I N T E R C H A N G E
Newsletter of the Nebraska Library Commission
Talking Book and Braille Service
June 1998
Look For
New Features and
New Format

Remodeling and renovation projects often accompany the arrival of Spring. This year our newsletter, Interchange, has undergone some "spiffing up." Those of you who are reading the large print edition have already noticed the new look. This new look is accompanied by an expansion from four to eight pages.

Also, beginning with this edition, each issue will include a short survey (ten or fewer questions) dealing with some aspect of talking book service. This issue's topic focuses on Nebraska books and magazines-the topics you enjoy currently and those you would like us to consider for future recording.

Together, the survey and order form make up the back page of this newsletter. When you've completed the survey and marked the items you wish to order, you can simply mail the entire back page to us. The rest of the newsletter will remain intact for reference use.

Each One, Reach One

You are our best source of referral for your friends, neighbors, relatives and acquaintances who need to know about talking book service. You, better than any other individual or agency, can spread the word about our services- because you use them every day.

You know how talking book service works and how to use the cassettes and players. You know what kinds of books and magazines you receive, and you may know about other materials that are available but don't interest you.

Take some time today to think about the people you know who might enjoy and benefit from talking books. As part of a local community, you interact with people who are not involved with any organization or agency that might tell them about talking book service. Please reach out from your experience as a talking book reader and help another regain the joy of reading.

The Sunderbruch Corporation-Nebraska Focuses on Medicare Consumer Education

The Sunderbruch Corporation-Nebraska (TSCN) serves as an important resource for Medicare consumers in Nebraska through its statewide educational and advocacy activities. TSCN's goal is to protect and improve the quality of health care available to Medicare consumers by helping them understand the Medicare system and by giving them the knowledge they need to make informed choices about the health care they receive.

TSCN's Medicare Consumer HelpLine provides answers to questions about Medicare consumer rights and responds to inquiries and concerns about the quality of health care provided to Medicare consumers. To talk with a HelpLine staff member, simply call TSCN toll free at 1-800-247-3004. TSCN distributes a free consumer newsletter, Medicare Today, to seniors throughout the state. Medicare Today provides Medicare consumers with information on their Medicare rights and responsibilities, preventive health care tips, and other important information about Medicare and good health.

Our staff of health education professionals also participates in health fairs and other senior events, and provides a free Speakers Bureau service on a variety of topics, including your rights as a Medicare consumer, preventive health care opportunities, TSCN's role in assuring quality care for Medicare consumers, and other important issues. TSCN can also supply informational brochures about a wide variety of important Medicare and health care topics.

If you would like to arrange a speaker for your group, include us in your next health fair or senior event, or be added to our mailing list to receive Medicare Today, call Laura Ousley toll-free at 800-422-4812.

For Your Information

EARLY THIS YEAR, the National Library Service assumed the recording of New York Times Book Review and began producing it on flexible disc. This flexible disc edition has replaced the cassette edition offered in the past. This change has undoubtedly caused some inconvenience to cassette-only borrowers. The inconvenience is a temporary one. NLS plans to shift all magazines to cassette within the next five years.

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN any materials to the CMLS "return" address in Florida. CMLS cancels the subscription for any item returned. You may keep any materials, even cassette magazines, sent from CMLS. If you do not wish to keep the cassettes, we are happy to use them. Enclose unwanted cassettes in the green box with a book or magazine you are returning to us.

NARRATIVE TELEVISION NETWORK has donated to us a narrated version of NBC's Matlock. They would appreciate feedback on this tape. If you borrow this video, please let us know what you think.

IF YOU HEAR ANYTHING about our service by way of the media-radio, TV, or newspaper-, please give us a call or drop us a note. Tell us about the coverage and where you live.

THOSE OF YOU who read the cassette editions of Reader's Digest and Newsweek have received letters from the American Printing House for the Blind regarding the renewal of your subscriptions. You must return the letter in the envelope that was provided in order to continue your subscription. Although the letter also requests a donation, you do not have to pay to continue your subscription. Each year, you will receive a renewal notice that must be returned if you wish to continue your subscription.

IT'S LIKELY THAT you occasionally find a cassette in an unlikely place and realize that it belongs with an already returned book or magazine. You have a stray cassette, and we have an incomplete book that we cannot circulate. Here's what to do: include the stray along with the next book or magazine you return to us. Each box is opened and inspected, so we'll find the stray and get each item back to its proper place.

ROCK & READ AT THE LIBRARY is this year's free summer reading program for readers age 13 and younger. Everyone who enrolls receives a reading kit. Kids who read five or more books between June 1 and August 15 receive prizes.

Nebraska Cassette Books Collection Features These New Titles

Books of Nebraska...

Day Trips in the Heartland
NE 713 1 cassette
by Elizabeth Wells
A get-away guide to twenty-three unique places in the Heartland. Each destination is close enough for a day trip from most of eastern Nebraska. Narrated by Donalee Heier.

The Drownt Boy
NE 726 2 cassettes
by Art Homer
Raised in the Ozarks, Art Homer returned there with his stepson for a three-day canoe trip. As they float past dense, dark woods, Homer recalls the magic of nature in his childhood. Against a background of rural poverty, he shows the richness of the land in the inner life of a child. Narrated by Jane Knox.

Genoa, Nebraska, Historical Stars
NE 712 1 cassette
by the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation
A history of Genoa, NE, founded by the Mormons in 1857 and site of the U.S. Indian Industrial School, 1884-1934. Narrated by Alice Timm.

On Solid Ground
NE 646 2 cassettes
by Tom Osborne
Tom Osborne, head football coach at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, tells his personal story about a season when everything went right on the field, but not so smoothly off the field. Osborne's faith and personal philosophy are brought into sharp focus. Narrated by Maria Elmshaeuser.

Things That Tick Me Off
NE 721 1 cassette
by Jim Haberlan
Humorous list of 125 seemingly thoughtless things that occur in our lives every day. The author is "ticked off" because these occurrences could be eliminated if people took the time to consider how what they say and do effects others. Narrated by Jane Knox.

Western Story: The Recollections of Charley O'Kieffe
NE 49 2 cassettes
by Charley O'Kieffe
A realistic account of a boyhood and youth spent on a homestead in northwestern Nebraska during the final decades of the last century. Narrated by Beth McNeil.

Narrators Honored with Scourby Award

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) presented the twelfth annual Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Awards on June 8 at a ceremony at New York's Madison Square Garden. The Scourby awards were established by AFB in 1986 in memory of its most popular talking book narrator.

Graeme Malcolm received the award for narration of fiction. Malcolm is a narrator at AFB's New York City studio. Since 1984, he has narrated more than 200 books, including such favorites as Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body Snatcher, and several works by Shakespeare. Malcolm is an accomplished actor, appearing on Broadway and television, and a voice and speech instructor at Vassar and Rutgers Universities, and the American Music & Drama Academy.

Mimi Bederman received the award for narration of nonfiction. A volunteer narrator for Insight for the Blind in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Bederman has 20 years of narration experience. She has recorded more than 300 books, including The History of the U.S. Postal Service by N.O. Bolick, the biography Amy Tan by Barbara Kramer and Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? and Other Imponderables of Everyday Life by David Feldman. Bederman and her husband are the founders of the Fort Lauderdale-based Foundation for Independent Living, a residential facility for young adults with learning disabilities.

The recipient of the Scourby award for narration of periodicals is Jake Williams, a narrator at Talking Book Publishers, Inc. in Denver, CO. Williams narrates such popular magazines as American Heritage, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic Monthly, and U.S. News & World Report. He has recorded more than 100 books, including Karl Marx's Capital in its entirety and My American Journey by Colin Powell. Williams also served as the radio and television voice of the Denver Symphony Orchestra for ten years and has been a volunteer narrator at the Denver studio of Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, serving as its board chairman for 1993-1995.

In addition to honoring the award recipients, the ceremony also celebrated the contribution of talking books to the cause of literacy for blind people. Award presenters-all of whom were visually impaired-spoke about the importance of reading in their lives. The evening also included the award recipients reading from favorite works they have recorded.

Nebraska Library Commission Explored

Periodically, the question, "What does the Nebraska Library Commission do in addition to circulating talking books?" arises from Nebraska's talking book users.

As the state library agency, the Commission is an advocate for the library and information service needs of all Nebraskans. Its mission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services. In pursuing this mission, the Nebraska Library Commission has three major roles:

Specifics from FY '96-97 The Future

The Nebraska Library Commission envisions affordable, reliable, progressive, and equitable library service for all Nebraskans-regardless of economic status, geographic location, gender, age, literacy level, ethnicity, physical or mental disability, or other relevant factors. To bring this vision to reality, the Commission strives to

More in Next Issue

Look forward to a bit of Library Commission history, including its role as a talking book library.

Talking Book Survey - Books and Magazines On Cassette

Thank you for your responses. If you would like to make additional comments on this topic or suggest a topic for a future survey, please contact us: 1200 N Street, Suite 120, Lincoln, NE 68508-2023; local 471-4038, toll-free long distance 800-742-7691; or email.

1. Which do you read most frequently?

2. How often do you select books from our Nebraska Books Collection (books with NE numbers)? 3. From what categories do you most often select books from our Nebraska Books Collection? (Please mark all that apply.) 4. In what categories would you like to find more books in our Nebraska Books Collection? (Please mark all that apply.) 5. Would you like to read more books by Nebraskans or about Nebraska? (Please mark all that apply.) 6. How often do you read magazines about Nebraska, the Great Plains, or Midwest? 7. What types of Nebraska magazines do you read most often? (Please mark all that apply.) 8. If we offer additional Nebraska magazines, on which topics should we focus? (Please mark all that apply.) 9. If rarely or never, why don't you read books or magazines by Nebraskans or about Nebraska, the Great Plains, or Midwest?
Order Listing

New Books in the NE Collection
To respond to the survey and order the items described in this issue: email; call, 800-742-7691; or write, Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service, 1200 N Street, Suite 120, Lincoln, NE 68508-2023. Be sure to include your name, address, city, state, zip code, and telephone number in all correspondence.

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