Spring is here!  I am hopeful when I walk out to my car at night and see tiny blue flowers peeking out of the flower beds near our building.

The library staff has been busy putting their minds to work and planning for our Summer Reading program. Summer will be here before we know it! We are excited to try some new programs and “Read Beyond the Beaten Path!”

The library offers many services.  If you have a question about something, do not hesitate to contact us. Our Talking Book and Braille Service program is a hidden gem at our Library.  This program helps the visually impaired and the physically handicapped. 

“The Talking Book and Braille Service provides a tax-supported audio and braille library service via mail or digital download to any Illinois resident who is unable to read standard print material due to a permanent or temporary visual or physical disability. The Library of Congress provides free braille and audiobooks and playback equipment.  More than 154,000 titles — some in foreign languages — are available, including bestsellers, light fiction, westerns, classics and nonfiction. Over 100 magazine titles are also available with new titles continually added to the collection. More than 16,000 patrons in Illinois will read nearly 700,000 books this year. Anyone who is permanently or temporarily unable to hold or read regular print material comfortably due to a physical or visual disability is eligible for the service, regardless of age. Registered patrons also may borrow descriptive videos and old-time radio shows” (https://www.ilsos.gov/publications/pdf_publications/ld_bph2.pdf).

The player and digital books look like the picture shown (https://www.loc.gov/nls/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/PrototypeDTB2.jpg). We have examples of the players and books at the library for you to examine.  We also have applications for you to fill out and take to your physician to sign. Once this information is signed and sent in you will be all set to choose your books and be ready to start listening. These digital books are mailed to you and returned at no cost to you.  

“My parents were always avid readers. When my dad’s eyesight no longer allowed him to continue reading it was a sad realization. Thanks to our conversation one day at the library, he was able to go on enjoying a good book with the help of the State of Illinois Talking Book and Braille Service which serves the blind or print disabled which you introduced us to. With your help he was able to get the player and start receiving audio books. We were able to help dad choose from the collection of over 70,000 audio books from a bi-monthly publication that was mailed to him. Besides books, they also have magazines and music scores that they continually add to which can also be downloaded now and are available in a range of formats. I cannot convey how pleasing this option was for my dad. I am always wondering how many other people in Rochelle or the surrounding area could benefit from this program but are not aware it exists and that it is even free. Our family is very grateful and we hope that others can benefit from this program as well.” -Janet Stewart, Rochelle.

Come to the library to learn more about this service. “The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” – Albert Einstein (https://darlingquote.com/library-quotes/)  See you soon!

Sarah Flanagan is the director of the Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District.