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Congratulations to Lea!
On several occasions, Lea has filled in for Reader Advisors. She has a good knowledge of how KLAS works and is able to operate within each KLAS module smoothly.
In selecting Lea for this award, we looked at these criteria:
It is difficult to attempt to summarize the volunteer history of someone who has been a tireless advocate for the talking book machine repair program for so many years. When you include his other volunteer activities, the summary becomes a novel.
Under Jerry's auspices, the repair group which began 28 years ago with just one or two volunteers working at home, has grown dramatically. For the past thirteen years a group of about 20 volunteers has worked out of a shop in an Ameritech building. This past year they contributed over 6,600 hours, doing 1,795 repairs. They have handled repairs, not only for their local Talking Book Center and other Illinois Talking Book Centers, but also for other network libraries in Indiana, Wisconsin, Alabama, Missouri and Oregon.
Maintaining a supply of talking book machines ready for loan to patrons is critical to the operation of the Talking Book Program. Under Jerry's dynamic leadership, this group of volunteers has developed into a unit that handles virtually every phase of the repair process. The dedicated members of Jerry's group test, clean and repair talking book equipment, maintain and prepare repair and statistical reports, keep up with training and new developments in the field, and participate actively in local, regional, and national talking book machine repair activities.
Over the years, Jerry has participated in the Pioneer repair program as a Regional Coordinator, acting as a consultant throughout a five state region to train volunteers, recruit members and consult with local groups. He has also served on equipment advisory committees for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at the Library of Congress.
Staff members at the Talking Book Centers and the Regional Library turn to Jerry for information and advice on repair and operation of the talking book equipment. He has also assisted us in many other ways, such as helping with the book inspection process, coordinating the manufacture of tools for the Talking Book Center mailroom operation, and looking for opportunities to publicize the availability of talking and braille books.
Jerry emphasizes organization and quality control in the repair process. But perhaps most importantly, Jerry always brings a special enthusiasm to his work - calling attention to the importance of the talking book program in the lives of our patrons and praising the work of the members of the repair group. While his leadership has resulted in a repair program upon which we all rely, his positive outlook serves as an inspiration to all who know him.
We also wanted to mention that organizing the machine repair group is not the only volunteer work Jerry does. He is also active in other aspects of the Telephone Pioneer volunteer activities and local service organizations. He was recently named Volunteer of the Week for the Rock Island area.
Besides his duties within LBPH, Max is an accomplished writer who has had several articles published in Ohio's largest newspaper, 'The Plain Dealer.' The articles focused on equality for people with disabilities, and the Federal Reserve's need to develop currency which the blind independently can use.
Max is also an advocate for persons with visual impairments and belongs to the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation for the Blind, which is similar to saying that he belongs to both the Democratic and Republican Parties. In fact, Max was instrumental in encouraging the two groups to work together on a Braille literacy program, which CPL co-sponsors, called the 'Braille Read Together Program.' The group meets bi-weekly at one of our branches and pairs a child learning to read Braille with an adult who reads Braille; and they 'read' Braille together.
Max and Silas often visit schools to talk about what it's like 'being blind.' In August Max allowed staff to record his feelings as to why libraries are important for people who are blind for the International Federation of Libraries Association's Annual Meeting.
Within the last few years Max has learned how to use adaptive technology to access information and sends and receives e-mail. Max is always willing to share his 'cyber experiences' with peers who may be hesitant about exploring new technologies. He is a staunch advocate of Web accessibility and is not shy about telling CPL staff how we can make our Web site a more user-friendly place to visit. Max and our adaptive tech librarian, Will Reed, worked with Pro-quest to develop an interface which will be Section 508 compliant, affording persons using adaptive technology to independently use their databases.
However, the primary reason for this nomination is his beyond-the-call-of-duty commitment to braille and providing a unique entertainment opportunity for blind people all across the country. I contacted Bill one day in 1992 and asked if he knew anything about a Telephone Pioneer group in Florida that was putting braille on playing cards. He did a lot of research and couldn't find a trace of this group. But, instead of calling me back and telling me there was no such group, he went further.
Bill contacted the Foxwood Casino in Connecticut and asked what they did with playing cards that had to be retired from play due to state regulations. The casino said that they donated them to non-profit organizations. Bill went to Foxwood and picked up 1000 decks of playing cards and brought them home to New Bedford, Massachusetts.
He was determined that there had to be a way to get braille onto the playing cards. By using a special playing card slate and stylus (a hand-held device where each dot of the braille is hand-punched onto both the top and the bottom of each playing card), Bill and a corps of volunteers he recruited to help him, brailled over 5000 decks of playing cards and made them available to children and adults who are blind all across the country for free. He personally checked each deck himself to ensure that there were no errors in the braille. He jokingly said that he didn't want to be responsible for some blind person losing their bridge game because of his error.
Bill learned the basics of braille and taught his volunteers. Through the use of special instructions developed by the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library especially for brailling playing cards, Bill was able to train his volunteers to braille and proofread the cards. He got a local box company to donate thousands of small boxes to place the playing cards into, and then Bill could mail them to whatever community where a blind person wanted them.
In November, 2001, Bill was forced to retire from the braille playing card business due to poor health. He brought tremendous happiness to countless children and adults who are blind or visually impaired all across the country. We are very proud of Bill in Massachusetts and believe that it is dedication like his that highlight the characteristics of a "Great Volunteer".
Jack is always willing to put in extra hours and go the extra mile. He will pull double and additional shifts in the studio and will take on projects no one else wants. During the past year, he has kept his volunteer hours up even though his wife had a near-fatal illness.
It is always hard to select a Volunteer of the Year from among our 100 volunteers. This year, Jack was heads and shoulders above all the rest.
I give my strongest personal support to this nomination.
gary ray
nclbph, volunteer czar
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