Vol. 36, No. 1
March 2006
VOLUNTEER NEWS
26th Annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon
On Saturday, March 4, 175 volunteers, guests and library staff attended the 26th Annual AZ Braille and Talking Book Library Volunteer Recognition. The luncheon was held at the newly remodeled Valley Ho Resort in Scottsdale. Greetings were given by Linda Montgomery, BTBL Director, and GladysAnn Wells, Director of AZ State Library, Archives and Public Records. Dr. David Rockwell, President of the Friends of Talking Books, recapped current Friends’ projects to further the work of the library. Library patron Gail Wilt spoke to attendees about her 40 years of experience using talking books. She stressed what the service has meant in both her professional and personal life. Performance artist Lynn Drye played the glass armonica, a rare and unusual instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin, and musical bowls before and during the luncheon.
Volunteers Adeline Cirvelis, Janet Spielman and a group from The Gompers, Inc. received letters from the governor in recognition of 1,000 hours of volunteer service. Volunteers Lois Brock and John Zlatich received etched crystal paperweights and letters from the governor in recognition of 5,000 hours of volunteer service. The library created a new award this year – the Honor Award, to recognize volunteers who have given 30 years of service or more. Three volunteers received an Honor Award. Ann Fogarty, director in the Phoenix studio, was recognized for 30 years of service and the completion of 90 recording projects. Catherine Holler, reader at the Recorded Recreational Reading for the Blind studio in Peoria, was recognized for 31 years of service and 76 recording projects. Phoenix studio reader Joan Lincoln was recognized for 33 years of service and 72 books added to the library collection. Each of the Honor Award volunteers received a plaque with a gold cassette attached and wording specific to their area of accomplishment, and a letter from the governor.
If you would like any more information about the glass armonica, you can visit http://www.glassvirtuoso.us/.
Welcome to New Volunteers
We welcome new volunteers who have joined us since the last newsletter.
Bill Corliss – magazine reader, Phoenix
Ray Lucasey – RRRB
Misha Metzler – audition evaluator
Patty Pace – machine repair, Tucson
June Rolph – director, Mesa
Doug Tangeman – reader, Phoenix
Lydia Verduzco – machine repair, Tucson
Volunteer of the Quarter
Home reviewer Adeline Cirvelis was recently recognized for reaching 1,000 hours of volunteer service. She has reviewed over 80 books that have been recorded by AZBTBL volunteers. As one of a group of ten home reviewers, it is Adeline’s task to be the last step in the quality assurance process which every locally produced book goes through before it is ready to go on the library shelf for check-out. As soon as a book is completed in the studio in Phoenix, Mesa or Peoria, one copy is duplicated and sent to a home reviewer. When she receives a home review book, Adeline listens to every word. She makes sure that the sound quality is good, that corrections are not detectable, that the format and all announcements are correct. She also gives feedback about the quality of the reader. She phones her review to the volunteer manager.
Adeline has been volunteering for nine years. Like all the home reviewers, she qualifies for and uses the talking book service herself. She has borrowed books from Braille and Talking Book libraries almost all her life. She and two of her three siblings were born with cataracts. Adeline remembers listening to her older brother’s books when she was a preschooler and the talking books were the old original records. When she started school she began receiving her own books. When she was eight she had her first eye surgery which improved her vision somewhat but only enough to see some large print. She kept up with her lessons as best she could in elementary school. When she was a sophomore in high school she was placed in a sight saving class with greater access to resources and teachers who understood how to work with students who had special needs.
As a young adult, Adeline married and went to work in a Cracker Jack factory. She enjoyed her work and though they did not have children, she and her husband enjoyed a long and happy marriage. He passed away in 1981. Adeline had been a life long resident of Chicago but in 1984 she decided to follow one of her sisters to Mesa. Arizona has been her home since.
When Adeline saw in the library newsletter years ago that there was a need for volunteer home reviewers she called. She says she wanted to give back to a program that has given her so much. Since she has never been able to drive due to her eyesight she looks for opportunities to volunteer from her home. She crochets and donates her work through her church and helps with numerous other church projects. She enjoys participating in activities within her senior community and lending a hand. With all her years of experience listening to talking books, we couldn’t ask for anyone better to help us in our efforts to continually improve our locally produced books. We are pleased to recognize Adeline as Volunteer of the Quarter.
Great Decisions
Special thanks go to the many BTBL volunteers who produced Great Decisions in January and February. Great Decisions is a series of foreign policy essays written by the Foreign Policy Association in New York. These essays are used as the basis for discussion groups held throughout the country. Volunteers from our library have recorded this material for 23 consecutive years. 178 individual tapes were sent to Arizona residents and 48 tapes were sent to other libraries for the blind around the country.
Volunteers Jim Yeater, Audrey Kastensmith, Olive Swearengin, Eric Weber, Don Myers, Doris Walker, Lois Brock and Louella Marshall were our readers for the 2006 edition. Joan Miller, Billie Levine, Dwight Brahs, Sondra Kornfeld, Alma Myers, Toni Ackley and Ron Donnell were directors on the project. Sarah Raum, Ron Donnell and Joan Miller were reviewers. Thanks again to all for a job well done!
Volunteers are Needed to Repair Talking Book Machines
Is someone in your family or someone you know technically skilled or in a group or work situation with others who have technical, electronic or mechanical skills or background? I am looking for groups whose members might feel comfortable with the idea of repairing talking book machines. If you have any contact suggestions please call Jeanie at 602-255-5578 or e-mail jpawlow@lib.az.us.
We could not ask for a more dedicated or skilled group of volunteers than our 45 volunteers who repair talking book machines in our five repair groups. Many, but not all, of our current machine repair volunteers originally learned about the need for machine repair because they are members of the Telecom Pioneers. However, due to many changes within the telephone/communications industries in recent years the Telecom Pioneers is a very changed organization. They have many fewer members than in the past and some groups are focusing on different needs. This in turn is having increasing effect on our ability to recruit new volunteers to repair our talking book machines.
Even though we are slowly making a transition to digital talking books, we anticipate the need to repair cassette machines will continue for many years. Every cloud has a silver lining but finding it can be a challenge. The more minds that give thought to a challenge, the greater the chance of a creative solution. So suggestions of where more machine repair volunteers might be found are appreciated.
Volunteers Assist at Annual
Vision Rehabilitation and Technology Expo
Ten library volunteers stepped up to help with the annual Vision Rehabilitation and Technology Expo held in November at Phoenix Civic Plaza. Because the Braille and Talking Book Library is one of the sponsors of this event, we were asked if any of our volunteers could lend a hand. Some volunteers helped with registration while others served as guides for expo visitors who had low vision and needed some assistance to get around. Thanks go to Don and Alma Myers, Sarah Raum, George Friend, Nick Masters, Louella Marshall, Barbara Pastore, Al Katz and Jim Yeater for helping to make the expo a success.