CTBL News - Winter 2021

Winter 2021 - Volume 56, No. 1

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Highlighting — 90th Anniversary March 3, 2021

Let’s celebrate!!! In 2021, the talking book service is celebrating it’s 90th year in Colorado. On March 3, 1931, the Pratt-Smoot Act was signed into law establishing the National Library Service and the Talking Book Network of libraries. Copy of the CTBL special edition 90th Anniversary LogoWe use this as our anniversary date. The Denver Public Library was one of the original 18 libraries to deliver service in the region. This partnership lasted until 1969 when the library moved to the State Library and became what you now know as the Colorado Talking Book Library.

We will have events throughout 2021 and will be virtually celebrating during the beginning of the year. We hope to have an in-person event at some point during the latter part of the year. So, watch our website for event notices and if you are on the email list, you will receive updates as appropriate.

NLS is also planning virtual events throughout the year so watch for those notices as well. We will post information for all the events we know of on our website.

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CTBL will be closed on the following days in 2021:

  • January 1st
  • January 18th
  • February 15th
  • May 31st

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From the Director

We hope you are all staying healthy and holding your own during this COVID crisis. It has been a long haul, but I feel we are well past the halfway point. 50% of the staff are still working in the building getting books out to patrons and the other 50% are working from home. Some volunteers have been working from home too and few have come back for critical jobs that just can’t wait.

Check out the Friends of CTBL Facebook page or follow on Twitter.

Debbi
@DebbiMacLeod twitter icon

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Reminder to Patrons - Contacting CTBL Staff

We are currently sending calls directly to voicemail. Messages are generally picked up every two hours and sent to the appropriate 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

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CTBL Community Reads

Fiction Selection
Unmarriageable
— DB093544 & PR029361
Author & Narrator: Soniah Kamal
Length: 10 hours, 54 minutes
A retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice set-in modern-day Pakistan. The Binat family has suffered a reversal of fortune. Alys, the second and most practical of the five Binat daughters, has found happiness teaching English literature to schoolgirls. Knowing that many of her students won’t make it to graduation before dropping out to marry and start having children, Alys teaches them about literary heroes and hopes to inspire them to dream of more. She has herself sworn to never marry, until she meets Mr. Darsee at a wedding. 2019.

Non-Fiction Selection
The Body: A Guide for Occupants
— DB096770 & PR030043
Author & Narrator: Bill Bryson
Length: 14 hours, 6 minutes
Award-winning author presents an engaging and humorous head-to-toe tour of the human body, how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and the unfortunate ways it can fail. Using facts — your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this — and anecdotes, Bryson creates a deeper understanding of the miracle that is you. Bestseller. 2019.

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Wanted — Unused playback machines

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.

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Tech Talk — Spectrum Access for Audio Description

The Free App Enables Playback of Audio Description and Closed Captioning Directly from the User’s Personal Device

Currently available for iOS devices via the Apple App Store, the Spectrum Access app enhances the in-home entertainment experience by enabling customers to play audio description or closed captioning directly from their phone or tablet. It works for anyone in the US and does not require credentials to use it.

Through the Spectrum Access app, users can download and store audio description and closed captioning files on their personal devices. Using the device’s microphone, the app finds where the user is in the movie or TV show and plays the corresponding file in parallel with the content playing on the user’s TV.

Spectrum Access is currently compatible with more than 500 movies. With more titles added every month, hundreds more are expected to be available by the end of 2020 as well as an Android app version.

The app works with a movie playing on any platform, from DVD to streaming by your cable provider or your favorite streaming service. Streaming platforms include: Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix and other streaming services where any of the movie titles in the Spectrum Access library may be available.

More information about the Spectrum Access app and other accessibility options available to Spectrum customers is available here: https://www.spectrum.net/support/accessibility/spectrum-access-app

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Resource of Interest — CO Dept of Public Health & Environment - COVID-19

There are all kinds of resources available to Coloradans on the CDPHE website which you can find here: Link no longer valid

You can find information on public health orders, data, masks, cleaning guidelines, isolation guidelines, and testing sites. There are multiple languages available for these resources.

We are getting good news on the vaccine, but it will be well into 2021 before most will be able to obtain one.

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Resource of Interest — Accessible Information on COVID-19

Georgia Tech’s Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation have been working on a project to provide information on COVID-19 in accessible formats for the disabled community.

For the print disabled there are digital braille files, and you can request embossed braille materials.

  • Times Webpage conversion to PDF and Word documents
  • Braille-ready files for users of refreshable braille displays
  • Embossed braille upon request through our dissemination partners or by request through the Georgia Tech microsite

Audio files will be added to the site and may be up by the time you read this.

You can find the microsite here: (link no longer valid)

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Volunteers — Honoring Lives of Service!

Every year we honor our volunteers who reached an important milestone in their service to patrons. Even though we could not meet at the Brunch in December, we celebrate the accomplishments they each achieved. Their names will be added to the plaques that line the hall leading to the Volunteer Office, and they each received a certificate and small token of our appreciation.

Thank you for all the ways you help us carry out our mission that all may read. We are looking forward to thanking each of you in person in 2021. 5-Year Award

  • Frank Sciacca
  • Bill Bate
  • Carol Schmidt
  • Joel Hinrichs
  • Patricia Moyer
  • J. Kelly
  • Rossanna Patricelli
  • DeAnn Sandoval
  • Annette Berger
  • Serena McGuire
  • Laura Piggott
  • Margo Goodwin
  • Mary Lawlor

10-Year Award

  • Marilyn Peterson
  • Chris Kluth
  • Betty Brown

15-Year Award

  • Clarence Lederhos

20-Year Award

  • Catherine Gloeckner
  • Evelyn Dosch

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Free Cloth Masks Available from CTBL Volunteers

Thanks to our volunteers who are making masks from home, we can offer a pack of 3 masks to CTBL patrons. This supports the statewide order for residents to wear masks while in public spaces. Please contact the library and leave a message clearly stating your name and patron number or phone number. We will then mail you out a packet of masks.

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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

  • MD00492 — Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (R)
  • MD00488 — Call of the Wild (PG)
  • MD00491 — Downhill (R)
  • MD00494 — Emma (PG)
  • MD00490 — I Still Believe (PG)
  • MD00495 — Logan Lucky (PG-13)
  • MD00486 — Onward (PG)
  • MD00493 — Ordinary Love (R)
  • MD00487 — Spies in Disguise (PG)
  • MD00496 — The Photograph (PG-13)
  • MD00489 — The Traitor (R)
  • MD00497 — The Way Back (R)

Blu-rays

  • MB00125 — Call of the Wild (PG)
  • MB00123 — Darkest Hour (PG-13)
  • MB00124 — Onward (PG)
  • MB00122 — Spies in Disguise (PG)

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New Large Print Titles

Bestseller Fiction

  • PR030096 — It’s Not All Downhill From Here by Terry McMillan
  • PR030207 — The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin
  • PR030231 — Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey
  • PR030374 — The German House by Annette Hess
  • PR030370 — The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton
  • PR030377 — Writers & Lovers by Lily King
  • PR030266 — Apeirogon by Colum McCann
  • PR030201 — Masked Prey: Prey Series #30 by John Sandford
  • PR030265 — My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
  • PR030170 — In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
  • PR030208 — Hideaway by Nora Roberts

Bestseller Non-Fiction

  • PR030264 — Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives by Daniel J. Levitin
  • PR030261 — Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell by Thomas Clavin

Domestic & Family Fiction

  • PR030219 — One Perfect Summer by Brenda Novak
  • PR030333 — Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr
  • PR030316 — The Sea Glass Cottage by RaeAnne Thayne
  • PR030322 — The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman
  • PR030213 — St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets by Annie England Noblin
  • PR030223 — Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews

Horror Fiction

  • PR030225 — If It Bleeds by Stephen King
  • PR030218 — Devoted by Dean R. Koontz
  • PR030217 — The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Non-Fiction

  • PR030307 — Maximize Your Medicare: 2020 – 2021 Edition: Qualify for Benefits, Protect Your Health, and Minimize Your Costs by Jae W. Oh
  • PR030287 — Molly: The True Story of the Amazing Dog Who Rescues Cats by Colin Butcher
  • PR030306 — Rescue Dogs: Where They Come From, Why They Act the Way They Do, and How to Love Them Well by Pete Paxton
  • PR030363 — DAWGS: A True Story of Lost Animals and the Kids Who Rescued Them by Diane Trull
  • PR030298 — Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont by Robert Bilott
  • PR030210 — 82 Days on Okinawa: One American’s Unforgettable Firsthand Account of the Pacific War’s Greatest Battle by Art Shaw
  • PR030297 — Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law by Jeffrey Rosen
  • PR030364 — Washington’s End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle by Jonathan Horn
  • PR030253 — Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward J. Larson
  • PR030367 — Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid
  • PR030242 — The Art of Resistance: My Four Years in the French Underground: A Memoir by Justus Rosenberg

Romance & Love Stories

  • PR030335 — The Friendship List by Susan Mallery
  • PR030375 — The Empty Nesters by Carolyn Brown
  • PR030252 — Where Have All the Boys Gone? by Jenny Colgan
  • PR030254 — The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
  • PR030355 — Yes, I Do by Janet Dailey
  • PR030288 — Promised: The Proper Romance Series by Leah Garriott

Suspense & Thrillers

  • PR030172 — The Warsaw Protocol: Cotton Malone #15 by Steve Berry
  • PR030299 — Deadly Diaries by C. E. Waterman
  • PR030250 — Follow Me by Kathleen Barber
  • PR030313 — Strike Me Down by Mindy Mejia
  • PR030326 — The Shadows by Alex North
  • PR030214 — The Goodbye Man: Colter Shaw #2 by Jeffery Deaver

Young Adult

  • PR027373 — Rebound by Kwame Alexander
  • PR030281 — Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
  • PR030282 — Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby
  • PR030255 — Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli
  • PR030323 — A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope by Patrice Caldwell
  • PR030256 — Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee
  • PR027375 — The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
  • PR030238 — Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson

Want more large print? Call the library for a list of addition new titles

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Celebrity Book Clubs

Are you interested in reading the books featured in celebrity book clubs? Well, we’ve got good news for you! CTBL has many of the titles selected by Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, and Jenna Bush Hager for their book clubs. Unfortunately, not all the titles are available in Braille, audio, or large print, but if we’ve got them in the collection, we’ll be happy to send them out to you. Call the library and a reader advisor can add one or more of the book clubs to your preferences list.

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Featured Series in Large Print

We’ve recently added two series in large print for young readers. From Dav Pilkey, the author of the popular Captain Underpants series, comes his latest bestselling series, "Dog Man.” According to the publisher, the series — featuring a part dog, part man — explores universally positive themes including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of being true to one’s self. Recommended for Grades 2 through 4.

Another bestselling series, Stick Dog by Tom Watson features five stray dogs: Stick Dog, Stripes, Mutt, Poo-Poo, and Karen. Self-described as “a really good story with kind of bad drawings,” these humorous stories follow the homeless dogs as they search for their next meal. The dogs’ silly urban adventures explore themes of friendship, compassion, and teamwork. Recommended for Grades 3 through 6.

If you’d like to add one or both series to your large print book list, call the library at: 800-685-2136 or 303-727-9277.

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From the Colorado Collection — Audio Books:

Turning the Heart to God
Author: Feofan
Narrator: Louise Lederhos
In this modern translation, St. Theophan the Recluse, an Orthodox bishop from nineteenth-century Russia, discusses repentance in the context of Christianity. From the classic Russian book, “The Path to Salvation,” this text shares St. Theophan’s lifetime of experience in turning his heart to God and guiding others. 2001. Adult Non-Fiction. DBC13049

Ten Miles from Aspen: Life at the Lodge in the 60s And 70s
Author: Joanne Brand
Narrator: Dee Miller
The true story of the author’s experience on a guest ranch high in the Rocky Mountains during the 1960s and ’70s. With a self-proclaimed appreciation and love for the Rocky Mountains, Brand exposes the other side of the world-renowned ski resort of Aspen, Colorado — not all glitz and glamour, but the year-round struggles of rustic mountain living against the backdrop of an exploding new culture sweeping the country. 2010. Adult Non-Fiction. DBC13050

Molly’s House: Colorado Women’s Suffrage
Author: Joanne Brand
Narrator: Joanne Rudoff
Molly McMurphy, a young widow, was trying to find her way without her husband and no income in the silver mining town of Caribou, Colorado. She joined the suffrage movement and received insults and threats, but Molly’s fear did not stop her from fighting for her right to vote. 2018. Adult Fiction. DBC13052

The Cat Who Cried for Help: Attitudes, Emotions, and the Psychology of Cats
Author: Nicholas H. Dodman
Narrator: Tom Moran
Dr. Dodman discusses how minor adjustments in diet, exercise regimen, and environment can effect dramatic breakthroughs in resolving almost any feline problem. 1997. Adult Non-Fiction. DBC13062

Christmas with My Cowboy
Authors: Diana Palmer, Lindsay McKenna, Margaret Way
Narrator: Stephanie Briggs
From the snowy, wind-whipped American prairie to the remote Australian Outback, a cowboy’s loving kiss makes Christmas merry and bright. This collection includes three romantic holiday stories. Some explicit descriptions of sex and some strong language. 2017. Adult Fiction. DBC13064

The Little Red Fort
Author: Brenda Maier
Narrator: Shawn Hertel
Ruby’s mind is always full of ideas. One day, she finds some old boards and decides to build something. She invites her brothers to help, but they just laugh. When she creates a dazzling fort that they all want to play in, it is Ruby who has the last laugh. Chosen as the 2020 One Book Colorado book. For preschool – grade 2. 2018. Children’s Fiction. DBC13141

El Fuertecito Rojo (The Little Red Fort)
Narrator: Olga Carrion
Spanish Language. DBC13142

The Very Impatient Caterpillar
Author: Ross Burach
Narrator: Shawn Hertel
A tongue-in-cheek exploration of metamorphosis featuring an impatient, but funny, caterpillar. Includes facts about how caterpillars transform into butterflies. A One Book Colorado finalist in 2020. For preschool – grade 2. 2019. Children’s Fiction. DBC13143

La Oruga Muy Impaciente (The Very Impatient Caterpillar)
Narrator: Olga Carrion
Spanish Language. DBC13144

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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.

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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.

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AmazonSmileFriends of CTBL Logo

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!

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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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Logo for the Colorado State Library Logo for the Friends of CTBLLogo for the Institute for Museum and Library Services

 

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.

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