‘Battle’ books through Talking Books and Braille Library

Digital player for Talking Book
and Braille Library

For Bellview staff, I research Audiobook formats for Oregon Battle of the Books. Here are titles that can be accessed through the Talking Book and Braille Library. Administered through the Oregon State Library for the U.S. Library of Congress, its services are free to qualified individuals with physical limitations or visual or reading disability.

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
DBC05680 — Seven students relate how their lives are changed by their new teacher.

Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret
BR016974 — A vacation on the Oregon Coast becomes a nightmare when a tsunami threatens 13-year-old Kyle and his younger sibling.

Post-election, young people feel less safe

As a former Challenge Day volunteer and a survivor of school bullying, I want to amplify the sentiment in an email message from Challenge Day, its post-election statement.

ALA president apologizes for press releases that ‘normalize’ Trump administration

In a post to American Libraries blog, The Scoop, Julie B. Todaro, president of the American Library Association, apologized for recent press releases that appeared to capitulate to, and normalize, the incoming Trump administration.

‘Culture fit’: Excuse to discriminate?

Are candidates treated fairly during screenings for ‘culture fit’?

Sponsored posts promoting a guide with behavioral interview questions keep showing up in my Facebook timeline.

These 30 questions are supposed to screen job applicants for various traits — including leadership and adaptability — but “culture fit” receives top emphasis in the sponsored-post advertisement.

‘Star Scouts’ by Mike Lawrence

From start to finish, Star Scouts by Mike Lawrence (First Second Books, March 2017) was entertaining and fun to read. 

Mabel, an extraterrestrial child, is working toward a merit badge in teleporting alien species for her “Star Scouts” troop. Mabel bumps her teleport console and finds herself face-to-face not with the Terran “Newt” she’d selected but instead “New Kid” Avani, an Earth child who endures each tedious meeting of her local “Flower Scouts” troop.

Scout kerchiefs, it turns out, are universal and the pair recognize fellow scouts in each other.

Safety pins in solidarity: Is message clear enough?

In school, we teach children about bystanders’ power to defuse the impact of bullying by supporting the child who is targeted — which makes it all the more wonderful that adults are embracing the vital role of “upstander.”

By wearing a safety pin, the wearer communicates that she or he is “safe,” an ally in solidarity with people targeted by hate. My only concern as a person who struggles with messages that are implied, not explicit — will people who need support understand what the safety pin signifies?

Value of libraries: Most Americans agree

In refreshing contrast to the divisiveness that plagued this past election, David Kipen asserts that “most Americans still agree” on the value of the public library. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, In fact, according to Kipen (writing in the Los Angeles Times), librarians “may be the only first responders holding the line between American and a raging national pandemic of absolutism.” (Case in point, this election’s hideous outcome of Donald Trump as the next U.S. President.)

Sonoma County Library: Voters pass Measure Y

Congratulations to Sonoma County Library upon Measure Y’s successful passage. Via the Sonoma Valley Sun, a library press release thanks Measure Y supporters.

Sonoma County Measure Y: Multiple libraries benefit

Seven years ago today, I reacted to news of a planned 10-day shutdown of Sonoma County Library over the year-ending holidays.