Barrow Regional Medical Center Health Fair

The Barrow Regional Medical Center will be hosting a health fair this Saturday, April 2. The fair will be held in the hospital's atrium and will run from 9am - 12pm. There will be free health screenings, information, and kids' activities.

For more information, please visit their website: www.barrowregional.com

Talking Book Center Move Date Change

In the most recent newsletter, we told you that the Talking Book Center will be temporarily relocating to the Oconee Co. Library during renovations. This is still true, but we will not be moving on April 1. Right now, our target move date is April 18, but this may change. We'll try to keep you up-to-date! Remember, you can always email us at talkingbooks@athenslibrary.org or call us at 1-800-531-2063 if you have any questions!

Health Fair

Delta Sigman Theta Sorority, Inc. will host a health fair in Athens this Saturday. There will be health screenings as well as information about resources in the community. The Talking Book Center will have a table; come by and see us!

Health Fair
Saturday, March 26
9:30am - 1:00pm

Hill Chapel Baptist Church
1692 W. Hancock Ave

Talking Books Open House

The Talking Book Center will be hosting an open house tomorrow, March 25, at 2:30pm. Come by for light refreshments and to say thank you to our wonderful volunteers!

Talking Book Center Open House
Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Talking Books

Friday, March 25
2:30pm

Athens-Clarke Co. Library

TBC Voicemail Working Again

The voicemail in the Talking Book Center has been repaired! Feel free to call us at 1-800-531-2063 with requests or leave us a message.

TBC Voicemail Problems

The voicemail for the Talking Books Center is having some technical difficulties, and has locked us out of the system. The repairman should be here this week, but until it's fixed, we can't check our voicemail. If you don't get an answer when you call, either call back or email us at talkingbooks@athenslibrary.org. Check back for a repair update!

Winder-Barrow Health Fair

Health Fair
Tuesday, March 22
10:00am - 1:00pm

The Church at Winder
546 Treadwell Rd - Bethlehem, GA


FREE:
-Health Screenings
-Door Prizes
-Community Information
-Medicare Assistance
-Snacks and drinks

AND MORE!!!


The Talking Book Center will be hosting a table at this event! Come by and get some great information from lots of local vendors!


Health Fair sponsored by the Athens Council on Aging and the Northeast Georgia Area Agency on Aging.

Project Independence

The following is an email from Kay McGill, the manager of Project Independence:

Are you or is someone you know at least 55 years of age and experiencing vision loss or a combined vision and hearing loss?

Project Independence could help.

This vision program for seniors is administered by the Georgia Department of Labor/Vocational Rehabilitation Program and provides services that can help you remain independent, including:

* Low vision exams by qualified professionals to assess your needs
* Skills training in your home community by certified rehabilitation specialists
* Mobility training by certified instructors
* Support groups that offer opportunities to learn from and interact with peers
* Assistive devices such as talking watches, pocket talkers, big button phones and magnifiers
* Funds for seniors to attend and participate in the Camp for the Blind, Camp for the Deaf-Blind, Helen Keller National Center, Confident Living Program, and the Albany Center for the Blind.
* Training for groups and/or individuals on living with vision loss and topics such as handwriting, laundry, recreation, labeling, Braille and computer training.

Georgia Department of Labor/Vocational Rehabilitation contracts with Project Independence Service Providers throughout the state.

Contact Kay McGill, Manager, Project Independence: Georgia Vision Program for Seniors, 404-638-5208 or kay.mcgill@dol.state.ga.us for more detailed information and referral.

Directions For Me

Horizons for the Blind, a non-profit organization that strives to improve quality of life for the blind and visually-impaired, now provides a service called "Directions For Me".

The following text is taken from their website, found at www.directionsforme.org:

Welcome to Directions for me (TM) , your one stop source for accessible packaging information. Directions provides the information that’s on consumer packages or labels in a simple online format for anyone who has trouble reading the small print including people who are blind or visually impaired.

This site provides a consistent, quality source of complete packaging information for everything from preparation or cooking instructions to ingredient lists to Nutrition and Drug Facts labels for many common grocery, health and beauty and general merchandise products. In addition, it also provides, potentially life-saving, allergy and drug interaction warnings.

For those watching their carbohydrates (carbs), fat, sodium or cholesterol intake, Directions provides a user-friendly way to get access to this information. Gaining comprehensive access will foster self sufficiency and allow you to lead a more healthy and independent life.

Directions for me (TM) was designed to be completely accessible with text-to-speech screen readersmagnifiers and braille displays as well as web-enabled cell phones. This information is presented in a uniform, easy-to-use format and eliminates features that hinder accessibility.

Regardless of the product or brand, all packaging information is formatted and displayed the same way. Users will be able to access this data exactly the same way, every time and will no longer have to search a variety of sites with different formats and varying levels of accessibility. The site remains current by utilizing a database that is continually added to and updated.

For more information about Horizons for the Blind and the work they do, please visit their direct website: www.horizons-blind.org

Talking Book Center Open House

Talking Books Turn 80!

In recognition of the 80th anniversary of the Talking Books program, the Talking Book Center is hosting an Open House and Volunteer Recognition. Come by and thank our volunteers for the many, many hours they have put in!

Volunteers rewind cassette books, clean and repair cassette players, record newspapers, put labels on newsletters, and do it all with a smile!

Talking Books Open House
Friday, March 25
2:30pm

Talking Book Center
Athens-Clarke Co. Library

For more information, please call 1-800-531-2063.

NFB Writing Contest

Below is a press release from NFB:

2011 NFB Writing Contest

The annual youth and adult writing contests sponsored by the Writers’ Division of the NFB, opened January 1st and will close April 1st.

Adult contests, poetry, fiction and non-fiction, are open to all entrants eighteen years and over.

The youth contests are to promote Braille literacy and all poetry and fiction entries are required to be submitted in Braille. The age groups are divided into three categories: first through sixth grades, seventh and eighth grades, and ninth through twelfth grades.

Prizes for contest winners range up to $100 for adult categories and up to $25 for youth categories.

All contest winners will be announced at the Writers’ Division business meeting during the NFB national convention to be held in Orlando, Florida, the first week of July, 2011. In addition, shortly after convention, a list of winners will appear on the Writers’ Division Website, www.nfb-writers-division.org. First, second, and third place winners in each category may be published in the Writers’ Division magazine, “Slate & Style.”

For additional contest details and submission guidelines, go to the Writers’ Division Website, www.nfb-writers-division.org.

Family Afternoon at the (Described) Movies

Have you used the descriptive video collection at the Talking Book Center yet? If you haven't, here's a chance to see one on the big screen!

Tomorrow, we will host our monthly program "Family Afternoon at the (Described) Movies". This month's film is "Shrek". The film contains the narration track that makes it accessible to low-vision viewers, but everyone is welcome!

Hope to see you there!

Family Afternoon at the (Described) Movies
Tuesday, March 8
3:00pm

Athens-Clarke Co. Library Auditorium

Blind Video Gamer

MSNBC.com recently ran an article about a blind video gamer who uses sound cues within the game to play. With this technique, he can play some games almost flawlessly.

To read the article, please visit: ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/23/6118316-blind-man-plays-video-game-flawlessly.

Blind Driver Challenge on The Today Show

Here is an email from NFB about their Blind Driver Challenge:

Blind Driver Challenge™ to Appear on NBC’s Today Show!



The National Federation of the Blind’s groundbreaking Blind Driver Challenge™ initiative will be featured on NBC’s Today on Sunday, March 6! Tune in to see Mark Riccobono talk about the recent historic developments of the Blind Driver Challenge™, including the public demonstration in which he drove a car equipped with a nonvisual interface, successfully and independently navigating the road course section of the famed Daytona International Speedway.



On Sundays Today is typically aired live on NBC from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, but please check your local listings. You will not want to miss the NFB Blind Driver Challenge™ on Today, the biggest morning news and talk show in America!