List of programs offered by The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS). Each of the section header is a link to the NLS webpage that will provide additional information about that program.

Patron Corner

Presented the second Monday of the third month of the quarter, shares specific information of interest to patrons regarding an announced topic. More information is availble on the NLS website: Patron Corner webpage

• March 13, 2023: Recorded program: Locally Produced Books - Building a Collection That Is Personal to You

• December 12, 2022: Recording not yet available: Do You Here What I Hear: The NLS Music Section Is Not Just for Musicians

• September 19, 2022: Recorded program - Narration: The Art of Telling the Story

• June 13, 2022: Recorded program - Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Collection Selection, but Did Not Have the Vehicle to Ask

Many Faces of BARD

This program will occur on the second Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. It will last for one hour and will cover one aspect of BARD (the Braille and Audio Reading Download) usage. Each program will start with a brief presentation. The remainder of the time will be spent answering questions about the presentation or other questions related to BARD usage. NLS will announce the topic for the next presentation at the end of each program. More information is available on the NLS website: Many Faces of BARD webpage

• June 8, 2023 - BARD: Advanced Search Tips from an Expert
  The program will begin at 7:00 p.m. eastern time and last for one hour. This program will be recorded. The session can be joined by going to https://loc.zoomgov.com/j/1612807633?pwd=bG9TSXdYTG5oaWxlclg2bGtxM2k3QT09. The complete Zoom invitation on the Many Faces of BARD Webpage

• May 11, 2023 - BARD: Fire Tablets Do Work. A recording is available at: May 2023 event on MP3

• April 13, 2023 - BARD: Open Access. A recording is available at: April 2023 event on MP3

• March 9, 2023 - BARD on the Braille eReader. A recording is available at: March 2023 event on MP3

• February 9, 2023 - BARD Express. A recording is available at: February 2023 event on MP3

• January 12, 2023 - How You Can Help Us Help You - Working Together with BARD Tech Support. A recording is available at: January 2023 event on MP3

• December 8, 2022 - Account settings and passwords. A recording is available at: December 2022 event on MP3

• November 10, 2022 - New Features in BARD Mobile 2.0 for iOS. A recording is available at: November 2022 event on MP3

• September 8, 2022 - covered searching and browsing BARD. A recording is available at: September 2022 event on MP3

• August 11, 2022 - provided an overview of all of the available BARD products. A recording is available at: August 2022 event on MP3

Music Notes Meeting

The NLS Music Section is pleased to announce a new music appreciation event for patrons beginning this spring: the quarterly Music Notes Meeting.

In this event, patrons can learn in depth about selected music topics. Each hour-long meeting will begin with a pre-recorded conversation about a topic covered in the NLS Music Notes blog between the blog author and the Music Section Head. A live question-and-answer session with the blog author will follow.

The quarterly Music Notes Meeting will occur on the fourth Tuesday of the first month of each quarter, at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. The 2023 sessions will be on April 25, July 25, and October 24. The April

The topic for April 25 is “Time Out for ‘Take Five.’” Music Section Head Juliette Appold will talk with Music Reader Services Librarian Brian McCurdy about this famous piece of music and its relevance to the NLS Music collection. You can read the original blog here: https://blogs.loc.gov/nls-music-notes/2020/05/song-stories-time-out-for-take-five.

UPDATE: The April 25th session has been postponed. We will repost the new date when it is available.

Braille-on-Demand

As part of its braille modernization initiative, NLS launched the Braille-on-Demand pilot. This project allows active NLS patrons to request and receive up to five hard-copy braille title per month, which they can retain for their personal use.

Braille titles will be limited to books that are currently available on BARD, the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download service. Requests are limited to one book per patron per month. Only complete titles will be distributed. Requests for partial titles (for example, volume one of a three-volume book) will result in receiving the entire book.

The form to request a braille-on-demand book can be found linked from https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NLSbrailleondemand. Patrons may complete the form themselves or contact CTBL for assistance.