HourGLASS A newsletter for friends of the Georgia Library for Accessible Statewide Services Volume 4, Issue 4 - Fall 2016 www.georgialibraries.org/glass GLASS Partners with Benetech Beginning July 1, 2016, GLASS made more than 425,000 accessible e-books available for free to patrons. Through a partnership with Benetech, GLASS provides interested patrons with free Bookshare accounts. Every Georgian with an eligible print disability will now have free access to Bookshare’s vast online library including bestsellers, literature, nonfiction, textbooks, career guides and much more. Currently, all U.S. students with qualifying disabilities can access Bookshare’s library for free. This new partnership serves eligible Georgia patrons of all ages, whether they are students or not. “Bookshare will be a wonderful complement to our materials from the free national library program administered by the Library of Congress and the National Library Service for the Blind & Physically Handicapped,” says GLASS Director Pat Herndon. “We are thrilled to make this valuable new resource available to Georgians with certified print impairments.” With Bookshare e-books, GLASS patrons can customize their reading experience in ways that work best for their individual needs. Using their computer, tablet or smartphone they can choose to listen to words read aloud with high-quality text-to-speech voices; read with enlarged fonts; see and hear as words are highlighted; read in braille; and more. If you’re a GLASS patron you can receive your code for free access to Bookshare by calling GLASS at 1-800-248-6701. Visit www.georgialibraries.org/glass to learn more about Bookshare and other GLASS services. Magazines for GLASS Patrons Did you know GLASS patrons can subscribe to magazines? The magazines available cover a wide variety of topics including: business, children’s magazines, computers, current affairs, health, music, sports, travel and many others. You can get magazines through the mail on digital cartridge or in paper braille. If you have multiple magazine subscriptions you may get more than one magazine on a cartridge. If you want to get your magazines as close to the publish date as possible, turn in your magazine as soon as you finish! There are a large number of GLASS patrons who are not currently receiving their magazines due to magazine cartridges not being returned. As with talking book cartridges, magazines need to be sent back or they will stop being mailed to the patron. Magazine cartridges are returned the same way as book cartridges: All a patron has to do after reading a publication is place the cartridge back in its red container, flip the mailing card on the container, and place it in the the outgoing mail. BARD users can download individual magazine issues in electronic braille or audio format or subscribe to a magazine. To subscribe to BARD magazines, first pull up the page where you search for books. On this page is “Magazines by Title.” After selecting a magazine it’ll take you to a page with a button for subscribing to that magazine. Now new issues of this magazine will be added automatically to your wish list. If you need help subscribing to magazines call GLASS at 800-248-6701. We’d love to help you find a good magazine to read. Recently Added Magazines Audubon Cowboys and Indians Humpty Dumpty Missouri Conservationist National Geographic Traveler Oklahoma Today Playboy Seventeen Smithsonian Southern Living Vital Speeches of the Day Book Review: The Barefoot Lawyer Courage, tenacity and strength are three words I would describe Chen Guangcheng after reading about his life in “The Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man’s Fight for Justice and Freedom in China” (BR20764, DB81198). Growing up in a peasant family with a visual impairment and not able to attend school until he was 18, Guangcheng had many barriers and challenges to overcome. With his own self-determination, self-advocacy and family support he became what is known as a “barefoot lawyer” which are lawyers with minimal formal training who provide free legal services, and many times, take on controversial or politically sensitive cases — such as tackling government corruption — that more established legal professionals are reluctant to pursue. This memoir will expose you to the numerous challenges that Guangcheng had to endure but also the many victories and successes he achieved. He never allowed his visual impairment to stop him from being an activist and fighting for human and civil rights for himself or the people of his country. Reviewed by Empish J. Thomas, Center for the Visually Impaired Biographies About Interesting People Note: Braille book numbers begin with BR, while talking books begin with DB. Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (DB83322). Profile of the team formed to access places and people in Afghanistan other teams could not. Some violence. Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (DB82632). The life story of the imaginative creator behind the Muppets. Unrated. Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice by Paula Byrne (DB80843). As the illegitimate daughter of a Royal Navy captain and an enslaved African woman, Dido Belle navigated two worlds as she become a lady in high society England. Violence and some descriptions of sex. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (DB58364). This biography inspired the musical about the founding father and the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. New on Newsline Job hunters: NFB-Newsline’s job listings have expanded! Users can now set up their profiles to include job listings from USAJOBS.gov. This site is the federal government’s official employment site. Shoppers will also be happy to hear Newsline is offering enhanced Target ads and Walmart circulars. For more information call 1-866-504-7300. Call 404-235-7157 to request this newsletter in alternate formats. Join our email list at: hourglass@georgialibraries.org HourGLASS is published quarterly by the Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS), a division of Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the University System of Georgia. This publication is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to Georgia Public Library Service under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345 Phone: 404-235-7200 Toll Free: 1-800-248-6701 Fax: 404-235-7201 www.georgialibraries.org/glass