CONSUMER AND ADVOCACY ADVISORY
COMMITTEE FOR
THE BLIND
Members Not Present: Linda Lewis, Brian Lewis, Jim Shuart, and Representative Verla Insko.
Others Present: Francine Martin, Jim Irvin and Carla Parker
Approval of
Minutes
Motion was made, seconded, and carried to approve the
minutes of
Report of
Entities:
· The new telephone system for
LBPH was installed
o
A third WATS (toll-free) line was installed which is handled by an autoattendant, so when both of the original WATS lines are
busy, the third caller has the option of holding for one of the two RA staff on
phone duty to be free to take their call, or of leaving a list of book number
requests on a voicemail box. Patron
Processing Unit staff will routinely check the book request voicemail box and
enter the requests into the KLAS system.
o
If staffing is short and only one RA is fielding phone calls for the
hour, up to two callers have the ‘hold or place requests on a voicemail box’
options.
o
All supervisors, Volunteer Coordinators, and the Administrative
Assistant now have their own phone numbers.
This alleviates the strain on the three local lines available for
general calls.
o
The general local and toll-free phone numbers remain the same.
o
The majority of staff now have voice-mail
boxes.
o
Local lines now have after-hours voice-mail, so local callers may leave
messages if the library is closed.
o
The new system also has a building-wide speaker function accessible
from any phone.
· The Library will serve as a
site for the Braille Read-In on
· A security system for the
LBPH building has been ordered and should be installed in the next 4
weeks. It should not affect library
users. It will require that staff use an ID card to
enter the building during hours the library is not open to the public. Card readers will be installed at the front
and back doors.
· The library continues
working to prepare for the new digital format coming in 2008 from the National
Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). We hope to purchase digital recording
equipment next year for our local studios.
The locally produced titles will still be produced and circulated on
cassette tape. When the new digital
flash memory cartridge format is finalized in 2008, we would then prepare to
purchase equipment to actually produce the digitally recorded books and
magazines in the new format.
o
Shaun Mason, Information Technology Librarian, and Shawn Faircloth,
Volunteer Coordinator visited NLS in DC to see two of the three NLS recommended
digital recording systems in operation.
They will be visiting the South Carolina LBPH March 14 to see how one of
the systems is in use with volunteers.
o
A justification and request for federal funding for NCLBPH to upgrade
its recording studios and purchase digital recording equipment will be
presented to State Library in mid-April.
· New large print book mailing
bags (800 this year and 873 last year) and descriptive video mailing bags (350
this year) have been purchased and are now in use. While we still have to use some of the older
bags for large print books, the majority of items are now mailed in the new
bags. We hope to get one more order off
this year to completely eliminate the need to use the older bags by this
summer. This is in response to patron
requests for cleaner bags.
· Chris Guthrie began work
January 2006 in the Machine Repair Technician position vacated by Moses Garner.
· The Receptionist position
and the Machine Unit’s Processing Assistant III position vacancies have closed,
and interviews have been conducted.
· Processing Assistant II Suzette Jernigan
in the Circulation Unit accepted a higher level position with another
Department in February. Other unit staff are assisting in the unit, so the circulation of books
has not been adversely affected.
NC Division of
Services for the Blind—Debbie Jackson
Next
week, our agency and DVR will have its first visit from RSA since their
restructuring and closing of the regional offices. This will not be a monitoring visit, but more
of a get-acquainted meeting. The leader
of
We
are very pleased with the rate that the work is progressing on the Cox Dorm and
are hopeful of getting back into the dorm in July and immediately begin work on
the Milsap Dorm.
In
addition to being involved in the Conference on Vision Impairment and Blindness
going on this week, our staff will also be involved in the Braille Literacy Day
on April 1. As with the Conference, the
April 1 event is a join effort on the part of a number of agencies involved in
serving people with vision loss including DPI, Metrolina
Association for the Blind, the Library, GMS and DSB. There will be a number of sites around the
state where people will be reading Braille on April 1 and, hopefully, good
press coverage will be provided for this event.
North Carolina Department of
Public Instruction—Tom Winton
Federal Quota Funds – As of
NCCU-VITP Advisory Board – The Consultant for
Visually Impaired continues to serve as co-chair with Dr. Deborah Hatton on the
NCCU-VITP Advisory Board. NCCU has
agreed to improve its support of the VITP and is hopefully making positive
strides in this effort. It recently hired Julie Bardin
as program director and has several other new strategies planned.
Registration of Legally
Blind –
The Annual Registration of Legally Blind students continues. Official numbers
have not been completed as of this meeting date but will likely be close to
last year’s numbers of 879 legally blind students in regular public schools and
336 students in private non-profit education agencies.
Staff Development
Opportunities – The Exceptional Children Division is offering continuing education
certificates to licensed VI teachers for participating in staff development
activities offered by Orientation & Mobility Services, Inc. The Division is also fielding more than 20
special study institutes this summer, many of which will be appropriate for
teachers of students with visual impairments.
The Lions of North Carolina are continuously looking for ways to help the blind and visually impaired by raising funds and local lions lend their financial support to the their VIP’s by taking them to the VIP Fishing Tournament, Camp Dogwood, etc.
Plans are underway for
Two years ago, the Belk Dormitory was replaced. Currently, we are planning to replace the Shaw-Brown Dorm. If everything goes as scheduled, demolition of that building will begin in October 2006 and the dorm would not be available for the summer session of 2007.
The Foundation is continuing to provide a large number of support and mobility canes.
NC Council of
the Blind—Ron Eller
The Legislative Seminar in
A resolution is being written for the NC General Assembly to declare April of each year “Braille Literacy” month.
A 5-State Leadership Conference is tentatively scheduled for August and it will either be in Atlanta, GA, or Knoxville, TN.
National
Federation of the Blind of North Carolina--
Hazel Staley
Ms. Staley is working with a group of blind people in Vance and Warren counties to organize a chapter.
Fifteen members attended our Washington seminar the first week in February. This is a time when we lobby Congress about issues concerning the blind. Three issues were discussed:
· Congress should require
publishers to produce electronic format
textbooks needed by blind students in higher education. Publishers should also establish a National
Higher Education Center where blind students could receive files and other
printed instructional materials.
· Congress should expand
business and employment opportunities for the blind by enacting the Blind
Individuals’ Business Development and Employment Opportunities Act. This would establish a Federal agency within
the Department of Commerce to administer the Randolph-Sheppard Act and expand
employment for the blind by creating blind business enterprises and employment
for the blind in the awarding of Federal procurement contracts. It would also establish management, work
force, and pay criteria for any Blind Business Enterprise or a Qualified Blind
Employment Enterprise. It would also provide
training and technical assistance to support creation and growth.
· Congress should enact the
Louis Braille Commemorative Coin Act and make this coin available in 2009, the
anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth.
Proceeds from this coin would promote braille
literacy among young blind people by teaching them to read and write braille.
The
program is continuing to do well. Gross
sales are about $13 million with 84 operators.
Average operator income is approximately $40,000 which is the national
average. BE’s
annual training conference was held in Rocky Mount and went very well.
The
Elected Committee of Blind Vendors voted to establish a David Alexander Service Award. Tim Jones was the recipient this year.
Adjournment of
Meeting
With
no further business, a motion was made, seconded, and carried that the meeting
be adjourned. The meeting adjourned at
2:00. The next meeting is scheduled for
June
9, 2006 at 1 p.m.
Respectfully
Submitted
Ron
Eller, Vice Chairman
Consumer
and Advocacy Advisory Committee for the Blind