919 News Spring 2003 - Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped - Free Library of Philadelphia
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Free Library of Philadelphia
Skip Menus   Catalog   Contact Us   Main Page  
Overview

Eligibility

Application

Hours and Holidays

Directions

NLS Union Catalog

Web Braille

Descriptive Videos

Magazine List

Access Technology

Volunteer Information

Friends of LBPH

919 News

Adult Education Program

National Exhibit of Blind Artists

Disability Resources and Web Sites

Highlights from 919 News INSIDER March / April 2004

  
WEB BRAILLE MAGAZINES

Web Braille is a free web based service that in addition to braille books provides all braille magazines produced by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

Copyright laws require that access to Web Braille be limited to NLS patrons and eligible institutions such as schools for the blind, public and private schools serving blind children and nonprofit organizations whose primary purpose is the production of braille books.

To register for Web Braille please call us at 800-222-1754 or 215-683-3213.


ELECTRONIC RESOURCES AT LIBRARIES

Free access to some full text databases, the Internet, and word processing are available for individuals with visual impairments. There is a charge for printing or braille embossing. There is also a nominal charge for a computer diskette if you would like to save your documents for future updates.

In addition to the workstations at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, the following branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia have Access Technology Workstations. An appointment is recommended.

Andorra Branch-215-685-2552

Central Library-215-686-5322

Independence Branch-215-685-1633

Joseph E. Coleman/Northwest Regional 215-685-2150

Northeast Regional Library-215-685-0500

South Philadelphia Branch-215-685-1866

Lucien Blackwell/West Philadelphia Regional 215-685-7424


SLATE PALS

Slate Pals is a pen pal program for braille reading students who want to write and receive braille letters from other students. Students can specify the quantity, age range and the gender preference of prospective slate pals. The program is sponsored by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. You may contact them at dkent@ripco.com or Slate Pals, 5817 North Nian, Chicago, IL 60631.


NLS MAGAZINES FOR CHILDREN IN BRAILLE

Boys' Life: Muse; Seventeen; Spider; and Stone Soup Are magazines available free to you through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). If you would like more information or if you are interested in receiving any of these magazines, please contact us by phone, by email or by fax. Please remember to include your name and address.


NLS MAGAZINES FOR CHILDREN ON CASSETTE

Cricket/National Geographic World; Spider; Sports Illustrated for Kids; Teen People; and Young Adult Magazine of the Month are magazines available free to you through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). If you would like more information or if you are interested in receiving any of these magazines, please call us toll free at 800-222-1754; or local at 215-683-3213. You may email us at flpblind@library.phila.gov or fax us at 215-683-3211. Please remember to include your name and address.


CALLING ALL DYSLEXIC STUDENTS

The Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH) also serves those with a medically certified reading disability or print handicap, such as dyslexia. While the Library does not provide textbooks, we do have many school required reading on tape, for a student who might chooses to write a book report for credit or extra credit. Our books on tape are recorded at a slower speed than commercial books on tape and are on four tracks. The Library provides for free the required tape player to those registered with the Philadelphia LBPH. For more information or for an application for library service, please call 215-683-3213; 800-222-1754 or email us at flpblind@library.phila.gov.

We have many "literary classics" on tape that appear on school reading lists such as Crane's Red Badge of Courage; Shakespeare's plays and sonnets; Poems and Prose of Pushkin; Melville's Moby Dick; Bronte's Jane Eyre; Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter; Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame; James' The American; Austen's Pride and Prejudice; Voltaire's Candide; Dumas' Three Musketeers; Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Ellison's Invisible Man; Works of Plato and Socrates; Moliere's Misanthrope; and any many more.

For your textbooks on tape however, you must register with Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. You may contact them by phone 800-221-4792; by fax: 609-987-8116 or visit their website at www.rfbd.org


SUMMER READING CLUB, 2004

Hello Children and Teen Readers,

Please stay tuned for more information in our next issue about the theme and prizes for the 2004 FLP/Summer Reading Club. Susan Horvath, LBPH Braille Technician will be waiting to hear all about your summer reading endeavors at 800-222-1754, 215-683-3213 or email flpblind@library.phila.gov.


THE LIBRARY IS OPEN MONDAY -FRIDAY 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

919 NEWS Insider for Children and Teens is published by the Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Free Library of Philadelphia. It is available in large print, cassette and in braille. Call the Library for the braille or cassette version at 215-683-3213 (in Philadelphia) or toll free at 800-222-1754. We welcome news and comments from our readers.

You may contact us my mail, fax, telephone or email. We are located at 919 Walnut Street (first floor), Philadelphia, Pa 19107; (fax) 215-683-3211; (toll free) 800-222-1754 or (local) 215-683-3213; and flpblind@library.phila.gov