New Jersey State Library Newsletter

The New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at its Children’s American Sign Language Story Hour on January 12.

Deaf Storyteller Debra Fuller (pictured above) signed Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Doreen Rappaport. Students in grades first through four from the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf (MKSD), home-schooled hearing children, and students with multiple disabilities from the Hunterdon County ESC School in Lambertville attended.

In Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as a young boy Martin Luther King, Jr. promises that one day he would “get big words, too.” As a man, he kept that promise and used his “big words” to preach love and peace to all people. His mission was to help black Americans gain their civil rights using words rather than violence…until tragedy struck.

Debra Fuller is the vice-president of the New Jersey Association of the Deaf. She graduated from the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf. Fuller is the founder of New Jersey Black Deaf Advocates. She is also the author of The Current Need for Black Deaf Leadership. The Plainfield resident is retired from a 34-year career with AT&T.

The NJ State Library Talking Book & Braille Center (TBBC), 2300 Stuyvesant Ave., Trenton, will host a Fall Festival for the visually and physically impaired and their families on Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., celebrating New Jersey’s first-ever Blindness Awareness Month. A day long schedule of free festivities, vendors and exhibits is planned. More than 30 vendors will be on hand representing a variety of companies, agencies and technologies exhibiting products and services for people with a visual impairment or physical disability.

At 10:15 a.m., there will be the official announcement of the facility changing its name from the Library for the Blind and Handicapped to the Talking Book and Braille Center, with a ribbon-cutting.

At 1 p.m., Mary Jane Clark, suspense novelist, will read an excerpt from her latest book, Dying For Mercy.

Other highlights include:

The Philadelphia Zoo - a traveling animal show

Accessible Racing, Fairfield, NJ - a prototype race car designed for disabled drivers

Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ - sculptors Guryi Hollosey and Clifford Ward will display pieces from their latest collection of artwork available to touch

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore - cutting edge white cane technology prototypes available to test.

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Sixteen-year old Shafeka Hashash of New Milford, New Jersey, was honored at “Covering the Bases, a Night Out with the Trenton Thunder.”

Hosted by the New Jersey Department of Human Services’ Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Trenton Thunder Baseball Team, the event promoted full community inclusion and awareness of the potential and achievements of individuals who are blind and visually impaired. Hashash was nominated by the New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center to receive the certificate of recognition at the event.

Hashash is the first blind student accepted at Bergen County Academy, where she is studying for an International Baccalaureate. She has been an active member of The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) since second grade. She spoke in Washington on behalf of blind children on the issue of “no child left behind,” and has spoken to congressmen in Washington about quiet hybrid cars, funding for digitalizing Braille books and other aspects of quality of life for the blind student. She is also an accomplished pianist and artist.

Erin MacCord, development officer for the Library for the Blind & Handicapped, discussed services offered to visually impaired and handicapped veterans with William “Billy” Mack, national executive committeeman, and Betty Baranowski, rehabilitation - hospital chairwoman, at the 2009 American Legion Department of NJ Convention in Wildwood.

Pictured from left: Laura Petri of Princeton Junction, Lexy Biancosino, instructional assistant, Kristan Windsor of Lawrenceville, Jinho Park of Plainsboro, and Sumita Pal, instructional assistant.

Student volunteers from the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North LARKS job program were recognized for their service at the New Jersey State Library for the Blind and Handicapped in Trenton. The job program is designed to help transition students ages 16-21 with multiple disabilities into employment opportunities within the community, while LBH benefits from the work provided by the students. After the students have experienced on-campus job training, community job sampling is the next phase of the training. Finally, when all goals are met, gainful, part-time employment is the final phase.

Rescue worker Linda Cardell (center) read “Emma and the Night Dogs” by Susan B. Aller at the May 12, 2009, American Sign Language Story Hour hosted by the NJ State Library’s Library for the Blind and Handicapped. Students in grades two through five from the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf, home-schooled hearing children, and students with multiple disabilities from classes at the Hunterdon County ESC School in Lambertville attended.

Afterward, Cardell and her guide dog, Kobie, talked about West Jersey K9 Search and Rescue and their Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Nine-year-old Kobie began his 2-year training when he was just a puppy.

The award-winning ASL Story Hour was the recipient of the 2006 New Jersey Distinguished Governmental Agency Award.

On Friday, April 17, at 10 a.m., at the New Jersey State Library, Norma Blake, NJ State Librarian, was joined by librarians and school children from around New Jersey, to present a check for $13,400 to Christiane Leitinger, director, Pennies for Peace, Central Asia Institute.

Throughout February and March 2009, the New Jersey State Library, the New Jersey Library Association and libraries throughout New Jersey honored the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, as part of the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commemoration, by collecting pennies in support of Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute. Over 75 public and school libraries joined the State Library and the Library for the Blind and Handicapped in the campaign.

After the check presentation, the school and public libraries that raised the most money were recognized. Students from the New Providence School District, who raised $3,036.43, were on hand to accept the award in the school library category. Accepting the public library award for the Glen Ridge Library, which collected $1,169.84, was its director John Sitnick. Also participating in the program were Joyce Powell, president of the New Jersey Education Association, and Pat Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association.

“The one thing I heard from libraries all over the state was just how much fun this was,” said Blake. “We are committed to doing this again next year and to getting even more of our libraries involved. I will also be attending a meeting of all state library directors and I hope to get other states adopting this project to raise money for this worthwhile cause.”

According to Leitinger, The New Jersey State Library and NJLA conducted the first and to this date only state-wide campaign for Pennies for Peace. “Libraries have a special place in Greg’s heart,” she said. “When he first started this project, it was a librarian who showed him how to do the research so he could find contacts to ask for donations. Pennies for Peace has now constructed 78 schools, is helping 100 other schools pay for teachers and has impacted the lives of 28,000 students including over 14,000 girls. On behalf of those children, thank you.”

Leitinger also announced that Mortenson had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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LBH and CBVI Partner to Provide Computer Loans to Clients in New Jersey
by Bill Dougherty, Head, Assistive Technology Loan Program and Adam Szczepaniak, Jr., Director, New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped

Read the Article Here

On December 9, 2008, the NJ State Library/Thomas Edison College Brightest Light selection committee surprised Ruth Pallante (at the copier), administrative assistant, naming her the NJ State Library’s Brightest Lights Award recipient. Ruth was recognized for “continually creating a pleasant environment for co-workers and all who encounter her. Her pleasant attitude and willingness to go above and beyond the duties of her job make her a Bright Light at The New Jersey State Library.”

Congratulations, Ruth!

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Christine Olsen, the Coordinator for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Program at the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped (LBH) is delighted to announce that effective December 1, 2008, Monmouth County Library, Shrewsbury, and Sussex County Library, Newton, are new Regional Resource Centers (RRCs) for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

The two new libraries are committed to serving the entire community, including deaf and hard of hearing residents. They offer closed-captioned videos, books and materials on deafness and hearing loss for parents, teachers and interested individuals. Many new programs are in store for everyone in those communities. Residents should contact the libraries for all upcoming events.

LBH will provide the two libraries with various support services including specialized training for staff on how to serve and interact with deaf and hard of hearing customers, as well as how to access interpreter services through a Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing literacy program grant. The libraries, plus existing RRC Newark Public Library, will provide an Assistive Listening Technology Loan Program that assists hard of hearing individuals with participating in meetings, and Personal Listening Devices that may be borrowed to enhance hearing in person-to-person communication. In addition, they will have unrestricted access to the Library for the Blind and Handicapped’s many resources.

For more information, contact Christine Olsen at (877) 882-5593 TTY/VP, (888) 671-6983 Voice VP, or by e-mail at colsen@njstatelib.org.

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Library Journal, 11/15/2008

page 100, Professional Media

Pop Culture HQ

Brookover, Sophie & Elizabeth Burns. Pop Goes the Library: Using Pop Culture To Connect with Your Whole Community.

This entertaining book by the creators of the “Pop Goes the Library” blog is a breath of fresh air for those progressive librarians wanting to secure their library’s future by making patron interests the focus of library services. Popular culture, assert the authors, is about library customers, not librarians. This shift in focus may seem obvious or trivial but in fact points up the great failing in many library promotional efforts—we approach library service from our own world view and not that of the people we serve. After offering multiple perspectives on the definition of “popular culture,” Brookover (an LJ 2006 Mover & Shaker) and Burns discuss ways to uncover the interests of library users, including surveys, focus groups, and other creative methods. Then chapters cover collection development, marketing and outreach, “trend spotting,” and the essential role of information technology in a library’s overall program of service. The final chapters offer terrific programming suggestions, including a month-by-month calendar of ideas. Throughout the book, “Voices from the Field” sections present different attitudes and strategies offered by real-world librarians on the topics under discussion. Appendixes offer sample survey questions, recommended web sites, and other resources. In all, this is an exciting and essential book for those librarians ready to take up the challenge of keeping their libraries relevant to the communities they serve.—Rachel Q. Davis, Thomas Memorial Lib., Cape Elizabeth, ME

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The New Jersey State Library welcomes Erin MacCord who has joined the Library for the Blind and Handicapped as Development Officer. In that capacity she will work to secure public, private and corporate support to sustain existing services and create new ones at LBH. She will also develop a sustainable three year fundraising plan and, after it receives approval, put the plan in motion.

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Maria Baratta has been named Assistant Director of the New Jersey State Library’s Library for the Blind and Handicapped, bringing her extensive experience in library administration to the position. She has worked in a variety of library settings, including the State Library’s branch at the Department of Environmental Protection, and comes to LBH from the NJ Attorney General’s Office, where she was library director. Her vast knowledge of library operations and of library networks in New Jersey will be a definite asset in overseeing the day-to-day activities of LBH. MORE

The New Jersey State Library is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Stephen Szczepaniak, Jr. as Director of the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped. Szczepaniak has been serving as the library’s assistant director for the past year.

Prior to this, Szczepaniak served as librarian for the Maryland State Dept. of Education for seven years. He has held positions at the University of Maryland, the University of Alabama, the State University of New York, Johns Hopkins University, and the U.S. Army’s General Samuel Wood Scientific Technical Library. He holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Maryland. He is a member of the American Library Association and the Library Administration and Management Association, and has had numerous articles published in the Maryland Medical Journal.

Kids love pets – dogs, rabbits, cats, hamsters – and they all want one, but what do you say to a child who may not be able to have a pet or care for one because of allergies, disability or living situation? Thanks to Nintendog, the answer to “Can I have a puppy?�? can now be “yes.�?
At the May 13 American Sign Language Story Hour at the Library for the Blind and Handicapped “virtual dog�? programs given to the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf (MKSD) and the Hunterdon County Educational Services Commission (ESC) School. Full story

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