The original item was published from September 20, 2019 3:56 PM to October 16, 2019 3:12 PM
Kansas Talking Book News Update – Fall 2019
From the Director’s Desk
Hello friends, hello fall, and hello cool weather (fingers crossed),
I want to congratulate all of the summer reading weekly prize winners and our two grand prize winners: Adult - Kevin from Paxico, Youth - Matthew from Shawnee. Thanks to everyone who participated and I hope you’ll join us again next year for 2020’s Imagine Your Story themed program.
Please join me in offering a huge “Thank You” to the Kansas Advisory Council for Talking Books Services for providing the prizes for the weekly and grand prize drawings. Your support is invaluable in achieving our mission.
Keep reading for KTB announcements, updates from NLS, reading recommendations, and more.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns you may contact me directly at Michael.lang@ks.gov. I am here to help you.
–Michael Lang, Director
Download on Demand: Coming Soon
Download on Demand (DoD) is your key to unlocking the entire NLS audiobook collection.
DoD is a service model where customized cartridges with multiple books are created for you based on your request list or reading preferences. All books that are available on BARD will be available for DoD. Talking Book users will no longer have to wait on books to be returned by other users or to be put onto cartridges by NLS. Every NLS digital talking book will be available to every DoD patron.
If you want to be one of the first Kansas Talking Books users to test out this service, please let a Reader Advisor know at 1-800-362-0699 or KTB@ks.gov. We’ll keep you updated as our timeline for implementation develops.
Phone Book Club: Mr. Dickens and his Carol, December 8th
Join our phone book club on Wednesday, December 8th. We’ll keep it festive as we discuss DB 87973 Mr. Dickens and his Carol by Samantha Silva. This historical fiction novel about Charles Dickens and the creation of A Christmas Carol is filled with humor, rich detail, and true Christmas spirit.
Annotation: Depressed about the failure of his most recent book, feeling pressured by his publisher to write a Christmas book, and worried over his family's financial stability, Charles Dickens seeks refuge in nightly walks. On one, he meets Eleanor Lovejoy, who takes him on a Scrooge-like journey. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
To sign up call 1-800-362-0699 or email KTB@ks.gov, and let us know which session you would like to join, 10:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. On the 8th we will call you; all you have to do is answer the phone.
New Online Catalog Web Address
Update your bookmarks to ensure that you will be able to easily access our online catalog. The new website is https://kstb.klas.com
Artistic Abilities Traveling Art Show: Call for Artists
To celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2020, KTB patrons of all ages are invited to share their Artistic Abilities for our second traveling art show. Artwork will be exhibited across the state from February to December 2020.
Artists with print disabilities, who are registered with Kansas Talking Books, may submit photos of their artwork for review. Submissions can include paintings, sculpture, quilts, ceramics, woodworking, folk art, jewelry, textiles, photos or other creative endeavors. The submission deadline is December 1st, 2019. Submission instructions and more details are at https://kslib.info/art
News from NLS
BARD accounts to be suspended after 180 days of inactivity
Effective July 26, 2019 a patron’s BARD account that has not been used in 180 days or more will be moved to an Inactive/Suspended status. If your BARD account status is moved to Inactive/Suspended, it can be reactivated quickly and easily by a KTB staff member.
NLS Braille eReader Pilot Coming in 2020
NLS will launch a pilot of braille eReaders in the summer of 2020, testing two devices. The purpose of the pilot is to test the functionality of both eReader devices, collect feedback from pilot patrons, and validate distribution processes at network libraries.
Currently it is unknown how pilot libraries will be selected. We encourage any patron interested in participating in this pilot to contact KTB. We will keep a list of those interested in case we are selected to participate in this exciting new program. Call 1-800-362-0699 or email KTB@ks.gov to be added to the list.
Service Spotlight: Art Beyond Sight, Manhattan
Explore the Beach Museum of Art with all your senses! On October 26th, there will be opportunities to examine small details in selected art works, verbal image descriptions, sensory enhancements, and hands-on activities that demystify art media. Beach Museum is located at 14th St. and Anderson Ave., on the K-State campus. Admission and parking are free.
Event time depends on the start time of the K-State football game. Check https://beach.k-state.edu or call 785-532-7718 for updates. This event is held as part of Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month.
Readers’ Advisor Recommends: 2019 Award Winners
The judging is complete and the winners have been announced. Here a small sample of the 2019 award winners in our collection. Search for more award winners in our online catalog at https://kstb.klas.com/
Edgar Awards – given by the Mystery Writers of America, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and television.
Best Novel
DB 90350 Down the river unto the sea by Walter Mosley
Annotation: NYPD investigator Joe King Oliver was framed for assault by someone within the force. A decade later, King--now a PI--receives a card from a woman admitting she was paid to frame him. King decides to investigate. Meanwhile, a radical journalist is accused of killing two corrupt police officers. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Best Fact Crime
DB 93950 Tinderbox: The untold story of the Up Stairs Lounge fire and the rise of gay liberation by Robert W. Fieseler
Annotation: Chronicles the deliberately set fire that claimed the lives of thirty-one men and one woman at a New Orleans bar in 1973. The aftermath--including families ashamed to claim loved ones and the Catholic Church refusing proper burial rights--led to the emergence of a fledgling gay movement. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Newbery Medal – awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
DB 93532 Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Annotation: Merci Suárez relies on her close extended family as she goes through many changes during her sixth-grade year at Florida's Seaward Pines Academy. For grades 4-7. 2018.
PEN/Faulkner Award – a national prize that honors the best published works of fiction by American citizens in a calendar year.
DB 92096 Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
Annotation: Zebra comes from a family of anarchists, atheists, and autodidacts who took refuge in books when war came to Iran. Living in exile in New York, Zebra retraces the journey she and her father made when she meets Ludo. Their love challenges Zebra. Contains some strong language and some descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
RITA Award – the highest award of distinction in romance fiction, provided by Romance Writers of America, that recognizes excellence in published romance novels and novellas.
Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance
DB 93426 How to Keep a Secret by Sarah Morgan
Annotation: Three generations of women come together one summer on Martha's Vineyard. Each woman has a secret unhappiness, but they will have to relearn how to be family if they want to support and help each other. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements
DB 91494 The Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano
Annotation: After a negative review costs Denver chef Rachel Bishop her job, Alex Kanin--the writer partly responsible--helps Rachel get started as a chef for a supper club. The pair find they have more than food in common. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Spur Award –given by the Western Writers of America annually to writers for distinguished writing about the American West.
Best Western Contemporary Nonfiction
DB 90287 The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the border by Francisco Cantú
Annotation: After being stationed at the remote crossroads of a drug route and a smuggling corridor, the Mexican-American author, plagued by nightmares, abandons the Border Patrol for civilian life. Then a friend--a regular at the café where he now works--travels back to Mexico to visit his dying mother and doesn't return. Violence and strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
New Kansas Produced Books
DBC08676 The Border Between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line by Jeremy Neely.
Annotation: The author recounts the exploits of John Brown, William Quantrill, and other notorious guerrillas, as well as the stories of everyday people who lived through the conflict that marked the terrible first act of the American Civil War. He then examines how emancipation, industrialization, and immigration eventually eroded wartime divisions. Contains Some Violence.
DBC14923 Notorious Kansas Bank Heists: Gunslingers to Gangsters by Rod Beemer
Annotation: Bank robbers wreaked havoc in the Sunflower State. Nearly four thousand known vigilantes patrolled the Sunflower State during the 1920s and 1930s to combat the criminal menace. Join author Rod Beemer for a wild ride into Kansas's tumultuous bank heist history. Some strong language and some violence.
DBC14966 The Kitchen Sink: New and Selected Poems, 1972-2007 by Albert Goldbarth
Annotation: The author has created an unmistakable signature style - learned, copious, hilarious, and heartbreaking - which has so far spanned an award-winning career of thirty-five years. The Kitchen Sink brings together his newest work with a selection of earlier poetry, ranging from the brief, flickering lyric to the long, narrative sequence. In both forms, Goldbarth exerts a wild exuberance matched with a luminous exactitude to illustrate the complex character of and interconnectedness of humanity, history, and art. The Kitchen Sink is the definitive book by one of America's most original and entertaining poets. Explicit descriptions of sex, some violence, and strong language. Award winner.
DBC14982 A Nest of Hornets. Gideon Hawke Series, Book 3 By Robert Krenzel.
Annotation: Winter, 1777. After the American victories at Trenton and Princeton the British and their Hessian allies have withdrawn to a handful of overcrowded positions in Northeastern New Jersey. In order to feed their men and horses the British must venture into the Jersey countryside to seize supplies. But morale among the Continental troops and Jersey Militia is high, and they will challenge every British foray. Gideon Hawke and Ruth Munroe find themselves right in the middle of this fighting. Not only must they battle the British and Hessians, but it appears that someone in the American camp is feeding information to the British. Will they find the enemy spy before his efforts cost Gideon and his men their lives? Some strong language and violence. For high school and adult. Award winner.
DBC17258 Magnificent Midnight’s Marvelous Memories: A Loving Relationship Between a Young Woman and Her Therapy Horse by Tally L. Russell
Annotation: Tally was compelled to write this book to share her experiences with Therapeutic Horseback Riding. Tally had ridden horses since she was 4 years old and longed to have a horse of her own. Welcoming Midnight into her life was a dream come true for Tally. She conveys the story of the incredible 10 ½ years she and Midnight shared together. An underlying theme of the book is the mindset of how there are infinite possibilities when one believes in oneself, and that one's greatest dreams can come true!
Upcoming State and Postal Holidays
Monday, October 14th – Columbus Day (Postal Holiday, Talking Books Open)
Monday, November 11th – Veteran’s Day (Talking Books Closed)
Thursday, November 28th – Thanksgiving (Talking Books Closed)
Friday, November 29th – Thanksgiving (Talking Books Closed)
Contact Information for Kansas Talking Books
1 Kellogg Circle, Box 4055
Emporia, KS 66801
1-800-362-0699
620-341-6280
KTB@ks.gov
Hours:
Monday – Friday
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m
kslib.info/talking
Talking Books Talk Blog: https://kslib.info/talkingbooks
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On Twitter : @KSTalkingBooks