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Category: Washington Talking Book and Braille Library

Voters’ Pamphlet accessible to voters living with disabilities

Voters’ Pamphlet accessible to voters living with disabilities

WTBBL narrator Rachel Glass records text from this year’s Voters’ Pamphlet. (Photo courtesy WTBBL) This year’s statewide General Election Voters’ Pamphlet will be mailed out soon to more than 3 million Washington households. The largest edition, at nearly 300 pages, will take even the most patient reader a long time to get through it cover to cover. For Washington voters living with disabilities, trying to read a printed edition of the Voters’ Pamphlet can be an impossible task. Every single…

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WTBBL starts to record audio books in Spanish

WTBBL starts to record audio books in Spanish

Francisco Díaz, WTBBL’s first Spanish audio book narrator. (Photo courtesy of WTBBL) The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library provides comprehensive services to Washington residents unable to read standard print materials. There are many Washingtonians for whom English is not their first language and who may also be unable to read print due to blindness, visual impairment, physical disability, or a reading disability. WTBBL has more than 150 patrons borrowing Spanish language audio books, but the 2014 U.S. Census Bureau…

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Wyman names Cindy Aden as new WA State Librarian

Wyman names Cindy Aden as new WA State Librarian

Secretary of State Kim Wyman has named Cindy Altick Aden as director of the Washington State Library. Aden will take the helm next month of one of the state’s oldest cultural institutions, dating back more than 160 years when it was created by the state’s first territorial governor, Isaac Stevens. Aden has an extensive background in public libraries and the private sector, including stints at Amazon, Corbis, and community newspapers. She is a graduate of Stanford University and the University…

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Supporters can GiveBIG to WTBBL!

Supporters can GiveBIG to WTBBL!

Supporters of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library have a chance to put their money where their hearts are by donating to WTBBL during the Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG campaign Tuesday. GiveBIG is the one-day, online charitable giving event for King County nonprofits, where each gift is “stretched” to receive a percentage of a matching fund pool. You can GiveBIG to WTBBL by clicking here.  Can’t donate online or have questions? Call David Tuesday at (206) 615-0417 or (800) 542-0866…

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WTBBL hosting adapted gaming lab March 12

WTBBL hosting adapted gaming lab March 12

Students at Washington State School for the Blind play with gaming lab items. (Photo courtesy of Marian Mays/WTBBL) The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library is hosting an adapted gaming lab event for teens ages 13-18 this Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. WTBBL is located at 2021 – 9th Ave. in downtown Seattle. The gaming lab is free and geared toward teens with visual or physical impairments. Pizza will be provided. “This will be a really fun event,” said…

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WTBBL’s teen patrons to benefit from grant

WTBBL’s teen patrons to benefit from grant

WTBBL youth services librarian Marian Mays outside the library. (Photo courtesy WTBBL) Marian Mays, the new youth services librarian at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library in Seattle, soon will have some serious coin on hand to help her and WTBBL serve its teen patrons even better. Mays is one of 20 recipients selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants to receive a 2016 Teen Tech Week Grant. The grants come from Best Buy and the Young…

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Library tourney: Thompson photo collection cruises

Library tourney: Thompson photo collection cruises

One of J.W. Thompson’s photos. (Photo courtesy of Washington State Library) J.W. Thompson’s photo collection of Washington in the 1950s and ’60s easily advanced to the quarterfinals of the Library Jewels tourney after crushing the photos of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library’s “turntable” room, 73 percent to 27 percent. The Thompson photos will meet a 1784 chart of the Northwest coast in the quarterfinals next week. Our seventh first-round game, which matches a book on Washington’s hops culture…

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Library tourney Game 6: Thompson photo collection vs. WTBBL “turntable” room photos

Library tourney Game 6: Thompson photo collection vs. WTBBL “turntable” room photos

It’s time for Game 6 of the Library Jewels tourney. This first-round matchup features a collection of photographs and slides of Washington, taken by J.W. Thompson between 1950 and 1968, up against photos of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library’s “turntable” room, which is now the library’s children’s room in the front of the building. You can vote for your favorite using the online poll below. The poll closes Wednesday at 9 a.m., so vote before it’s too late….

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Library tourney: 1910 NW WA photo album advances

Library tourney: 1910 NW WA photo album advances

Game 2 of our Library Jewels tourney is history, as the 1910 photo album of northwestern Washington advanced to the second round of the tourney after defeating the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library’s Ray Charles connection, 60 percent to 40 percent. Our next tourney game, between aerial photos of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption and the book entitled “Marine Mammals of the Northwest Coast of North America,” starts Thursday afternoon, so watch for it.

Library tourney Game 2: WTBBL-Ray Charles connection vs. 1910 pix of NW WA

Library tourney Game 2: WTBBL-Ray Charles connection vs. 1910 pix of NW WA

It’s time for Game 2 of the Library Jewels tourney. This matchup features the connection between the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library and music legend Ray Charles vs. a 1910 photo album of northwestern Washington. The online poll for Game 2 is open below, so take a moment to vote before the poll closes Thursday at 9 a.m. WTBBL/Ray Charles connection 1910 photo album of NW Washington [poll id=”68″]