00:00
Sophia Magnanini
Oak City Move is a podcast on WKNC's 88.1 FM HT1 Raleigh, where we highlight people and organizations creating positive change in the Triangle and beyond. Oak City Move can be heard on air Every Monday on 88.1 FMHD1 Raleigh, or online at wknc.org to listen to Episodes and more, go to our blog at blog.wknc.org or follow us on SoundCloud @wknc881. Hello, 88.1 WKNC Raleigh. The song you just heard with Sweaty linen by Surf Ninja 3. I'm Sophia Magnanini, your host and you're listening to Oak City Move. Today we are joined by a very special guest, Cathrine Rubin, the director and Regional Librarian at the Library of NC Accessible Books and Library Services.
00:48
Sophia Magnanini
So first off, I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to join me and if we wanted to start off by talking for listeners who may be hearing about accessible books and library services for the first time, what is the program and what does it do for people across North Carolina?
01:06
Cathrine Rubin
Well, thank you so much for having me. This is a free government service that provides books for those who are unable to read standard print, and it serves all 100 North Carolina counties and it serves all ages.
01:23
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. What inspired the creation of this service? But how? Have you kind of seen the mission evolve throughout the years?
01:32
Cathrine Rubin
Yeah, so? Well, it's hard. People may not realize how far back this service goes, but in 1959, North Carolina's library services for the Blind was officially formed under the State Library of North Carolina, and it joined a national library Network through the Library of Congress's National Library Service for the Blind that same year. So it has actually been in North Carolina for 67 years. But our main mission has always been that what the National Library Service says that all may read. So we're both part of the State Library of North Carolina and part of the national network of libraries through the what's now the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, or nls. And our library is now called Accessible Books and Library Services, or abls.
02:32
Cathrine Rubin
And over time, our service expanded the population it serves and the types of materials that we provide. So we really have evolved. We now serve those with print disabilities, and that means people who are blind, visually impaired, people who have physical disabilities that prevent them from holding a book, such as Parkinson's or maybe having a stroke. We also serve people with reading disabilities like dyslexia. And as I mentioned, we serve all ages. So we have children's books as well. We also have institutional accounts for places like schools and public libraries and retirement communities and so on. And we even serve people on a temporary as well as a continuous basis. So if someone has a temporary condition that prevents them from using regular print, they can use our services too.
03:28
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. And I loved how much goes into it and how broad the resources that you guys have and the people that you cater to. It's really great and it must just be feel so amazing to those who do need these types of materials that they can find it with you guys.
03:45
Cathrine Rubin
Yes, it really does make a difference in people's lives.
03:50
Sophia Magnanini
Following up on that, what do these types of materials do you offer? What do they kind of look like and how might they differ from what someone is going to find at a traditional public library?
04:02
Cathrine Rubin
Well, we have what you'd find in a really great public library, but in different formats. So we have thousands of books and over 100 magazines in audio and braille. And we also have over 22,000 large print books and descriptive DVDs which are basically movies that describe what's going on that's not in the dialogue. And also there are other special services as part of our service, such as patrons can get Braille on demand service where the National Library Service brailles up to 5 Paper braille books per month for a patron. And patrons also have access to the NLS's music collections. And they have. It's not the musical recordings, but they have 25,000 audio braille and large print music scores, text and other instructional materials.
05:03
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. And I love how you're mentioning that. It's just everything that you can find at a traditional public library. Like it's. It's no different. And I feel like that probably helps a lot of the people coming in feel less, you know, worried about if they're gonna not find something that they're looking for. So that's really great that you guys have such a broad selection and so many different ways to help make it easier for them to get what they need.
05:31
Cathrine Rubin
Thank you. Yes. And we also, we have North Carolina books and magazines by North Carolina authors or about North Carolina that are actually recorded in our own studios in Raleigh.
05:43
Sophia Magnanini
Oh, I love that. That's so neat. I know you were mentioning earlier how the program is free. How do people learn usually about YALLS services and do they just kind of have to come into the library or contact you guys on the website?
06:02
Cathrine Rubin
Well, there are numerous ways to get in Touch with us. And as I mentioned, we do serve the whole state of North Carolina and we actually do have patrons in every single. We do that in numerous ways when people find out about us, a lot of times through word of mouth. And then also we go to events. We have outreach staff who go to events and they do presentations at public libraries and retirement communities and all kinds of places. And we try to get the word out through. We have a newsletter. And there are numerous ways that people can get in touch with us. They can call, we have a toll free number and we have, of course, email, we have a chat service and we have five full time reader advisors who answer the phones and you can talk to a real person.
07:16
Cathrine Rubin
So we have a lot of different ways people can contact us. And then also of course, a lot of ways that we try to get the word out about us.
07:25
Sophia Magnanini
And when it comes to helping patrons that are in farther away counties, is it a process of you guys sending materials to them or if they request something, what does the process look like for someone to receive something?
07:46
Cathrine Rubin
Right. Well, the first step in getting into our service is to apply for it. That's part of the national networks setup where you have an application. They are working on doing online applications. And we have, you can apply through us at our website and then also through the National Library Service. And basically what they need is, what we need is people's contact information. And then the applications need to be certified by someone who can just say this person does qualify for this service. And the way about getting certification has actually changed a lot to make it a lot easier and simpler. So we can certify the applications if necessary. But also if you have there, we can take social workers certifications or the optometrists, ophthalmologists and also school counselors.
08:57
Cathrine Rubin
And just a lot of different types of people in different professions can sign and certify. But we can also do that here. Also public libraries can certify applications. So there are a lot of ways that can be done. And then once someone signed up with us, then we set them up with their own account. And once they have an account, then we find out how it is they want to get the books. And we actually do most of our business for, you know, physical materials through the mail. So if somebody lives in Wilmington and, you know, we're in Raleigh, well, they would just, they can call us and say, I want a certain book. They can also get set up to get books through the mail based on their preferences.
10:01
Cathrine Rubin
And so there are a lot of different Ways they can get the books, but they can definitely get, you know, the books through the mail. Audiobooks, braille books, the descriptive DVDs, the large print. And also, though with audio and braille books, we do have a downloadable option people can download. And we have special equipment that we send to people. And again, this is all free. And so, like, we have digital players for the audiobooks. We have E Braille readers, special E Braille readers for digital braille. And what that will do is there are these pins, there's a small keyboard, but instead of the letters on the keyboard, you've got pins that move up and down. And the people who read the braille, they can just read the braille right there in real time and it moves around is quite interesting.
11:04
Cathrine Rubin
But anyway, all of this is free. And we loan those out to people for as long as they want to use the service. And so. And then we also send books out free matter, so that there's no cost for sending the books to the patrons. There's also no cost for them to send them back. And all they have to do is flip the mailing label over and put it back in the mail and it comes back to us and then it gets checked in and then we can send them more books.
11:38
Sophia Magnanini
That's amazing how easy the process, how you guys have made it so easy and accessible for so many people, especially with everything being free. And I can only imagine, like with shipping and with mailing stuff, that must be kind of a worry in some people's minds when they're trying to access these different materials. And so it's really cool, the different ways that you're helping make sure that everyone has what they need in the ways that they need it.
12:09
Cathrine Rubin
Yes, well, that's our goal, is to try to make things as simple as possible, so makes it easier for the patrons.
12:16
Sophia Magnanini
What are some common misconceptions that people have about accessible reading services that you wish people understood more?
12:27
Cathrine Rubin
Well, there are a couple of things. One is that we only serve people who are blind and that we would have braille but no other types of books. When, as I mentioned, we serve people with many other disabilities that prevent them from reading regular print. And another misconception is that some think that our book selection is limited. When we actually offer a huge selection of books. We have a very different setup that allows us to give some, provide some very unique collection. We are actually exempt from copyright. And we can get the commercial audiobooks, but there's no need for holds on them. And numerous people can use them at the same time. So it's a totally different setup. And actually just last year alone we got 6231 commercial audio titles. And they include books like C.J.
13:37
Cathrine Rubin
Box's the Crossroads, Michael Connelly's the Proving Ground, John Grisham's The Widow, David McCullough's History Matters and so on. So, you know, we get a wide variety of books and I think they're, you know, very current things. We have 12,252 digital audio titles added to the national collection in the last year, also the last fiscal year. And we actually have a grand total of almost 182,000 digital audiobooks in our collection.
14:16
Sophia Magnanini
Wow.
14:17
Cathrine Rubin
Yeah. And we have 448 physical braille titles were added in the last year. And that's just braille titles. And we have 28,000 physical braille volumes, which can be. You can have several volumes of braille in one title. And then we can also supplement audiobooks or large print books that you find at the public library. So, you know, we do get large print, but we have, you know, over 22,000 large print books. So, you know, if someone has read everything that's at their public library in large print right now, you know, we could supplement that.
15:00
Sophia Magnanini
That's great. Just the many different ways that you guys are getting new things, especially even just in the last year, I'm sure that makes people feel so good to know that they're getting these new things as well, because I'm sure that might be a little bit of a worry to some people coming in thinking that, oh, they might not have the books that I want or the new books that are coming in. But it's so great how you guys are getting all of this new material and uploading that in ways that are accessible to everyone. So I'm sure that really just helps make so many people's days.
15:42
Cathrine Rubin
I think it really does. I think it really helps. And we do get people who say are in a book club and they want the latest book. And I think more and more we're able to help with that.
15:54
Sophia Magnanini
Because it really does help, just not only for them to have that for themselves, but for inclusion. Like you were saying, with the book clubs and just community in general, it helps them and allows them to talk about their favorite things or talk about new things with people, which is just so great. Which that also kind of leads to my next question. How can access to books and reading materials affect someone's independence, education, and quality of life?
16:24
Cathrine Rubin
Well, I think it really can open up new worlds for many or it can also help them continue learning and enjoying the reading that they've done throughout their lives. And I actually we got a letter from the daughter of a patron who passed away at the age of 108 and I thought this is an interesting story. She started out with the large print books and when her eyesight got worse she used the audiobooks. And her daughter said at times she read faster than I could download books. At age 100 she entered a care facility and continued to listen to books. And she that said that it opened worlds of entertainment for mom that she enjoyed to within days of her death. So it's. Her mother was very interested in reading and she was, you know, this really helped her to do that.
17:22
Sophia Magnanini
Which that's great because it's so true that books just open so many different worlds and can take you away from so many different things. And so it's so great to hear people utilizing your materials even at the age of 108. Which is just so amazing to think about and just shows the good that you guys are doing for the community which also kind of, if you have any other moments that you kind of wanted to talk about where kind of experiences that show just how meaningful the services can be.
18:02
Cathrine Rubin
Well, I would say anytime that we talk to patrons particularly I've done a lot of the public service work here and almost every day, hardly a day goes by when you don't hear someone say I don't know what I would do without the service. So we are very fortunate that we really get a lot of feedback and they are very. Just delighted to use our services and we do whatever we can to help them to make things easier for them to get their books. And actually another thing, we do programs and there was one particular program when were doing a tactile tour at the North Carolina Museum of Art. And I just. One person, an adult patron, said to me that he felt that was the first time that he really got a sense of what art is.
19:06
Cathrine Rubin
So that was really very memorable to me. And you know, it's, it really does open up worlds for people.
19:15
Sophia Magnanini
Just so great and so amazing. And I can only imagine how that makes you guys feel helping all these people and letting them have that chance at seeing these new worlds and these new experiences. Story about the art museum kind of leads into my next question. I know that you guys provide a lot of services and you were talking about different events. What kind of events do you guys have that might be A little bit different from just books and reading as like you were saying with Art Museum.
19:50
Cathrine Rubin
Well, we have participated in and actually coordinated the Eastern North Carolina Braille Challenge for the past several years. That's a braille literacy competition for school aged kids. And that has been very interesting and definitely very different. But we've really enjoyed doing that. We actually have a virtual safety program for people with disabilities coming up on November 10th from 2 to 3:30. And we're going to have the fire prevention coordinator with Wake County Office of the fire marshal, Mr. Lemuel Hubbard. He's going to be doing that. So that's another thing. And of course all of these are free and there will be a link. If anybody's interested, they can contact us.
20:47
Cathrine Rubin
Another thing that we did that was different this year was we collaborated with the North Carolina Museum of Art to pilot a to go activity kit where they sent art kits to interested participants around the state who were inspired by museum artworks and these were inspired by museum artworks. And the patrons could create their own art using tactile materials like gold glitter paper and black wiki sticks and gold paint and paint brushes that the North Carolina Museum of Art sent them. And the number of kits was limited to 200 and all 200 were sent out throughout the whole state. So that was very successful. It was wonderful.
21:37
Cathrine Rubin
So there are a lot of different things that we have done and we'll, you know, we're, we have a program committee and we keep trying to find new things to do and we're working to, we like, we hope to do more virtual programming and then also to go to various places in the state to, we've been to the planetarium in Grifton. We've, we've done different things so we'll continue to do that and I think those have all been really well received. We also have had a game, we've had some game programs with accessible games and we hope to continue to do those types of programs and make them available throughout the state too.
22:28
Sophia Magnanini
That's so awesome to hear just how you guys have brought in your range from outside of books to just of the arts in general and to make sure that people have these experiences and can use them however they want. It's so great to hear that for the art kids. How all of those sold out. Like that is just such a great idea and probably such a great experience.
22:55
Cathrine Rubin
Right? And actually that was free. It was all free. It was paid for through some grant funding that the art museum got, I believe. But yeah, so that was all free, too. We try to make things affordable or free. Ideally free,.
23:12
Sophia Magnanini
Which is very important. And I bet also helps so many people that using Yalls services and just makes it so much easier and such a kind of weight off the shoulders where they don't really have to worry about the logistics. They can just worry about what book they want to read next. Kind of going off what you're saying, you know, like collaborating with the fire marshal and collaborating with the art museum. How do volunteers and other organizations help contribute to the work that you guys do? And also, are there any volunteer opportunities available if people would be interested in that?
23:56
Cathrine Rubin
Oh, absolutely. We have a great number of volunteers. In fact, I think we had about 55 last year. And I'm sure, you know, we have. We have a good number of volunteers and they really help us expand our ability to serve the readers throughout the state. They produce the books and magazines that are by the North Carolina authors or about North Carolina. We have our own studio and volunteers do all of that. And they also help us get our materials out, you know, with our circulation system and so forth and our. And also help with mailings. There are quite a few different things that just depending on people's skills and interests, We've got a lot of opportunities. We. And another thing we do, as well as the.
24:55
Cathrine Rubin
The books we have, the magazines we produce are our State North Carolina Historical Review, Carolina Country Wildlife in North Carolina, and we have a Tar Heel Talk quarterly newsletter. So the volunteers help us with. Do all of that.
25:16
Sophia Magnanini
That's great. And I. Yeah, I love especially the work and care that goes into it, especially with the. With the volunteers like you were talking about the recording in the studio and helping create the magazines. It's just so great to hear that so many people are coming together for this cause and to make sure that people can get whatever materials that they want and not feel like they can't access something because of their disabilities, which is so great. And I bet it just makes so many people's days when they're looking through Yalls catalogs and seeing all the different magazines, audio books, braille that you guys have. And it just kind of. It's really awesome to think about.
26:10
Cathrine Rubin
Yes. Well, we're very lucky, very fortunate to have the volunteers. And also we have a friends group that is wonderful and they support us and they pay for a lot of the program, the prizes for. We have summer and winter reading programs they help us with. We have a volunteer recognition event every year and they pay for that. And they also pay for our large print collection. And they do a lot. They just do a great deal. They also help us with our studio equipment and support as well. So the Friends do a great deal to help us out.
26:57
Sophia Magnanini
That's so great to hear and just great to think about. And for any listeners who might be interested in supporting y', all becoming a volunteer or becoming a part of that friends group, is there a specific place where they can go, like a website or such?
27:16
Cathrine Rubin
Yes, they could actually. Yeah, they can go to a search engine and just type in Support ABLS Library of North Carolina, and that will pull up the Support Ables page for part of our. Our website. And that's got everything about the volunteers and the Friends. The other thing they can do is call us at 1-888-388-2460.
27:52
Sophia Magnanini
Awesome. So any listeners who are interested in this or might know someone who might be interested, please go look at the website, call the number. I know you were saying how there's always someone on staff answering phones, so it'd be great to talk to another person about this also.
28:11
Cathrine Rubin
And.
28:11
Sophia Magnanini
It's just you guys seem like such an amazing group of people, an amazing organization, and are doing so much to change people's lives and make it easy for them to access those other worlds that are so important.
28:26
Cathrine Rubin
Well, we. It's really, you know, it's really our mission and it's really our pleasure. We really, I think we're all of us, very committed to helping the patrons. And we know every day that we're making a difference. And that's really wonderful.
28:46
Sophia Magnanini
It really is. And if there is anything that I didn't go over that you might want to mention or that's important that you want the listeners to hear, or if you guys have any upcoming programs or events that you'd want to shout out.
29:03
Cathrine Rubin
Okay, well, great. Well, let me. I'll say probably the most important thing first, which is that one of the biggest ways people can help is to please spread the word about us to your families, your friends, your neighbors. We're really here to help anyone with print disabilities. And so if you can share people about us on social media, or we can also speak at events and do presentations and be at tables at events and so forth. And so I think that would be huge if people could help us to get the word out about us. And if people are able to help, volunteer or you can donate to the Friends. There are a lot of different ways that you can help, and we just appreciate whatever you can do. We also Schedule library tours.
30:03
Cathrine Rubin
If you're in the area, though, we would ask you to contact us in advance. But we'd love for people to experience the library, and we are very different, so it's kind of makes a difference if you can sort of see where we are and how our operation works and everything. Let me see if there's anything else. I think we've covered most everything, but, yeah, I think that's pretty much everything, and I'll probably think of something later, but, yeah. So thank you so much for this opportunity.
30:51
Sophia Magnanini
No, well, thank you again so much for taking your time out of your day to come on and tell us about everything that you guys do, because it is really great. And I feel like more people should definitely know about this since you guys just provide so many resources, so many materials, and it's just a great way for people with print disabilities to get that experience that they might be kind of put off by public libraries and regular traditional libraries. It's. It's so great what you guys are doing, and most definitely anyone listening, please spread the word about this volunteer. If you're interested, take a tour. Thank you all again for listening and thank you to Katherine for coming in and talking to us about this amazing organization.
31:44
Sophia Magnanini
They're doing some really great stuff, and it's just so meaningful and it just helps people access those other worlds. Reading is so important, getting lost in a book. And so it's really great that everyone is able to experience that through the services that they provide. So, yeah, everyone definitely go check that out if you're interested. If you know other people that might be interested, yeah, just go give them some love. And thank you all for listening to Oak City Move once again. I'm your host, Sofia Magnanini, and if you're interested in listening to this episode again or to past episodes of the show, you can go to wknc.org/podcast and make sure to tune into our show Every Monday on WKNC 88.1 FM Raleigh. Have a great day.
