>> Hello everyone. Kalina and I work in the learning [audio skips]. And, welcome to today's episode of Online Office Hours, from the Library of Congress. Today we're going to be exploring the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, otherwise known as NLS. I am really glad that you an join us today. Just so you know this event will be recorded. So any questions or other participant contributions may be made publicly available as part of the library's archives. We're so glad you could join us today live or by recording. If this is your first time joining us, welcome. Just for some background, these office hours are short and informal. We're going to get started with a 20 minute presentation and then we're going to follow that with Q and A and conversation. So please feel free to join in the conversation. You'll have a chance to talk to each other and our presenter via chat. So just to get us, get us started using the chat, if you could tell us your nae, where you're joining us from, and who you teach and what grade levels or subjects, that would be really helpful. And, Gabrielle if you could go to the next slide and see what we're asking everyone to share. Looking for a sense of who's here and what you might be looking for and why you might be joining us today. So as I mentioned, today's episode is focused on the National Library's Service for the Blind an Print Disabled. And, we're so glad to be joined by Gabrielle Barns, she works in the Communications Office at NLS. If you have any questions for Gabrielle or any comments or at any point, please use that chat box. We'll also be posting links related to resources as Gabrielle is speaking and we can answer questions that you post or I can post them to Gabrielle during Q and A. So now I'm really happy to pass things over to our presenter Gabrielle Barns. >> Great thank you so much Kalina. We're here today to talk a little bit about NLS which is the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. As you may have heard, okay there we go, if you heard of NLS before, I'm really excited to continue sharing that information with you. For those of you who have not, we're glad to open up for the first time and talk a little bit about what NLS is. So the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled is a free talking book and Braille library service for people with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or a physical disability that prevents them from reading or holding the printed page. The physical disabilities also include reading disability that are based in a physical origin. So the Library serves all of our patrons across the country through a network of cooperating libraries. There's at least one library in every state that serves people with any of those disabilities that we just spoke about. So anyone who has their residence in the United States or any U.S. citizen anywhere around the world can use the program. And, so we have an oversee librarian who works here at our headquarters in Washington DC. But, then every state has at least one library that offers Braille, audio, and other accessible formats that can be mailed straight to your door or that can be instantly downloaded using our BARD system which we'll talk about in a little bit. So who does NLS serve? NLS serves people who are blind, of course. We also serve people who have visual impairments that are not complete disability but that impair their ability to read a printed page with regular print. And, of course, what we refer to as regular print is anything that is below a size 14 font. So people with visual impairment, people with physical limitations or disabilities. That includes people who have things like MS or results of a stroke or any other physical disability that keeps them from being able to hold a book or turn the pages, things like that, that make it difficult or impossible to read a regular printed page. We also serve people with reading disabilities, like I said, that are based on an organic dysfunction. So of course, I'm not a reading specialist, many of you might be working with your students. You would know a little bit more about dyslexia than I do. But, I think, it's important for teachers to know that your students who have dyslexia, who have other visual impairments or physical limitations can use the program and that this is something that's available to them from the library. And, again, it's completely free. So we want to make sure that people are taking advantage of the services that are available to them. So the National Library Service started in 1931 when law was passed in Congress to create a library services program for blind adults. The first materials we had were audio format and they were produced on a phonograph machine which is a machine that has cylinders that could record and reproduce sound. So after that, in the late 1930s, NLS transitioned to using record albums. And the record albums that we started with played 33 minutes of recorded books. When we started using record albums, those 33 minutes of albums, it took several records to complete one book. Again, if it's 33 minutes and your book is 4, 6 hours long, then we're shipping out several, several records at a time. So what that did for us was we worked with innovation over time and a record that could hold 66 minutes 66 1/2 minutes of recorded sound was created for NLS. So where you see in records, some people may remember record albums where there's a lot more ability to hold more content on a smaller and smaller record itself. And, that was an innovation that started around the talking book program. In 1952, the law that started NLS was changed from covering only blind adults to allow also for blind children. That change opened up the service to a wide variety of people and it opened up the service to children who were then learning in classrooms and working with teachers and especially schools for the blind at that point. In 1966 the program was extended to people with physical disabilities which again includes reading disabilities that are based on a physical origin. So we have been serving, since 1966, a full gamut of people with disabilities who can use our program. If you're looking for more information about eligibility, so if you have a question about whether or not someone you know or someone you may serve, you know, as a teacher or you work with in any other area, you can check our website and that is in the chat, but the website is www.loc.gov/nls. So on our website, you can see more information about who is eligible and how those different criteria are set. So in 1980, NLS changed over from record to the cassette tape. And, if you've ever seen our old cassette tape player, in the picture here, it's a big yellow machine. And, some people really remember this one from using it because that was a staple of our program from 1980 until 2007. So the big yellow cassette tape base, they were sent in the mail as well. You received the machine which was a talking book machine and had different navigation points, not just play and, you know, rewind and that kind of thing, but also had different abilities to navigate and change sound to help people who were using it who had different additional disabilities. So in 2007, we transitioned to the digital audio book program, which changed, we picked over CD's. We went from cassettes to directly to digital audio. And, so that digital audio is recorded onto a cartridge, and the cartridge really looks just like a USB drive but it's held on a casing that's the same size as the cassettes were in the 80s. That case, that cartridge then has Braille on it and large print in contrasted, very high contrast colors so that someone who has a low vision or people who are reading Braille are able to use, to read the cartridge and know which books they have there. The machine itself, has multiple buttons. Each button has a different textile feel. So even buttons that may look the same shape will have a different hook or a different surface so that you can tell the difference between the buttons just feeling them. They're also very high contrast in their colors and they are large buttons so that anyone who has low vision or who has a physical disability and needs space between the buttons can use the machine without any additional assistance. The machine also has Braille on each, on the side of each button. And, each button announces its function in an audio version. So it announces what it does audibly. So the cartridges are sent out, and if you see the picture here, it's a small blue box. And, it has two flaps that lock the case. And those are really easy to open. And, once those pop open, you can see the cartridge comes out and slides directly into the machine. So on that box is a reversible card. On one side of the card is the name and address of the patron who is reading the book. Once they're done reading the book, all the have to do is flip the card over and slide it back onto the outside of the cartridge box and it has the name and address of the library that sent them that cartridge. That box then can be placed in any mailbox, their own mailbox, a mailbox on the street or at the post office and your postal worker will take it back to that library. There's no cost for the mailing, there's no cost for any kind of late fees, there's no cost for the machine itself. All of that is free and its sent through the mail are materials for the blind. I see a question here. You'd like to know more about how the buttons announce their function. Sure. So if I press the rewind button, it'll tell me rewinding 15 seconds. And, if I don't have a cartridge in the machine itself and I press the button, the button will tell me this button rewinds by 15 seconds. If I press the volume button, it will tell me what level it is. So let's say there are 10 levels, it'll say volume level 5. And, when I get to the top or bottom, it wills say volume max level 10 or minimal level 1. So each button announces itself and announces its functions that way. You can set your settings once you get used to using the machine so that the function doesn't announce. But generally for people who are just learning to use the machine and as you're getting more comfortable with it, those are really helpful for you to know what you're pressing and if, especially for people who are, who have recently lost their vision. Like I said, our buttons all have different colors, shapes, and feelings. We encourage people to work with their library. The libraries have reader advisors who will encourage you to get all kinds of different books that you're looking for, just like your regular public librarians would. They'll help you find books that you like. They'll give you suggestions based on books that you've enjoyed in the past. And, they can give you assistance with using the machine as far as basic functions if you, if you need assistance over the phone. So the machine looks really big and clunky. And, I have people ask me if it's an old machine and if we're going to have design something smaller and newer? And, the answer's really no. We created this machine the way that it's created for several different purposes. One, the machine is very durable. We have engineers that work at NLS that do quality assurance and testing to make sure that the machine doesn't break when it falls. If someone with a physical disability is handling it, it's, you know, sometimes it can be knocked over or, you know, things can be dropped on it. And, we have to make sure that it's a durable machine for people to e able to use. Also, because you are loaned the machine for the entire time that you use the program, it has to be a long lasting machine for people to be able to deal with. It's easy to carry, and it is light. It's not a heavy, heavy machine even though it looks large. It's very light. So you can carry it with you when you're on the go. It has that white part of the handle that pulls out and that can be carried with you. In this picture, you see the young man has on headphones listening to the digital talking book machine. And, those are high volume headphones. So for people with hearing disabilities or hearing impairment, we can, we have high volume players that are specifically for people with low hearing. That way they can use the audio books, but they're really specifically for people with hearing loss. If you don't have hearing loss and you use that machine regularly, it will cause, you know, some damage to your ears. So we encourage people only who have additional hearing loss that need to use the machine on a high volume to get that player instead. So because it's a really simple to use machine, it can be used by anyone. And, that goes from small children to elderly adults. It makes, using the machine and using the program very easy, as far as the mailing system, the audio machine itself and all the other functions that come with it. Very simple and easy to use. Now, when you get the machine, it comes with audio and Braille instructions so you can learn how to use it outside of just the buttons announcing their own function. We also produce materials in Braille. So our, we have embossed Braille and we have digital Braille. I'll talk a little bit more about digital Braille in a minute. But, you can request materials in Braille and they'll be sent out to you, again, straight to your home. And, you can read the books and then they are sent back to the library. So those loans of Braille and also the audio cartridges generally are between three and six weeks depending on the library. Of course, during the Coronavirus, we're loaning those books out for a longer period of time. And, at all times there is no late fee like a regular public library would have for returning the books at a later date. We try and encourage people to return things quickly. There's a certain amount, there's a certain number of cartridges that you can use at one time before there's a hold before you can, you know, get more. So we ask people to return their Braille and their audio cartridges to the library. So not only do we have books, we also have magazines. And, we have children's books. We use what is called a print Braille book which is, basically the pages of a picture books for children. And, it has overlay sheets that are clear that have Braille, so they're like thicker plastic sheets that have Braille on them. And, this was designed so that people with, people who are Braille readers, be that a student, a parent, or grandparent can read along with their sighted classmates or with their sighted family members. This offers the opportunity for everyone to have the same experience of a book together. So those are, those are loaned out from the library as well. So, the materials that we have at our library are specifically curated so that we have the same kind of content that you would find at your regular public library but at a national scale. So we have books from children's books and fiction to adult general information, to the same kind of books you would go and look up at a library if you were doing research or, you know, you had an interest in something specific. We have the best sellers that are on your paid for content providers like Audible or Google Books or things like that. And, those are provided through a partnership that we have with major publicists that gives us their audio content for us to then create a talking book from. So talking books are different from the audio books that you would purchase based on the fact that they have more navigation points and they have more of an ability to be accessible in that they have more audio descriptions than your regular audio book would have. Sometimes audio books don't describe pictures or they don't do certain cookbook items, things like that, graphs and things like that, that are in scientific books that need to be described. So we add those things and add different content so that you're able to really have a complete experience of the book the same way that a sighted or a person without a disability would be using the book. All right, next I want to talk a little bit about the BARD program. So the BARD is the Braille and Audio Reading Download. So the BARD is the Braille and Audio Reading Download. So the BARD Mobile and BARD Express are two function of BARD in 2009 BARD created so that people could access these digital books that we're using that come on a cartridge through your computer or a smart device. So in 2009, we started with the Apple or IOS devices and with a PC based software for BARD. So what that allows us to do is to download the same digital content you would have on your cartridge directly to your computer or your smart device immediately so you don't have to wait for the library to mail it to you. You can download that book and, within a few minutes, downloading it using WiFi, you can listen to the book wherever you go. Now, this offers people the opportunity to carry hundreds of books with them, to listen from wherever they are and wherever they go. And, it also affords them the opportunity to use Braille with refreshable Braille devices. So a refreshable Braille device has the lines of Braille that are, it's a, using pins that pop up in a, on a anatomic device. So the device is generally a little bit larger than a regular size iPad. And, it has those keys and it has keys also to type in Braille. Now, NLS currently does not provide a refreshable Braille device. But, we've finally gotten the authorization from Congress to be able to give those out the same way we give our our audio book machine. Those machines, when produced commercially can cost anywhere from $500 to 10s of thousands of dollars, depending on what kind of, what kind of software you're using and what kind of machine you're using. Because of that, it's not really accessible to a lot of people who otherwise really would need to use it. So using one of those refreshable Braille devices, you can connect to your smart phone or smart device that is using an IOS smart device with Bluetooth and you're able to then carry volumes and volumes and volumes of Braille wherever you go on those two devices. As NLS is creating their machine, we're anticipating that within the next few months, our pilot will begin and that people will be able to start using and testing the prototypes that we have right now. And, then hopefully, in the next couple of years, we'll be able to distribute those to the rest of, the the rest of our patrons. So the way that BARD works, as you can see on your screen here, is similar to the machine. So it has the same buttons as the machine. And it uses, it uses high contrast, as well, so that it is, again, easy to use on a smart device or on your computer. You download books to your wish list and then to your bookshelf, and that download takes, again, maybe 2 to 3 minutes, just depending on what your WiFi connection is. Once you've downloaded the book to that bookshelf, you don't need to use anymore WiFi. So on our first screenshot here, you can see that the book has been downloaded and it's playing, and you use the same buttons, the rewind, fast forward. You can skip by different locations, and by part or by chapter. You can use put in bookmarks so that you can come back to a section that you were looking at before. And there's a sleep button, as well, which is also, all these buttons are also on the digital talking book machine, that will turn off the book after 45 minutes, or something like that. And you can set the time so that you can let the book play while you fall asleep. The bookshelf, which, and wish list, which are the next screenshot here, shows the different types of books that you can download. Of course, it's anything from, again, anything that your regular public library would have, or that you could find on a paid for service. Most of those books, we'll have. Again, we take books that are of a national interest. Some of our local libraries produce books that are of interest in a regional capacity. But we think, in our collection of getting things that across the board our users would like to read. So we have all the best sellers, we have many of the classics, and then of course, we have books that are of special interest to people with disabilities. The third screen you see there is the information specifically to the book. So it will have the length of time, our narrator, and a little annotation of what the book is about. This is information you can see before you download the book. And once you decide that, you know, this is a book that you're looking for, you can download it, and then you're able to read it. The last screen that you see there is the navigation, the navigation panel. So our navigation is further than what your regular audio book would play again. So you can see here that what a normal book might have in your navigation in your audio book would just be part 1, but within that part, we created more navigation points so that someone who is using only the audio version, and is not, does not have the ability to access the print version, can navigate through the book with more ease. So the NLS catalog has over 300,000 titles available. What we have on our website, on the BARD program, is over 150,000 titles at present, and those books are being added to every day. Again, those are books, magazines, and also music material. So in 1956, the Library authorized us also to extend to music scores and instructional materials. So with those music and instructional materials, we have the largest accessible, meaning braille and audio, music collection in the entire world. Our collection of music and of instructional materials is, you know, is so vast, and is available on the BARD site, on the BARD app, and you can call or CQ our librarians in our music section, here in Washington, D.C., and they send out materials directly to patrons, as well. So there's braille music scores, there of course lyrics, and things like that. And then there's instruction and music appreciation books, as well. Okay, the last thing I want to tell you a little bit about is the currency reader and currency readers apps. So someone with a visual impairment can have issues using American paper money. The reason that you have issues is because the U.S. doesn't have a different tactile version to any of our paper bills. All of them are the same size, they are the same weight, and they have the same texture. So what the Bureau of, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving created is the iBill currency reader, which is the small device on your screen, that you slide the bill into, a corner of the bill into the iBill reader, and it will read that corner and tell you what bill you have, whether that's a $20 bill or whatever. They also created apps. And so the apps are the iNote for iOS devices, or Ideal for Android devices. That, those apps, then, work kind of like a camera. You open the app and point it at the bill, and it will tell you if you are, if you have the front or back of whatever denomination that bill is. That helps people who are using, you know, ATMs or vending machines and need the bill facing up, or things like that. It also helps people to be able to just be independent, and knowing that they're not getting the wrong change, or giving the wrong amount of money to a vendor or a store. With that, we encourage people to download those, or to request the iBill currency reader, all of that is free and can be sent from our work at NLS, or from the folks over at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. With that, I will open up to anyone who has questions. We want to make sure that you remember the library, the library service is for anyone who wants to, who has any issue reading print materials. So we want anyone that you know that has issues because of a physical impairment, because of visual impairment, or a reading impairment that is, that can, that are eligible for the program to sign up. And I always encourage people that if you're not sure if your disability or impairment would make you eligible, there's no harm in trying. The application process is very simple. You give us your contact information, so again any resident of the United States, meaning anyone who has a U.S. address, who has a disability that is eligible, can use the program. All you have to do is give us that contact information and you get the application signed by what we call a certified authority, which currently is doctors, nurses, social workers, counselors, things like that. In the next year, the Library is extending the ability to have school counselors and reading specialists sign for people, especially students, who have reading disabilities based on a physical origin. So they don't have to go to a medical doctor to have that approved. Once you have that signature, and your contact information, all you have to do with the rest of that application is tell us what kind of books you like, whether you like history or romance, fiction, non fiction, and what format you want the books in, meaning if you're a braille reader, if you use audio, if you use a digital format, or you use, or if you would like the machine, those options are available to you there. So all of this information is available on our website, again. The website is LOC.gov/NLS. Or if you have questions and you want to talk to somebody, you can call us at 1888 NLS READ, which is, in numbers, is 1 888 657 7323. With that, the, if you call that number you'll be connected to your local library who can give you more information, or you can speak to someone in our reference section, here at the Library headquarters in D.C. So that's my presentation for today. If anybody has any questions, I don't see any in the chat box yet, but if you have questions, please drop them in the chat box. >> Thank you so much for sharing not only the services of NLS, but the resources and materials and technology that you make available. I was really, just really fascinated just to wondering about the evolution of the readers, and also the role that NLS played in developing that technology. I, that was like super interesting to me. I just have a question about your work, and wondered if you could just talk a little bit about what you do in the communications office, and also if you could say a bit about your, I guess career path, and what brought you to the Library. >> Sure. Sure. So, first my career path. Let's start with that, because that's always fun. When I got out of school, I made it in professional writing in college and went on to work in advertising. After advertising I went to become a high school English teacher, and worked there for 1 year. That, I praise teachers, because I, my 1 year as a teacher was probably one of the hardest jobs I ever had. And I know that you guys work really, really hard with your kids. So yeah, I taught high school English for a year, and I loved my kids, but that was a, that was a great opportunity. After that, I went back to school and got a master's in publishing, and then worked in publishing in New York City for some years. And then I decided that I wanted to move to D.C. and was working for, opportunities to continue working with all the different skills that I've built, and found about the National Library Service. I did not know about it before I started working at the Library. And it was interesting, because my grandfather had surgery on his eyes that pretty much, maybe a few months after I started, and it was just like, it was serendipity for me to find out about the program just in time for him to be able to use it. So yeah, that's kind of how I got to the Library. What I do here, I work with communications and outreach, [inaudible]. I provide a lot of the written materials that you see on our website, on our Facebook page, our materials and brochures and handouts, and things that you see. We also write for newsletters and we create our ads that are on television, or radio, or even on your digital platforms. We work with different strategies to make sure that people find out about NLS. And one of the major parts of my job is going to exhibits and organization programs on a national scale that let people know about the program. So I meet with doctors, I meet with advocacy organizations, I meet with small groups, especially those whoa re coming to D.C., meet with veterans and veteran's associations just to tell them about the program. Because we know that the way that most people find out about NLS is through word of mouth, that someone knows, their grandfather, their neighbor, a friend, a student, who needs to use the program but just doesn't know that the resource is available. So we meet with all kinds of people. Of course, any time the main library campus has any big events, when they have the open houses for the Reading Room, when they have our Summer's Teacher Institute, which we normally have every summer, and I look forward to, we come down and we meet with people that way, as well, so that we can meet the general public. So that's a major part of my job. And then I get to work with special events in the Library, as well, to do programs that promote the service, as well. So in November we had Jose Andre, who's a piano prodigy, who happens to also be blind and have a physical disability. He is an amazing jazz pianist, and so he and his trio came and had a concert at the Library. So I was able to work with the special events office to pull that off, but also do the communications for that with the Library, but also with Jose's team, to get the word out to people so that that event was super well attended. So we had a really great time. And those things are probably the most fun parts of my job. Getting to meet people and to share the resource that really it changes people's lives, it gives them the opportunity to be independent and to, you know, be able to use these services that they might not know about otherwise. It's really the greatest part of my job. Any other questions? >> [Inaudible]. Well, hopefully these office hours allow more people to learn more about NLS and to [inaudible] the word. And on that note about NLS, there was another question that came in about the name change. So Cheryl asked, said she's curious about the name change to print disabled, as I recall it used to be physically handicapped. So if you could comment on why the name change and what brought that about? >> Sure. So a couple of things happened. So first, we recognized that using the term handicapped is a bit, it can be a bit offensive. And so we got feedback from some of our patrons and some of our partner groups that they would prefer us not use that word anymore. So that's the first thing. We want to make sure that we are sensitive to our patrons above all else. The second thing is, we, the U.S. signed on to the Marrakesh Treaty, which allows the sharing of accessible materials for people with disabilities. The term in the Marrakesh Treaty is print disabled, and not people with physical disabilities. So that word itself, it doesn't include who are physically disabled, but it also includes people who have these reading disabilities. And again, the reading disabilities are those that are based on a physical origin, but many times when we said blind and physically handicapped, or physically disabled, people with [inaudible] disabilities would automatically assume that they weren't included in that, or that they weren't eligible for the program. So using the term print disabled allows us to, you know combine the programs that we're using with the Marrakesh Treaty, also with this term that is more inclusive to people with, you know, reading disabilities, like dyslexia. I see a question here that says, would someone with severe dyslexia and struggles with reading be able to use these resources? Yes. That, again there are different types of dyslexia, but those that are based in physical origin, generally if you have dyslexia, the person who is giving you that diagnosis will help you to sign on for this program. But we do serve people with dyslexia and people with reading disabilities like dyslexia. So if you have students, we definitely want to make sure that, if you have students, of course, if you have students who have visual impairments or who have physical impairments, of course you don't have to extend all the way to what we would consider disabled, right? So one of the examples that I give is somebody who has thrombosis, which is the crossing of the eyes, it's very difficult for them to read a line of print. So they may not technically be legally blind or otherwise, but reading is very difficult and sometimes impossible using regular print. Someone with that kind of impairment could use the program. So thinking outside the box for your students and what is available to them, again, if you think that the impairments that they have possibly could make them eligible, go to our website, get the application, and see if you can get it filled out. Talk to the librarian in your local library, and they will give you more information. At any time, it's easiest to try, and if they're eligible then you've got a world of resources that otherwise you wouldn't have access to. So I encourage everyone to, you know, use it for whoever you can, who may need the program. >> Thank you so much, Gabrielle, for answering all those questions and for giving us all this information. We'll definitely spread the word about NLS and make sure that folks have that website, and the resources that you shared. So as a reminder, this is going to be recorded, or this has been recorded, and we're going to put the recording on the website, along with Gabrielle's slides so you can, you know, refer to those. And there's always the Ask Librarian Service if you have questions about anything that Gabrielle has spoken about, or other teacher resources. So thank you so much, Gabrielle, for joining us today, and for just sharing more about this program and this resource. >> Thank you. Thanks for having me. And thanks everyone for tuning in. >> Yeah. Thanks everyone, again, for tuning in. Please join us for next week's Online Active Hour. We'll be joined by Laverne Paige, she is the area specialist in the African section of the African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress, and she'll be talking to us about the Omar Ibn Said collection, and other materials in the African Collection Section. So we hope you'll join us then and thanks again for being with us today. Take care.