What's New for Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped - April 2008

Maine Students eligible for services from Bookshare

Thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education, Maine K-12, post-secondary, and adult ed students with print disabilities are eligible for free service from Bookshare! Registered Talking Books patrons may download books using the State Library's account, or they can create their own account. More information Bookshare's School and Group Accounts.

Coming Soon! Digital Talking Books!

We expect to receive the new Digital Talking Book player from the National Library Service later this year. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for the new machine, let us know! More information on the new digital machine is available at the National Library Service website.

Digital Download Pilot

Patrons with a computer and a digital talking book machine are eligible to participate in the National Library Service's Digital Download Pilot project. As our digital machines won't be available until later in the year, people interested in the pilot will have to purchase their own VictorReader Stream from Humanware. When the NLS machine is distributed later this year, all patrons with a computer and an internet connection will be eligible to download their own Digital Talking Books.

Veterans Preference

If you are a veteran who has been honorably discharged from the armed forces of the US, you are eligible for preferred services from us. Veterans go to the top of the list for new books and machines, including our new Digital Talking Book Player. If you are a veteran, contact us to make sure we have set you up correctly in our system.

Maine Humanities Council Podcasts Available

Maine Writers Speak: Interviews with Maine Authors by Charlotte Albright is now available on Talking Books by arrangement with the Maine Humanities Council. The disc includes interviews with 11 Maine authors, including Cathy Pelletier, Betsy Sholl, and Richard Russo. More podcasts are available free on the Maine Humanities Council's website. We hope to make more of these podcasts available on Talking Books in the near future.

New Locally Produced Books

After a long hiatus, Maine Outreach has begun to produce books with Maine authors and topics again! These books are available for patrons with visual and physical disabilities.

New titles include:

Before Sleep; Booth, Phillip, MEC22900: In this collection of poetry, Booth meditates on growing old. The poems survey his life, taking inventory of his home, family and friends, the aches and pains of middle age and the experiences of loss that accompany it, all in an attempt to come to terms with the inevitability of aging and death.
Graves in Academe; Kenney, Susan, MEC23200: Roz Howard arrives at Canterbury College in rural Maine to replace an English professor who dies in a bizarre accident. Sopon after, other members of the English Department fall victim to mysterious attacks, some resulting in murder. When Roz discovers that the murders parallel her course syllabus, she becomes the killer's next target.
Maine Ghosts and Legends; Verde, Thomas, MEC23700: Could it be that sometimes the dead do come back? Maine is rich with tales of ghosts and the supernatural-some friendly. Some not. Here is a collection of 26 paranormal encounters from around the state featuring a ghost ship, curses, haunted houses, a haunted high school, a protective spirit, and a dagger-wielding ghost.
The Mystery of Hilliard's Castle; Emerson, Kathy Lynn, MEC23400: Kerry and Lyle Odell are uprooted from home to rural Maine so their mother can write a book. They rent a spooky house, Hilliard's Castle, from old Mabel Hilliard who has lived there all her life. A school project leads Kerry to investigate her own family history. Is she related to Mabel Hilliard? Were Kerry's grandparents murdered? Does her family really own the castle? And what are the mysterious noises coming from inside the locked tower?
Bigfoot Stalks the Coast of Maine; Easton, Thomas, MEC23100: Set in a small coastal Maine city, these fourteen outlandish short stories feature tales of talking fish, eccentric townies,vengeful ghosts, mafia henchmen, a vampire tree, Loch Ness Monsters, and flying taxis. The primary narrator is Harry Bowen, the town's unpaid mayor who along with his oddball friend Howie Wyman, tackle the bizarre problems with traditional Maine stoicism and understated humor.
Maine Writers Speak, MEC24100: Maine has long been a fertile literary ground as both home and inspiration to many writers. Here are excerpts of ten interviews between Charlotte Albright and ten Maine writers originally broadcast on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
Tippy-Toe Murder; Meier, Leslie, MEC23900: Tinker's Cove is a small Maine town with lots of activity that challenge amateur sleuth Lucy Stone. As if the disappearance of a ballerina instructor and the murder of a store owner weren't challenging enough, Lucy searches for clues while battling the aches and pains of being pregnant.
Silent Boy; Lowry, Lois, MEC23800: Katy Thatcher recollects growing up as the daughter of a down daughter in the early twentieth century and how her fascination and curiosity with his work led her to become a doctor. Her curiosity also contributed to her befriending Jacob, a mute boy with a special way with animals. Through their silent friendship, Katy grew to understand Jacob so that when tragedy struck, only she could figure out his true intentions.