have Wi-Fi.

And so we are prioritizing first people who are both veterans and have Wi-Fi.

And then after that would be veterans who don't have Wi-Fi, patrons who do have Wi-Fi and regular patrons who are not veterans and don't have Wi-Fi.

And the reason that we're doing it that way is NLS always does prioritize veterans in these things since that really is the reason the service was started so long ago and now has expanded to serving other patrons.

But also because the DA2 to take advantage of the new features, you really do need Wi-Fi if you're going to use it without access to Wi-Fi.

It is essentially a DA1 player.

So we want to make sure that it's going first to those folks who will be able to access all those new features.

But right now we don't have a particularly long waiting list.

So if you are interested, give us a call and we are happy to add you to it.

And we'll be working our way through that as more players get distributed.

And the same if someone, a Braille user hasn't yet gotten the e-reader, doesn't know about that program, do they go about getting the e-reader the same way?

So if you're interested in the e-reader, just give us a call.

We currently have those in stock, so that is easy for us to go ahead and send right on out to you.

Okay.

Wonderful.

And one thing you mentioned that you worked at a public library before, I'm wondering how is working at Kentucky Talking Book Library different from working at another like public library system?

So I think we have the best patrons.

So I say that every library that I say that.

I, you know, library is just, it's so much fun and we have such wonderful people.

But I do think that at the Talking Book Library, we just have such, such supportive and kind and wonderful patrons, which is really just makes it a pleasure to work here.

I think one of the biggest differences between here and a public library is that the largest group of users we serve is folks who have low vision or are blind.

So it's a very kind of niche patron group.

And in that regard, whereas a public library, you know, you may have some folks who have a visual disability, but you've got a little wider of a range.

I really enjoy that.

I think it gives us a chance to really build community and be part of growing and supporting that community, which is a neat thing to be able to do at the end of the day.

A big difference that I do find here is, you know, we are, we're located in Frankfurt.

Transportation can be a challenge for a lot of folks that we serve.

So we do most of our business through the phone and email and mail, not face to face in person, and so I think that's kind of a big difference with a public library who you're more likely to have people, you know, physically coming in through your, through your front door.

So those are a couple of differences I think that I have found, but I really enjoy it.

I love my job and I feel so lucky to get to be here and working with the folks that I get to work with every day.

And when people send books or cartridges, which are basically, when you say cartridge, you're talking about basically like a drive, right?

Yes, it's a USB flash drive that's in a casing that is, you know, about the size of a cassette tape that you, you know, insert into our player to play from home if you choose to get service that way.

A little bit kind of about how we are funded.

So we are a network library of the National Library Service.

We receive support from them through NLS consultants.

We receive audio and braille books from them.

We get our specialized players and accessories, access to the digital download barred platform, all of those things.

We do not receive operational funding from National Library Service.

Really?

I did not know that.

We do not get funding.

We get lots of in-kind from them.

You know, they give us lots of support and materials and that kind of thing, but we do not get funding from them.

So our funding is a mix of, you know, IMLS, LSTA grant, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and they have something called LSTA Grants, Library Service and Technology Act grants.

We are a little more than 20% funded by that grant, and then we also receive funding from the state and then we also receive donations.

So our IMLS funding that we receive supports things like our in-house recording studio, our programming, outreach, our on-demand braille items.

If somebody calls and says, hey, can you braille me a soccer game schedule?

Something like that.

Those are things that it supports.

And you do that for people, right?

Like, and we absolutely, yeah.

You know, braille, we can braille many things here if somebody needs it.

And then we also do have ways to like request books to be brailled if there's a title that somebody wants that's not available in braille through an LS.

So we definitely can do those things.

Just as we're wrapping up, can you tell me, are there any new things on the horizon?

So if you are already a patron of the Kentucky Talkie Book Library, you may have recently received an email and we'll probably receive a few more talking about the BARD2 update.

So to make BARD2 and BARD Express compatible with the new DA2 players, they've done a little update.

It shouldn't be any major changes in functionality, but there will be some new features like your ability to search your BARD wishlist and things like that.

We are doing the training for that over the next couple of weeks.

So I'm going to learn more and we'll be able to share more at that point.

But right now, it seems like the app, the BARD app, like on your phone, your Kindle, things like that, is not going to really change.

There might be some back end changes that the user won't see, but the interface will be the same.

If you use BARD Express on your computer, there will be some changes that has recently been updated, and then if you use BARD2 on your computer, it might look a little bit different than you are used to.

It will still be extremely screen reader friendly, just have some updated functionality features that I think our users will appreciate.

Okay.

And for anyone who's thinking about reaching out and enrolling in the program, and you hear all of us talking about BARD and BARD Express and apps, and it seems daunting.

I promise it's not.

It is simple.

It's just like anything.

It's just learning stuff.

And if you have a problem, the librarians will help you.

We are here.

We are happy to talk you through things.

And, you know, something that I always try to tell people, and we've talked about it a little bit here today, we are a highly customizable service.

So if you are comfortable with technology and you love using your cell phone and you just want to get the app for BARD and download your books to that, that's great.

You can do that.

If you would rather do the digital braille, the e-braille, and get one of our braille readers and download your books, you can do that.

If that's something you are not comfortable with, then you know what?

We can send you one of our players.

It comes on, the book will come to you, the audio book on a cartridge about the size of a cassette, you literally just push it into a slot on the player and press play.

So we can make it as simple as you would like, or you can do it yourself and, you know, make it as complicated as you like.

Some people really love to organize all of their wish lists and suggested books and all that kind of thing.

So it's, you can sort of make the experience what you want it to be.

And we can make it super simple or, you know, as detailed as you would like.

There are over 200 books in my wishlist.

I admit I have a problem.

I have a problem.

Well, you'll be happy to be able to search your wishlist.

I will.

I really will.

I'm looking forward to that.

I really am, but I just don't want, I don't want there to be a knowledge barrier to entry.

Trust me, everyone will figure it out.

It will be great.

I want everyone to have access to the service.

I love it so much.

And books are wonderful.

Books are great.

And I would, I should say as well, but while we're kind of on that topic, if you are not yet a patron, and you're interested in learning a little more and discovering talking books, we are hosting an open house.

We would love for you and all of your listeners, whether you currently use talking books or not to come visit us.

So we are doing an open house at our Frankfurt location, 300 Coffee Tree Road in Frankfurt, October 10th, from one o'clock to four o'clock.

It's just going to be a drop-in program.

And we are going to have library tours, so you can come tour the branch.

You can meet your librarian.

Some of our volunteer narrators and monitors are going to be here.

So if you enjoy our Kentucky books, you can come meet somebody who has narrated one of your favorite Kentucky books.

We will be able to sign you up for service.

We will be able to help you access BARD.

If you don't do that currently and you would like to, we can make changes to your account.

We are going to have some accessible board games and things like that.

We are going to have some partners that are going to have some tables here.

So I would just love for anybody who is able to make it here to Frankfurt on October 10th, one to four, come and see us, come and meet us, learn about the service, and just be welcomed.

We are excited to have everybody come and join us.

That sounds like so much fun.

And that's on October 10th?

Yes.

Wonderful.

That is exciting.

Well, Jenny Smith, thank you so much for joining me today and telling us all about the Kentucky Talking Book Library.

Well, thank you, Kimberly.

We are so happy that you reached out to us and thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about Talking Book.

Demand and Disrupt is a production of the Advocato Press with generous support from the Center for Accessible Living based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Our executive producers are me, Kimberly Parsley, and Dave Mathis.

Our sound engineer is Michael Parsley.

Thanks to Chris Anken for the use of his song, Change.

Don't forget to follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode and please consider leaving your review.

You can find links to our email and social media in the show notes.

Please reach out and let's keep the conversation going.

Thanks everyone.

You say you've seen a change in me, just for once I think I would agree, we both know there's a difference, we've had our curtain call, this time the writing's on the wall.

This wall of words we can't defend, two damaged hearts refuse to mend.

Change, this situation's pointless with each and every day, it's not a game we need to play.

Change, we try to make things better, repair and rearrange things, but each and every letter spells out defeat for us to open up our bonds and hearts to change.

To change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change, to change.

To change, to change, to change, to change, to change. you

64 episodes

#Tech #Society #Health and Well-Being #Kimberly Parsley

Episode 64: We Talk, Talking Books

Demand and Disrupt

published 8d ago