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Illinois State Library |
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Materials and Services Through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) we have compiled a collection of over 70,000 titles. Our collection includes a variety of popular interest writings such as bestsellers, classics, mysteries, romance biographies, religious and inspirational, children’s books, and foreign language materials. These books and magazines are provided in a range of formats including cassettes, braille, and descriptive video. If a particular item that has been requested is not available in Illinois, it may be obtained elsewhere through interlibrary loan. Talking Books Our collection of talking books includes over 70,000 titles. New titles are announced in Talking Book Topics, a bimonthly publication of the NLS. Braille Books Over 15,400 Braille books are currently available. Adult and juvenile titles are available through a contract with the Utah State Library Program for the Blind and Disabled. Braille Book Review lists and describes the newest books in Braille from NLS. Magazines More than 100 popular magazines are available through the library. Subscriptions include Midwest Living, Reader's Digest, Us, and National Geographic to name a few. Descriptive Videos Descriptive videos are enhanced with narration that describes the actions, settings, gestures, and other key visual elements. Titles range from the Nova Series to Disney Movies, and also include fairly new releases such as Forrest Gump, and Good Will Hunting. .Machines In order to play a talking book, NLS provides free audio book players to all patrons. Upon registration, a playback machine will be assigned to you from The Southern Illinois Machine Lending Agency. Contact them at 800-455-2665. It may take up to 7 - 10 days to receive your player. If you subscribe to magazines or read older titles, a cassette player will be issued to you. A cassette player is not necessary if you read current popular titles. A Cassette Machine Instructional Video is available from the website of the Long Island Talking Book Library. Pioneers Each year current and retired telecommunications employees volunteer many hours to our service. Two major volunteer organizations, that repair damaged machines, include the AT&T Pioneers, and the Telephone Pioneers of America. These groups do an outstanding job getting damaged machines back in proper working order. We truly appreciate the commitment and fellowship of all the pioneers who are eager to help us help you. For more information on the New Outlook Pioneers, please visit their website at: http://www.pioneersvolunteer.org/. Reader’s Advisors and Reference Services Reader’s Advisors provide assistance in selecting fiction and non-fiction books and magazines based on each patron’s personal reading interests. They also offer reference and referral services to anyone interested in assistive technologies. Our reference collection includes standard reference works, bibliographies and information sources pertaining to blindness, visual impairment, physical limitations, and reading disabilities resulting from organic dysfunction. Newsline® Now, via Newsline®, blind and physically impaired people can get advice from Ann Landers; the latest stock quotes and investment tips; sports scores; breaking news coverage; as well as editorial opinions and analysis of world events in time to discuss the news with their friends and colleagues. The Illinois Newsline® Network is a component of the National Network as established by the National Federation of the Blind and is funded by the Office of the Secretary of State, Jesse White, the Illinois State Library. It is a companion service to the Illinois Network of Libraries Serving the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Newsline utilizes telephone lines and digitized voice synthesizer systems (DECtalk) to provide blind and severely visually impaired people with daily access to a variety of newspapers. Using a touch-tone phone, readers enter a personal identification number (PIN) and a security code to access timely print information from a menu driven program. Readers can immediately turn to the sections that most interest them and listen to these articles read in a clear and uniform voice. The reader identification and security codes are valid anywhere in the country and a directory of locations is available to readers. There is no charge for this service. You qualify for the program if you cannot read conventional print because of a visual impairment or a physical disability. There is no charge to register. Your registration does not need to be renewed and you may keep the same PIN if you move. Call the Illinois State Library at 1-800-665-5576 (option 5) to register via phone, or you may complete and return the following application. You may visit the Newsline® website at: Radio Information Service Due to a grant from the Illinois state Library, thousands of Illinois residents are able to use the Radio Information Services (RIS) each day to listen to broadcasts of local news. These programs are broadcast on a special radio called a sideband receiver. The receivers are distributed at no cost to qualified recipients. Many informational service programs are broadcast daily and include hours of local programming. Local newspapers are read and usually include pieces of news that may not generally be heard on the television news broadcasts. A variety of topics are available including comics, grocery ads and obituaries. RIS also produces public affairs programs and listener call-in shows. You may use this list of counties to locate your local Illinois Radio Information Service. |
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