By Richard J. Smith, director, Wolfner Library In 2009, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLSBPH) initiated a $75 million nationwide transition from analog to digital recorded talking books. The audio cassette talking book format, which was introduced in the late 1970’s, served as the longtime workhorse for delivering millions of...

By Ann MacKay Snowman, head of access services, Penn State University Libraries Campus partnerships are extremely important in meeting the needs of students with disabilities. The community of educators and service providers represent a wide variety of collaborators whose partnership lead to a richer more vigorous network of support. Susan Hayya, coordinator of Penn State’s...

By Diane Walden, LSPF vice-chair, correctional libraries senior consultant, Colorado State Library and Ray James, LSPF chair, researcher, Institutional Survey (Austin, Texas) On the morning of June 29, 2010, we watched and listened as the American Library Association Council’s vote drew near on the report of the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC), and we saw an...

By Julie Sears, online subscription manager,Sociometrics Corporation One of our most under-served populations—incarcerated youth—is one of the highest risk populations for engaging in high risk social behaviors that can ultimately threaten the entire community. In 2000, young adults, 15 to 24 years old, represented approximately 25% of sexually active people in the United States yet...

By Susan Mark, statistics librarian, Wyoming State Library This article originally appeared in the July 2010 issue of The Rapsheet, the newsletter of Wyoming’s Department of Corrections. At the Wyoming Women’s Center, new inmates rediscover reading on the intake unit, thanks to the library book carts. At the Medium Correctional Institution, staff hold adult storytimes,...