Land of Lincoln, Land of Libraries

Just got back from Springfield, Illinois where Hanni and I gave a presentation at the Illinois Library Association Conference. My friend Jenny chauffeured me to Springfield and back. She works at The Book store in Glen Ellyn, IL. The Bookstore received a special advance order of “Hanni and Beth: Safe & sound” – Jenny carted a boxload along to sell after my presentation.
It was a 3+ hour drive, and we arrived in Springfield Tuesday night just in time to grab some snacks at the hotel bar. And guess what? Wine and beer is cheaper in Springfield than it is in Chicago. We had fun! Hanni enjoyed her time, too, snatching the kernels of popcorn that’d fall on the floor from time to time.
The next morning Jenny, Hanni and I visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum before heading back to the conference to give my talk. My session was called “More Than Meets the Eye: Teaching Children about Blindness” and librarians from all over the state were in the audience. I was especially happy to find out that some of the audience members were from the Library of Congress Talking Book Service.
I first found out about the National Library Service Talking Book program back in 1985, while I was in the hospital enduring surgeries the doctors hoped would save my eyesight.
A hospital social worker brought me a big plastic box one day—it was the size and weight of a Chicago phone book. Twenty years later, I still use that oversized tape recorder from the Library of Congress to listen to books.
All I have to do to get books on tape is email my Talking Book librarian to order them. The National Library Service tapes are mailed to me in special containers. When I finish listening I simply flip an address card on the container over and slip the whole thing into any normal mailbox to return it free of charge.
An essay I wrote earlier this year about the Talking Book Program won a contest in Woman’s Day magazine. The essay is featured on the American library Association’s “I Love Libraries” web site — you can check it out at www.ilovelibraries.org .
I am, and have always been, a huge fan of books and libraries, and it was a great feeling to be in Springfield surrounded by the people in Illinois who make the library system run as smoothly as it does.

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