CONSUMER AND
ADVOCACY ADVISORY
Minutes of
Chairman Tim Jones called the meeting of the Consumer and
Advocacy Advisory Committee for the Blind to order at
Members
Not Present: Linda Lewis, Brian Lewis,
Jennifer Talbot, Brad Logsdon, and Steve Walker.
Others
Present: Debbie Jackson, Carla Parker,
Jim Irvin,
Francine Martin, Angela McCants, and Kathy Brack.
Invocation
was offered by Ms. Hazel Staley.
Motion
was made, seconded, and carried to approve the minutes of
Report of Entities:
· The LBPH federal LSTA
(Library Services and Technology Act) grant proposal for approximately $147,000
to purchase new studio recording booths and digital recording and storage
equipment has been approved. Funding
will be available after
· New carpet will be installed
in June 2006, starting about June 6 and taking the rest of the month to
complete. The Public Access PC at NCLBPH
will not be available during the carpet installation, as staff will be shifted
to such available PCs in other areas to continue to provide service to our
patrons. The public access PCs at State
Library at
· A new reception station will
be installed in June 2006, replacing the hodge-podge of various pieces and
finishes of furniture currently comprising the reception station.
· A security system for the
LBPH building has been installed. It has
not affected library users. It requires
that staff use an ID card to enter the building during hours the library is not
open to the public. Card readers are
installed at the front and back doors.
· The second order for more
new large print book mailing bags was completed. The old large print bags are no longer in
use. This is in response to patron
complaints about the poor condition of the old mailing bags.
· Braille is now being mailed
in collapsible mailing containers with Velcro enclosures to all Braille
users. We are working to completely
discontinue use of the large hard Braille mailing containers as soon as
possible. This will be dependent on
continued availability of the collapsible containers to us from the NLS
MultiState Centers. We are making this
change in response to patron complaints about the unwieldy size and
non-user-friendly container straps of the old Braille mailing containers.
· All LBPH librarians and the
Volunteer Director attended the National Conference of Librarians Serving Blind
and Physically Handicapped Individuals in
o
Gary Ray presided over the role call of the states and served on a
user’s panel and on a panel about Friends groups.
o
NLS described the pilot project for digital book downloading to begin
this year. Approximately 100-150 patrons
will participate and provide input to NLS.
o
NLS described the new digital players as charcoal gray, about half the
size of the current C1 machine and lighter in weight, with tactile control
buttons in differing shapes & contrasting colors. The Humanware website has information on
digital talking book machines they currently offer commercially, including one
that looks a lot like the description provided of the proposed NLS digital
talking book machine. Full production
of the new players is scheduled to begin 2008.
o
The flash memory cards will be about the size of a cassette tape only a
little thinner. They will be trapezoid
shaped and will fit in the digital player only one way.
· The Automation Librarian and
Regional Librarian attended the Preconference on Digital Recording Systems on
April 29.
· The Receptionist position
was filled by Alicia Ossi, who worked 2 months then decided to return to school
for her Masters degree. We plan to
interview again for the position in early June.
· John Friedrich began work
April 17 as Processing Assistant II in the Circulation Unit, in the position
formerly held by Suzette Jernigan.
· Processing Assistant II
Summer Roberts in the Circulation Unit accepted a higher level position with
another Department in April. Kevin Kelly
has been approved to start work in that PA II position at LBPH as of June 15.
National Federation of the
Blind of
The
Louis Braille Commemorative Coin bill has passed the House in Congress and has
70 sponsors in the Senate, including both of
This
summer we will again sponsor a
The
technology center provides evaluation, demonstration, and training with more
than a million and a half dollars worth of tactile and speech technology
available to blind people. The
Kurzweil--National Federation of the Blind Reading Machine will be ready for
marketing in July. It weighs 13 ounces
and is completely portable.
One
of the Federation’s initiatives is to find everyday items (microwave ovens,
washing machines, driers, etc.) that blind people can use. Through much discussion, our concerns have
been made to the producers of these appliances and progress is being made.
The
Federation has also been active in developing voting machines that will enable
blind voters to case secret ballots.
We
are also organizing a Parents of Blind Children Division of the Federation in
North Carolina under the leadership of Lucy Radford, mother of a blind child in
Raleigh.
Newsline
continues to grow in the number of users and in reading time.
The
Federation’s National Convention will be held the first week in July in Dallas,
TX, and our State Convention will be in Fayetteville the second week in September
(September 8-10). Anyone who can attend
either of these events is welcome.
Representative
Linda Coleman joined the meeting.
Representative Coleman introduced herself to the Committee and members
introduced themselves. Representative
Coleman represents primarily the Eastern part of Wake County (Knightdale,
Wendell, Zebulon, a part of Garner, 401 North and the Capital Blvd. area.
Congress
will not vote on the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act and
Rehabilitation Act during this congressional year.
Last
year, the General Assembly appropriated $75,000 for the operation of Newsline
which is in Services for the Blind’s budget.
There is a provision in this year’s budget for Newsline to be funded
again at the same level.
Cox
Dormitory is under renovation and, hopefully, will be finished in August. Plans are to have a computer room and LAN
connection in each room. After Cox is
completed, renovations will begin on the Milsap dorm.
DSB’s
Rehabilitation Program is required to do a needs assessment every three years
and the final report has been received from Mississippi State University Center
on Blindness and Visual Impairment.
North Carolina Department of
Public Instruction—Mr. Winton was not present
but did submit the following report:
North Carolina Conference on
Visual Impairments and Blindness – The 4th annual North Carolina
Conference on Visual Impairments and Blindness was a big success. Around 180
professionals from across the state attended. The Exceptional Children Division
was pleased to continue its sponsorship of this collaborative event.
Federal Quota Funds – As of June 9, 163
separate orders had been placed with APH in the Fiscal Year 2005-06 to procure
instructional materials with Quota Funds.
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.
Registration of Legally
Blind –
The Annual Registration of Legally Blind students has concluded. This year 901
legally blind students in regular public schools and 318 students in private
non-profit education agencies are being registered.
Staff Development
Opportunities – The Exceptional Children Division is offering continuing education
certificates to VI teachers and Orientation & Mobility specialists 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. One
particular institute on Learning Media Assessments is scheduled for June 21-22
in Kinston with the presenter being Dr. Wendy Sapp from Georgia.
56th Conference
on Exceptional Children – The Exceptional Children
Division is hosting the 56th Conference on Exceptional Children on
November 6-7 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. This is the nation’s
largest and longest-running exceptional children conference sponsored by a
state education agency.
Deaf-Blind Conference – The Exceptional Children
Division is sponsoring a national conference on deafblindness in conjunction
with its deaf-blind families conference. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Jan
van Dijk, international deafblindness authority from The Netherlands. The
conference is scheduled for July 21-27 at the Embassy Suites in Greensboro.
Families and teachers of deaf-blind children can attend at virtually no cost
through the sponsorship of the state’s Deaf-Blind Project. For more
information, contact the DPI Deaf-Blind Grant Project Coordinator, Chris Jones,
at 919/807-3991.
RFB&D Project –
The Exceptional Children Division is partnering with the State Textbook
Warehouse to conduct a pilot project for improving provision of recorded
textbooks to students in the state. Thirteen school systems are being provided
with memberships to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), which
will allow them to order digital recordings of state-adopted textbooks directly
from RFB&D for the 2006-07 school year. It is hoped that this direct
ordering method and the improved quality of the recordings over the previous
vendor will prove to be an effective strategy for giving students with print
disabilities (including those with blindness or visual impairments) increased
and more timely access to textbooks. Should this project prove effective, it
may be implemented statewide for the 2007-08 school year. The Consultant for
Visually Impaired is overseeing this project. Included in the pilot project are
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Wake County, Guilford County, Wilkes County, Caldwell
County, Henderson County, Cherokee County, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County,
Cumberland County, New Hanover County, Moore County, Montgomery County and
Gaston County Schools.
North Carolina Council of
the Blind—Ron Eller
Two new chapters have been established--Burke County
and McDowell County.
The National Convention will be in Jacksonville Florida, the second week in July and 28 NC members will attend.
The State Convention will be held the last weekend in September at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux in Fayetteville, NC.
Association for
Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)—Gary Ray
Effective July 1, Gary Ray will be the President of the NC Chapter of AER; Kathy Davis will be Vice-President; Joy Fleming, Secretary; and Nancy Massengill, Treasurer.
The North Carolina Conference on Visual Impairments and Blindness will be held March 22-24, 2007, on the Governor Morehead School Campus. For more information, visit the NC AER website at www.ncaer.net. AER goals for the upcoming year are to re-establish the newsletter, improve the website, and increase membership.
Elected
Committee of Vendors—Tim Jones
The Division trains and employs blind and visually impaired individuals to become self-employed in State, County and Federal buildings. The program has 84 vendors with average earnings over $40,000.
Other:
At the request of Tim Jones, Jim Irvin briefed the committee regarding current Lions Club events.
Last week, Camp Dogwood began the start of its annual summer 12-week program. Camp Dogwood is also in the process of building a new dorm. In September, a Deaf/Blind retreat will be held at Camp Dogwood. Martha Butler was elected Council Chair for the Lions. Over 600 hearing aids and 16,000 mobility canes were furnished to citizens across the State. Several new clubs have been formed that consist of predominately blind individuals—they are at the Raleigh Lions Clinic and in Winston-Salem. The Greensboro workshop is in process of forming a club.
The annual Governor Morehead School Alumni weekend will be held at the Brownstone Hotel July 21-23.
Representative Coleman discussed the Governor’s Vision Care Bill which requires the mandatory vision testing for kindergartners. A couple of changes have been recommended: timeframe changed from 6 months to 1 year; different avenues are being explored regarding money so every child will have access to an eye exam without regard to the ability to pay such as forming partnerships with optometrists.
Old Business
None
New Business
None
Adjournment of
Meeting
With no further business, a motion was made, seconded and carried that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for September 8, 2006 at 1 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted
Tim Jones, Chairman
Consumer and Advocacy Advisory Committee for the Blind