September is a special treat,
but October is the month to beat.
The colors take our breath away
and make each day a holiday.
The reds and golds and rusty browns
draw tourists to New England towns.
But we don’t have to travel far,
nor do we need a motor car
to gaze upon an autumn scene
that illustrates the word “serene.” 
The leaves don’t simply disappear;
they say “so long until next year,”
and then they fall upon the ground 
without a murmur or a sound. 
We know that come another May
we’ll wake up to that magic day
when trees all winter bare and stark
will turn our world into a park.
We’ll welcome back our noble trees,
enjoy their shade and gentle breeze. 
For now let’s simply contemplate
the month that now we celebrate. 

Thanks to the American Library Association, we can also all check out this cool interactive map.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this topic by adding a comment right here.

My favorite banned book title is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. 

What’s yours?

Tom Cusack called me at the library today to share a few of his favorite web addresses that may be helpful to people seeking to use assistive technologies. 

As a follow up, Tom emailed the links to my email address where I could copy and paste them into this blog post.  Tom learned to use a computer before his sight limitations and has continued to build on his skills with the use of tools from the websites below and demonstrations held at several local libraries in the area.

Check it out Tom’s recommended resources:

Safety in the Home

Everything Blind

Free Technical and Computer Help

Tom also wants to share this information on cell phone use.

FYI

from Paul Schroeder

Vice President, Programs and Policy

American Foundation for the Blind

820 First Street, N.E., Suite 400

Washington, DC 20002

Cell phones have revolutionized life for most people, but for people with vision loss, finding a cell phone that they can use or getting information about cell phone accessibility is very difficult. To focus attention on the need for cell phone accessibility, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has launched a Cell Phone Accessibility campaign, called “255Action,” named for the section of the law that requires telecommunications access for people with disabilities. This message includes information about this campaign and about how you can be involved.

In the first phase of this campaign, AFB assisted 14 consumers in filing informal complaints about cell phone accessibility with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). If you are interested in filing a complaint yourself, it is relatively easy to do, and you will find information and a link to the Web-based complaint form is available at
http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=4&TopicID=327&DocumentID=3605.

While complaints to the FCC are a useful strategy, it is even more important to let cell phone companies know about our accessibility concerns. You can certainly do this yourself, or we invite you to supply us with information about your accessibility concerns and we will compile and share the responses directly with cell phone service providers and manufacturers. Please consider filling out the form at
http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?Mode=Survey&SurveyID=36
so that we can compile consumer feedback to encourage action by cell phone companies.

You can follow our progress and find more information on cell phone accessibility at
http://www.afb.org/cellphones.
You will find a wealth of information: an overview of cell phone accessibility; accessibility expectations for people with vision loss; selected articles on cell phone accessibility from AccessWorld; where to find the FCC complaint form and some tips on completing the form and much more. Also, we have
contacted the major manufacturers and service providers asking them to tell us what they are doing about cell phone accessibility. We plan to post any relevant information that we receive from these companies on our web site. Bookmark the site and check back frequently. We will be updating it regularly.

=======================================
Barbara Jackson LeMoine
Policy Analyst
American Foundation for the Blind
Public Policy Center
Washington, DC
202-408-8169
E-mail:
blemoine@afb.net
Web:
http://www.afb.org/gov.asp

We here at WDFPL cannot thank Tom enough for sharing his knowledge with our community.

Anne McArthur, Head of Outreach and Audiovision, New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center presented a fact-filled program on Free Public Services for People Who Can’t See to Read last week on September 17th.  Anne shared new technology tools available to help us read things more clearly without 20/20 vision. 

 She was joined by Tom Cusack, long-time West Deptford resident, who shared his adventure into the world of macular degeneration.  Tom’s keen sense of humor made it easy to ask questions and share experiences.

Tom Cusack demonstrates tools he uses to make life easier.

Friedberg Eye Associates supplied support materials and offered free one day vision certification appointments to those wishing register during the program.  Much thanks to Mary Umphress and the West Deptford Lions Club as well as Lois Chapman, and the Office on Disability Services Gloucester County for sharing materials and other information with the group.  The Gloucester County Resource Guide are on hand at WDFPL and also available online.

Mary Umphress lends her time and talent to the program.

I learned a great deal about assistive technologies during the program.  My favorite was a new service called NFB-Newsline where you can listen to over 250 full text newspapers in English and Spanish using a toll-free telephone line. 

You may qualify for services.  Call 800-792-8322 or email Newsline@njstatelib.org for an application.  This program is made possible by a partnership between the New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center, the New Jersey Commission the Blind and Visually Impaired and the National Federation of the Blind NEWSLINE.  The New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center also has books, magazines, described videos and DVDs, Audiovision, Electronic Resources including JerseyClicks.org and QandANJ.org.  There are also the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Program , Assistive Listening Technology Loan Program and other fun activities.

Anne, Helen Abbott and Ardies Micthell, Jr discuss program details.

If you missed the WDFPL program, you are welcome to contact the New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center directly or consider registering for the Center’s Fall Festival scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2009 – 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  The New Jersey Library Talking Book and Braille Center is located at 2300 Stuyvesant Avenue, Trenton, N.J.  It is an easy drive from West Deptford and the Center has ample parking available.

Check out all the great activities planned for that special day and consider volunteering your services!

Tell Us Your Story is a marketing campaign of the New Jersey State Library, New Jersey Library Association and libraries throughout New Jersey.  West Deptford Free Public Library is proud to have participated in the campaign.

A large component of the campaign was the Tell Us Your Story digital storytelling contest.  The contest provided NJ libraries the opportunity to share storis from their library through digital storytelling.  It was great fun for Karen Boucher, Helene Gray, Jim Wood, my husband, and I to meet Hector Zapian at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, NJ to accept West Deptford Free Public Library’s Second Place Award in the Tell Us Your Story Contest.   We missed our fearless leader. Unfortunately Marie Downes McDonald, WDFPL Library Director, was under the weather.   

Nancy Dowd, Marketing Director for the New Jersey State Library and Norma Blake, New Jersey State Librarian hosted the award ceremony at the New Jersey State Museum.  Attendees were treated to the vocal styling of the , a gospel choir from the tri-state area.  The musical group had the audience on their feet before the last song was performed.

Karen, Helene, Jim, Hector and I all enjoyed viewing videos of all the libraries honored for their digital storytelling.  The funny thing is it is difficult to reiterate a digital storytelling experience in a blog format.  Here are a few ways you can find out more about our adventure in digital storytelling on Tuesday, September 15, 2009.

Here are the New Jersey State Library’s photos posted to flickr.

Here are a few photographs we took at the ceremony.

You can view the all winning videos on The New Jersey Library’s facebook account.

Check out Hector’s latest videos on his YouTube account.

Hector’s music is also downloadable from itunes and other online sites.

West Deptford Free Public Library submitted three videos to the Tell Us Your Story video contest.  All three videos tell stories of how the West Deptford Free Public Library empowered individuals to solve an important problem. 

The WDFPL staff thanks Hector, Rosalie, Dawn along with many other library users for sharing their stories with us at the West Deptford Free Public Library.

This September, Olympic gold medalist, 2008 WNBA Most Valuable Player and 2009 winner of the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Award for favorite female athlete Candace Parker has been named Honorary Chair for Library Card Sign Up Month .  Candace Parker, Honorary Chair, has donated her image to the celebration joining library users across the country in advocating and increasing awareness about the value of having a library card.

Please join the New Jersey Library Association, the New Jersey State Library and libraries throughout New Jersey in reaching our goal of registering 10,000 new library card holders during Library Card Sign Up Month 2009. Celebrate the value of carrying a library card with your local community pass the word to your family and friends.

Get the smartest card @ your library!

It’s pure genius!

WDFPL  staff members have missed seeing the smile of Ann Dow, a true West Deptford Public Library friend lately.  She has been staying close to home this summer due to health issues. 

Ann continues to visit us online.  Feel free to check out her latest poem on the library’s West Deptford Reader Reviews blog.

The WDFPL staff sends you refreshing wishes for good health and happiness, Ann!
Be careful and try not to get too wet:-)

Saving to a floppy disk is becoming a lost art.

  dictionary.zdnet.com

How do you save information?

“Writing a poem is discovering” are Robert Frost’s words of wisdom.

Here is another poem Taylor Carmen wants to share with us.

I’ve been called strong
And it makes me laugh
That other people could see me like that

For someone like me
Is put in her place
When a marble of true strength looks her in the face
 
For I’ve had my moments
Although not by choice
When some hollow courage may ring in my voice

And what I have done
May look big to most
But means very little when looked at up close

You see strength shows
In how we react
To great life struggles we didn’t expect

We’ve all had our troubles
They come and they go
But mine are not close to the struggles you’ve known

And I have noticed
The truth is shown
In the way you take it when issues hit home

 Where I would crumble
 You can still stand firm
So for that my respect and strength you have earned  

This summer I am sure many WD residents are relaxing in the sun.

Interestingly, one young lady is thinking deeply.   

I believe in karma
And that mine’s pretty good
Although sometimes I wonder how it is I could
 
The rule is pretty simple
The good should get good back
But lately things have happened that make me question that
 
For if this rule was perfect
It could not be true
That such pain could fall upon a heart as good as you
 
You face so many hurdles
And none of them are fair
I have little I can do but show you that I care

You do not deserve this hurt
Your spirit’s kind and good
And I would do most anything to change it if I could

But no matter what I do
There’s one thing that I know
You’ll be fighting most of this tough battle on your own

So I’ll give you some space
To figure all this out
But I’ll be where you can find me if your heart’s weighed down 

Thanks for sharing, Taylor!