Fall 2021 - Volume 56, No. 3
- Highlighting — BARD
- Welcome to the CO State Publications Library
- Calendar - CTBL will be closed on the following days
- From the Director
- Reminder to Patrons - contacting CTBL staff
- Wanted — Unused playback machines and finished audio books
- CTBL Community Reads
- Volunteers - Once Again Change at CTBL
- Tech Talk - Be My Eyes
- Collection News - Suggestions from New Additions
- How did Staff keep the library going during the COVID shutdown?
- Contributors to the Friends of CTBL
- Legacy Gifts
- Contributions to the Friends of CTBL
- Amazon Smile
- How to Reach Us
Highlighting — BARD
Download books anytime, anywhere
NLS surveyed patrons about BARD use. Most surprising is that 56% of patrons who don’t use BARD had never heard of it. Of non-users who had heard of BARD, 44% said they were not invited to sign up.
This is your invitation to sign up for BARD.
Given that 75% of patrons have an internet connection and 70% have a smart device, most patrons could be using BARD.
BARD is the audio and braille book download service. There is a BARD mobile app for either iOS or Android. You can get your books 24/7 and it is very simple to use.
Please call a reader advisor to learn more.
Welcome to the CO State Publications Library
As of June 7th, they moved into the building and are now sharing our space. We no longer have a physical audio book collection, so we had plenty of space to share. Previously, the SPL collection was in the basement of CDE, and you know that basements can get wet. Not optimal for a paper collection.
CTBL will be closed on the following days in 2021 - 2022:
- September 6th
- November 25th-26th
- December 23rd-24th
- December 31st
- January 17th
From the Director
We wished Susan Archer well in her next chapter as she retired on July 31st and then planned to move to North Carolina at the end of the summer. Susan’s position was repurposed to where the workload shifted with the move to personalized books on demand. In August we welcomed our new reader advisor Lorrie Spoering. She volunteered for CTBL a couple of years back and is thrilled to be working with patrons!
Check out the Friends of CTBL Facebook page or follow on Twitter.
Debbi
@friendsofctbl 
Reminder to Patrons - contacting CTBL Staff
In these days of spam calls many of us are not answering calls from numbers we do not know. If you have left a message, please include a time that staff can call you back. Please be alert for a call back in the next day or two and try to answer the call. Many times, the CTBL phone number will come up as something else. There has been a lot of telephone tag lately.
If you have email, this is an efficient way to send your message to the library. ctbl.info@cde.state.co.us
Wanted — Unused playback machines and finished audio books
If you have a player that you are not using, please send it back to the library so we can pass it on to another patron. Call the library if you need a post-paid mailing label. Please send back old audio books as you finish them.
CTBL Community Reads
Fiction Selection
Savage Country - DB089987 & PR028145
Author: Robert Olmstead
Narrator: Danny Campbell
Length: 8 hours, 49 minutes
Booklist Editors’ Best Fiction Choice 2017
To pay off her late husband’s debts and save the family ranch, widow Elizabeth Coughlin organizes a bison-hunting expedition in Comanche territory, enlisting her brother-in-law and several hired hands to help. After they cross into Indian territory, they face endless dangers and difficult decisions. What follows is a dramatic story of survival in a harsh and inhospitable landscape. Contains some strong language and violence. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
Non-Fiction Selection
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing — DB090118 & PR028858
Author & Narrator: Daniel H. Pink
Length: 5 hours, 49 minutes
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post Bestseller
Drawing on research from psychology, biology, and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work, and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why should we avoid going to the hospital in the afternoon?
Pink distills research and data on timing and synthesizes them into a narrative packed with stories and practical takeaways that give readers insights into how we can live richer, more engaged lives. Some strong language. 2018.
Volunteers — Once Again Change at CTBL
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it,
move with it, and join the dance.” — Alan Watts
Remember when we gave up our vinyl discs and audiobooks came on cassettes? So much easier and less bulky. Cassettes were so much easier to use once we got the hang of turning them over and switching tracks. Then the library moved from a sub-basement to a building of our own. Progress at last! Room to grow and a chance to add services.
Green boxes turned to blue boxes as digital cartridges came along, and we were glad we didn’t have to fidget with switching sides and tracks to hear the whole book. At the same time, the narrators were learning the finer points of recording in digital formats with more sensitive mics and better equipment. We were all glad to be finished with magnetic tape.
The CTBL Volunteers are gradually returning to the building; some to the assignment they had before the pandemic swept “normal” away; some to a new office, project, or supervisor. It has been another season of change.
Rows of blue mailing cases have been replaced with print materials used by another library. Four of our colleagues joined us in our office on Sheridan Blvd, sharing space even if we work in different units. The studio director and audio editing team have moved into another room. Once we knew where to find them, things seemed to pick up right where we left off.
The circulation department no longer mails out tubs full of audiobooks because our patrons can now download books to their devices at any time. We can do more work with fewer people.
After nearly fifteen years, Susan retired; several volunteers have stopped driving and will not be coming to the building much anymore.
But, just like every change we have made in the past, we plunge in, learn new things, meet new volunteers, and dance to a new song!
Tech Talk — Be My Eyes
Be My Eyes is a free mobile app with one main goal: to make the world more accessible for blind and low-vision people. The app connects blind and low-vision individuals with sighted volunteers and companies from all over the world through a live video call.
Since the app launched in January 2015, more than 4,000,000 volunteers have signed up to assist blind and low-vision users. Be My Eyes users can request assistance in over 180 languages making the app the biggest online community for blind and low-vision people as well as one of the largest micro-volunteering platforms in the world! Every day, volunteers sign onto Be My Eyes to lend their sight to blind and low-vision individuals to tackle challenges and solve problems together.
Sign up as a user to get free visual support with tasks like reading labels, matching clothes, troubleshooting technology, setting up home appliances, or any other simple task a volunteer can complete over live video. If a task is too complicated or requires expertise, Be My Eyes has company partners for on-demand video customer support via Specialized Help.
Get more information at http://www.bemyeyes.org
Collection News — Suggestions from New Additions
New DVDs with Descriptive Video
These videos have audio descriptions embedded in each disc. You can turn on this feature by following the directions starting at the disc’s main menu. Additional titles are available, please contact the library for more information.
DVDs
- MD00512 — The Irishman (R)
- MD00513 — Wonder Woman 1984 (PG-13)
- MD00514 — Soul (PG-13)
- MD00515 — Becoming Human: Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors (Unrated)
- MD00519 — The Trip to Greece (Unrated)
Blu-rays
- MB00129 — Wonder Woman 1984 (PG-13)
- MB00130 — Soul (PG-13)
- MB00131 — The Trip to Greece (Unrated)
Book to Film — Featured Title
Released on Netflix earlier this year, “Monster” by the late author Walter Dean Myers, was first published in 1999 and tells the story of sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon who is in jail accused of being a lookout in a deadly robbery. An aspiring filmmaker, Steve reviews his time in jail as a movie script. He wonders if he has become the monster that the prosecutor has made him out to be. For senior high and older readers. Available in Braille (BR012515), audio book (DB056569), and large print (PR014179).
Featured Audio and Large Print Title
Are you enjoying the Netflix series “The Crown?” Are you an old school royal watcher? You might enjoy “Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown” by Anne Glenconner. A close member of the royal circle and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, Glenconner was a friend of Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II since childhood. This bestselling memoir describes her experiences witnessing landmark moments in royal history and shares intimate stories from her time as Princess Margaret’s closest confidante.
Narrated by the author, the audio book is particularly engaging for the Anglophile. (DB098917) audio book and (PR030543) large print book.
If you’d like to add any of these titles or series to your book list, call the library at: 800-685-2136 or 303-727-9277 or email ctbl.info@cde.state.co.us
New Large Print Titles
Bestseller Fiction
- PR030789 — Infinite Country: A Novel by Patricia Engel
- PR030629 — The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
- PR030722 — The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
- PR030786 — Before She Disappeared: A Frankie Elkin Novel by Lisa Gardner
- PR030756 — Dark Sky: Joe Pickett #21 by C. J. Box
- PR030664 — Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
- PR030678 — The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
- PR030692 — The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher
Bestseller Non-Fiction
- PR030745 — Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life by Christie Tate
- PR030741 — Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, At Home and Abroad by John O. Brennan
- PR030742 — Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future by Pope Francis
- PR030680 — How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates
- PR030738 — Grit & Grace: Train the Mind, Train the Body, Own Your Life by Tim McGraw
- PR030656 — Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
- PR030630 — Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
- PR030747 — No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox
Fantasy Fiction
- PR030749 — The Last Druid: The Fall of Shannara Series #4 by Terry Brooks
- PR030752 — Battle Ground: Dresden Files #17 by Jim Butcher
- PR030675 — The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- PR030648 — The Awakening: The Dragon Heart Legacy #1 by Nora Roberts
Gothic Fiction
- PR030724 — The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous
- PR030691 — The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
- PR030705 — The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase
- PR030723 — Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- PR030645 — Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Nonfiction
- PR030783 — The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free by Paulina Bren
- PR030637 — The Fragile Earth: Writing from The New Yorker on Climate Change by David Remnick
- PR030744 — Prince Philip Revealed by Ingrid Seward
- PR030655 — Age Later: Health Span, Life Span, and the New Science of Longevity by Nir Barzilai
- PR030636 — Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaght
- PR030737 — This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing: A Memoir by Jacqueline Winspear
- PR030633 — Grounded: A Senator’s Lessons on Winning Back Rural America by Jon Tester
- PR030638 — When Women Pray: 10 Women of the Bible Who Changed the World through Prayer by T. D. Jakes
- PR030686 — Olive the Lionheart: Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and One Woman’s Journey into the Heart of Africa by Brad Ricca
- PR030740 — She Come by It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh
- PR030743 — The Eagles of Heart Mountain: A True Story of Football, Incarceration, and Resistance in World War II America by Bradford Pearson
- PR030634 — Why Did I Come Into This Room? by Joan Lunden
- PR030736 — When My Time Comes: Conversations About Whether Those Who Are Dying Should Have the Right to Determine When Life Should End by Diane Rehm
- PR030746 — Expedition Deep Ocean: The First Descent to the Bottom of All Five of the World’s Oceans by Josh Young
Historical Fiction
- PR030697 — The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman
- PR030695 — In the Lion’s Den: The House of Falconer Series #2 by Barbara Taylor Bradford
- PR030779 — The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly
- PR030689 — House on Endless Waters by Emunah Elon
- PR030762 — Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft
- PR030764 — Lana’s War by Anita Abriel
Young Adult
- PR030642 — A Sky Beyond the Storm: Ember in the Ashes Series #4 by Sabaa Tahir
- PR030643 — The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
- PR030685 — Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
- PR030710 — The Queen’s Secret: Queen’s Secret #2 by Melissa de la Cruz
- PR030712 — Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
- PR030713 — The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
- PR030716 — Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Peña
- PR030717 — We Are Not from Here by Jenny Tores Sanchez
Need more ideas for which large print book to read next? You can find more large print book lists on the CTBL website or you can request the latest lists by calling the library at 800-685-2136.
From the Colorado Collection — Audio Books:
All My Rivers are Gone: A Journey of Discovery Through Glen Canyon
Author: Katie Lee
Narrator: Barbara Flowers
Documents the sad decision to flood Glen Canyon on the Colorado River. This is a love song to the river — an informative, historical record vividly evoking what was once there. 1998. Adult Non-Fiction. DBC03036
The Enlisted Men’s Club. Private Palmer Trilogy #1
Author: Gary Reilly
Narrator: Lee Foreman
Private Palmer is stationed at San Francisco’s army base at The Presidio, awaiting orders. He’s trying to find his place in the ranks. And trying to avoid work. While he’s been trained as a Military Policeman, he has no idea what’s next. Palmer keeps a low profile by day and seeks escape in the bars at night. The trick to survival, he decides, is not to care about anything during his time in the Army. To his surprise, that’s the most difficult challenge of all. Strong language. 2014. Adult Fiction. DBC13057
Belong: Find Your People, Create Community and Live a More Connected Life
Author: Radha Agrawal
Narrator: Kris Duecker
The author offers readers a blueprint to find their people, and build and nurture community, because connectedness she argues is the key to happiness, fulfillment, and success. Packed with prompts, charts, and quizzes, this book aims to help readers find those special people who feed their souls. 2018. Adult Non-Fiction. DBC13066
Recollections of a Rocky Mountain Ranger
Author: Jack C. Moomaw
Narrator: James Ryder
Includes the original text, published in 1963, of “Recollections of a Rocky Mountain Ranger,” Moomaw’s account of his time as a park ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. Also includes a biography, previously unpublished stories, and poems. 1994. Adult Non-Fiction. DBC13070
News You Can Use Insights Into Low Vision — DBC02922
Produced by the Council of Citizens with Low Vision International and recently recorded by CTBL, this guide is a compilation of tools, tips, and approaches to the world of low vision. Intended for both individuals with low vision and professionals working in the community, the authors provide research, insights, and individual testimonials on the world of low vision. DBC02922
How did staff keep the library going during the COVID shutdown?
As you may know, that while many organizations and buildings had to close during the pandemic, CTBL was not one of them. While we did have 50% of staff work from home, the other 50% were in the library working every day to continue the mail services to patrons. I want to give a shout out to the staff for staying healthy and eliminating the need to shut our building. We know how important books are to our patrons and even more so during 2020. Mail operations staff were there everyday as was Emma keeping the patron messages flowing to the reader advisors and Andrea was at CTBL every day too. Other staff came as needed and I worked at CTBL at least one day per week. Going forward, we are now operating on a more “normal” schedule with everyone back in the building and the phones are live. We are all vaccinated and when appropriate wearing masks. Staying healthy is important personally but also professionally so that Delta doesn’t necessitate closing the library. Here are photos of a few staff.
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Patron Services - left to right |
Mailroom - left to right: |
Emma |
Contributors to The Friends of the Colorado Talking Book Library and The Colorado Talking Book Library
The list of contributors to Colorado Talking Book Library and the Friends of CTBL from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021, has been omitted from this format. Interested parties may access this information through the PDF version of our newsletter. Further assistance may be requested through the Reader Advisors.
Legacy Gifts
Legacy gifts to the Friends of CTBL are a vital way to ensure ongoing support for all the services the library provides to patrons. The Friends have established Eyes to the Future that honors and recognizes the generosity and vision of patrons, families and friends who have chosen to leave a legacy through their estates or other deferred gifts.
We invite you to become a member of Eyes to the Future. Enrollment in this honorary group is simply a matter of advising us about your plans to make a legacy gift, such as a bequest in a will or living trust, or designating The Friends of CTBL as beneficiary of an individual retirement plan, 401k or life insurance policy. The Friends of CTBL is a public 501(c)(3) charity and the tax ID is 23-7243950.
Contributions to The Friends of the Colorado Talking Book Library and The Colorado Talking Book Library
An additional way to contribute to either the Friends or to CTBL is through a charitable bequest as part of a will or through life insurance. You do not have to rewrite your current document but can add a written amendment called a codicil. Such a bequest only becomes irrevocable at your death. Giving to the library helps support the programs and service we provide to our patrons and helps to secure the future.
AmazonSmile
The AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to charitable organizations. If you make purchases through Amazon, try AmazonSmile and designate The Friends of CTBL as a recipient of charitable donations. Several patrons have already done this. Thanks!
How to Reach Us:
Colorado Talking Book Library
180 Sheridan Blvd.
Denver, CO 80226
303-727-9277—metro Denver
1-800-685-2136—outside Denver
www.myctbl.org
- Katy Anthes, Commissioner of Education
- Nicolle Davies, State Librarian
- Debbi MacLeod, Director, CTBL
Social Media: 
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The Colorado Department of Education does not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or age, in access to, employment in, or provision of any of CDE’s programs, benefits, or activities.
This newsletter was published with funding from the Friends of CTBL and was made possible in part by the institute of Museum and Library Services.
Design services provided by State of Colorado/Integrated Document Solutions
