[bookport] FW: Action alert: Urgent-please call toll free-NLS digital books
- From: "Becky Barnes" <bbarnes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <juno-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:36:04 -0400
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2007 4:35 PM
Please pass on...
Action Alert! Please Call Toll-Free and/or Make Contact Today! Full
$76.4
Million Needed to Digitize the Talking Book Service
Dear ACBNY Advocate,
This Action Alert was written by Lisa Helen Hoffman and Pratik Patel who
urge you to please take action!
The Library of Congress asked Congress to appropriate about $76.4
million,
over the next four years, to digitize the NLS Talking Book Service.
This
request was addressed by the House Subcommittee on the Legislative
Branch,
and their recommendation to the full Committee on Appropriations will
include $7.5 million to the Library of Congress for the implementation
of
the digital talking book program by NLS.
This budget item will be brought before the Appropriations Committee on
Tuesday, June 12. Your calls and letters are of the utmost importance.
The last item on this message is an alphabetical list of all the
Appropriations Committee members along with their contact information.
Please contact the Washington, DC office of your Congresswoman or
Congressman, along with the representatives from New York who are on the
full APPROPRIATIONS Committee, and give her/him the following message:
1. The Library of Congress needs the full $76.4 million in order to
complete the project of digitizing the Talking Book Service over the
next
four years. $7.5 million is simply not enough. NLS needs $19.1 million
this year, and for the following 3 years, to finish this job.
2. Since the tape players that are currently used are no longer being
manufactured, and cassette tapes are obsolete, the Talking Book Service
must
be digitized. People who are blind or visually impaired can not use off
the
shelf technology because the presence of touch screens and the absence
of
Braille and/or tactile labels make commercially available players
impossible
for people who are blind or visually impaired to operate.
3. Let her/him know how important this service is to you and that you
rely
on the Talking Book service for your reading material.
For more background information on this issue, this message includes a
message and a letter from Melanie Brunson, Executive Director of ACB
National, along with the May 30, 2007 Washington Post article.
To reach your Congresswoman or Congressman toll-free, call the Capitol
switchboard at 1-888-281-0661 or You can find your representatives by
zip
code at
http://www.vote-smart.org
Call or contact the representatives immediately!
Together we can make a difference!
Lisa Helen Hoffman
Pratik Patel
Background Information
Message to the Membership of ACB from Melanie Brunson, Executive
Director of
ACB National
Hello All,
Just wanted to give you a quick progress report. The House Subcommittee
on
the Legislative Branch marked up its funding bill today. Their
recommendation
to the full Committee on Appropriations will include $7.5 million to the
Library of Congress for the implementation of the digital talking book
program
by NLS. This is less than half of the amount requested by NLS. The
subcommittee chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (d-fl) stated that the
bill
will also
include language giving the Librarian discretion to move some funds from
other sources if it is deemed appropriate to fund this program. However,
it
is
not clear whether this discretion would also allow the Librarian to take
funds from NLS to fund something else. As of this writing, the actual
legislative
language is not available, but this is a question we will have to look
into.
The full Appropriations Committee will probably consider this bill
within a
week or so. That means we have some work to do. Members of Congress,
especially
House members on the Appropriations Committee, need to know how
important
the talking book program is to the blind community. Please contact your
representative
if you have not already done so. The transition to digital talking books
is
not just a nice thing to do to provide more bells and whistles that
appeal
to techies. It is a necessity because the cassette players currently in
use
are no longer being manufactured. The entire industry is phasing out the
cassette.
It is only a matter of time before something has to be done anyway that
will
enable NLS to adapt to industry trends. Please help us support the
continued
availability of talking books for the blind. If you have any questions,
please contact me either by email, or by calling the ACB national
office.
Melanie Brunson
******************
Letter to: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chair, House Subcommittee on
the
Legislative Branch from Melanie Brunson, Executive Director of ACB
National
June 5, 2007
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chair, House Subcommittee on the
Legislative
Branch
118 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Via Fax (202) 225-8456
Dear Rep. Wasserman Schultz,
I am writing on behalf of the American Council of the Blind to urge you
to
grant the appropriation requested by the National Library Service for
the
Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) to fund their transition to
digital
talking book production. Our organization represents tens of thousands
of
blind and visually impaired individuals from every state in the union.
Our
members rely on reading material provided by NLS for a wide variety of
reasons, including
professional development, education, information to aid in their civic
participation, as well as entertainment. It is vital to the interests of
the
blind community throughout this country that this program be preserved.
To
accomplish this, it is necessary that the technology used to produce and
distribute talking books be brought into the 21st century.
We have followed the deliberations of NLS over the course of the past
several years during which the plan to transition to digital talking
books
was developed. In fact, members of our organization participated
directly in
the creation and implementation of these plans as future consumers of
the
digital talking
book program. We are impressed and pleased by the level of consumer
involvement used by NLS in developing the proposed digital system. We
are
confident that the technology that has been chosen for future
distribution
of talking books, and the proposed implementation schedule, will
effectively
meet the needs
of their blind and visually impaired patrons for decades to come.
We are aware that a recent report issued by the Government
Accountability
Office has generated some controversy regarding the proposed solution
NLS
has adopted for digital talking books. We wish to suggest that this
report
appears to be significantly flawed both in its presentation of fact and
its
conclusions.
We believe that Congress has not been well served by this analysis and
hope
you will disregard it.
The technology is recognized by industry experts as solid and, unlike
similar "off-the-shelf" digital technology, is readily usable by blind
and
visually impaired people of all ages and abilities. Such usability by a
diverse population with widely varying capabilities is absolutely
essential
to the integrity of this program.
We have been awaiting this transition for some time. Please do not make
us
wait any longer. Please authorize the appropriation requested by the
National Library Service for the digital talking book program.
If you require any additional information about this issue, please do
not
hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Melanie Brunson, Executive Director
Cc: Frank Kurt Cylke, National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically
Handicapped
*************************
Washington Post Article
Congress should fund the digitization of a vital audio library for the
blind.
Congress should fund the digitization of a vital audio library for the
blind.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
A HALF-MILLION Americans stand in danger of losing their public library.
They are the nation's blind, and their library is Talking Books, through
which
the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of
the
Library of Congress (NLS) provides 500,000 Americans with free audio
recordings
of about as many books. Unlike the "books on tape" that are sold at
retail
bookstores, these recordings are unabridged, extensive and diverse
-- and are designed for people who have no other way of reading print.
Unfortunately, today's Talking Books technology is ready to meet its
maker.
The program currently uses half-speed audiotapes that patrons listen to
on
special
devices. These tape players, like the Talking Books record players that
preceded them, are obsolete, and are no longer even being manufactured.
To
bring
the program into the 21st century, the NLS hopes to digitize its entire
library and create new players. It has spent 17 years researching,
building
and
testing new products, and it is ready to manufacture a fully accessible
flash-drive player. The Library of Congress has asked Congress to
appropriate about
$76.4 million to produce the players and digitize thousands more books.
A forthcoming Government Accountability Office report, however, may
derail
the NLS's plans. In a draft version of the report completed several
weeks
ago,
the GAO faulted the NLS for not considering existing commercial products
such as CD players and iPods instead of creating a new device. This
sounds
like
a reasonable concern, given tales of exorbitant government spending on
$792
doormats and $400 hammers. But creating special, noncommercial players
is
crucial
to the continued existence of Talking Books. Commercially available
products, which often use visual screens and are not labeled in Braille,
are
not accessible
to the visually impaired. More important, to comply with U.S.
copyright law, Talking Books can record and distribute only audio books
that
cannot be played by commercial devices.
Should the GAO keep this misguided criticism in its final report,
lawmakers
should not be swayed by it. Instead, Congress should fully fund Talking
Books'
digital upgrade, a project that will grant many disabled Americans the
same
literary access afforded to the sighted.
SOURCE: Washington Post
**Thanks to our friends at Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation for
sending us this article**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*************************
House Committee on Appropriations
Full Committee - June 7, 2007
FL D, Schultz, Rep Debbie Wasserman, 202-225-7931
(alphabetical by state)
AL D, Cramer, Rep Robert E. Bud, Jr., 202-225-4801
AL R, Aderholt, Rep Robert B., 202-225-4876
AR D, Berry, Rep Marion, 202-225-4076
AZ D, Pastor, Rep Ed, 202-225-4065
CA D, Farr, Rep Sam, 202-225-2861
CA D, Honda, Rep Mike, 202-225-2631
CA D, Lee, Rep Barbara, 202-225-2661
CA D, Roybal-Allard, Rep Lucille, 202-225-1766
CA D, Schiff, Rep Adam, 202-225-4176
CA R, Calvert, Rep Ken, 202-225-1986
CA R, Lewis, Rep Jerry, 202-225-5861
CT D, DeLauro, Rep Rosa L., 202-225-3661
FL D, Boyd, Rep F. Allen, 202-225-5235
FL R, Crenshaw, Rep Ander, 202-225-2501
FL R, Weldon, Rep Dave, 202-225-3671
FL R, Young, Rep C. W. Bill, 202-225-5961
GA D, Bishop, Rep Sanford D., Jr., 202-225-3631
GA R, Kingston, Rep Jack, 202-225-5831
IA R, Latham, Rep Tom, 202-225-5476
ID R, Simpson, Rep Mike, 202-225-5531
IL D, Jackson, Rep Jesse L., Jr., 202-225-0773
IL R, Kirk, Rep Mark Steven, 202-225-4835
IL R, LaHood, Rep Ray, 202-225-6201
IN D, Visclosky, Rep Peter J., 202-225-2461
KS R, Tiahrt, Rep Todd, 202-225-6216
KY D, Chandler, Rep Ben, 202-225-4706
KY R, Rogers, Rep Hal, 202-225-4601
LA R, Alexander, Rep Rodney, 202-225-8490
MA D, Olver, Rep John W., 202-225-5335
MD D, Ruppersberger, Rep C. A. Dutch, 202-225-3061
MI D, Kilpatrick, Rep Carolyn Cheeks, 202-225-2261
MI R, Knollenberg, Rep Joe, 202-225-5802
MN D, McCollum, Rep Betty, 202-225-6631
MO R, Emerson, Rep Jo Ann, 202-225-4404
MS R, Wicker, Rep Roger F., 202-225-4306
MT R, Rehberg, Rep Dennis, 202-225-3211
NC D, Price, Rep David E., 202-225-1784
NJ D, Rothman, Rep Steve, 202-225-5061
NJ R, Frelinghuysen, Rep Rodney P., 202-225-5034
NM D, Udall, Rep Tom, 202-225-6190
NY D, Hinchey, Rep Maurice D., 202-225-6335
NY D, Israel, Rep Steve, 202-225-3335
NY D, Lowey, Rep Nita M., 202-225-6506
NY D, Serrano, Rep Jose E., 202-225-4361
NY R, Walsh, Rep James T., 202-225-3701
OH D, Kaptur, Rep Marcy, 202-225-4146
OH D, Ryan, Rep Tim, 202-225-5261
OH R, Hobson, Rep David L., 202-225-4324
OH R, Regula, Rep Ralph, 202-225-3876
PA D, Fattah, Rep Chaka, 202-225-4001
PA D, Murtha, Rep John P., 202-225-2065
PA R, Peter son, Rep John E., 202-225-5121
RI D, Kennedy, Rep Patrick J., 202-225-4911
TN R, Wamp, Rep Zach, 202-225-3271
TX D, Edwards, Rep Chet, 202-225-6105
TX D, Rodriguez, Rep Ciro D., 202-225-4511
TX R, Carter, Rep John R., 202-225-3864
TX R, Culberson, Rep John, 202-225-2571
TX R, Granger, Rep Kay, 202-225-5071
VA D, Moran, Rep Jim, 202-225-4376
VA R, Goode, Rep Virgil H., Jr., 202-225-4711
VA R, Wolf, Rep Frank R., 202-225-5136
WA D, Dicks, Rep Norm, 202-225-5916
WI D, Obey, Rep David R., Chair, 202-225-3365
WV D, Mollohan, Rep Alan B., 202-225-4172
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