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LIS 520 Jung-Ho Ryu Sarah Wang Erica Leith Washington Talking Book and Braille Library: Going Digital and Going the Distance

Executive Summary
Our group visited and explored the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) in downtown Seattle. The WTBBL is the only library in the state that specifically serves the blind, deaf and the physically and learning disabled. The services they provide include the following: large print, talking books on cassettes and digital cartridges, reference and youth services, and radio reading services. We interviewed six staff members of the WTBBL including the Program Manager and Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator to discover current and future trends as well as recent success and failures. The most important current and continuing trend is the transition to digital cartridges and digital downloads directly from the WTBBL website. In June of 2010, the WTBBL received the National Library Services award for the 2009 Network Library of the Year due in large part to their locally produced content available for their patrons. The biggest area for improvement that most interviewees identified was education and outreach. Combining the continuing trend of digital downloading with the desire to improve education and outreach, the best innovation to serve both those needs is a renewed consortium. The consortium would include public libraries as well as state and community organizations that already serve the blind and deaf population. The consortium would extend the reach of the WTBBL by having physical locations in urban and rural areas throughout the state where patrons can access the services it provides. It would also promote the option of digital materials and downloads and provide in-person support if needed. This solution may require some initial start-up costs, but this resolve will be more cost effective in the long run.

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About WTBBL
The Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) started as merely a braille service of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) in 1906 until it became the Washington Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in 1973. Since 1975, this state-funded library has been a Washington state institution. However, under contract, the library had been operated by the SPL until July 1, 2008, when the state took over its entire operation and services. According to the WTBBL website, [WTBBL] provides a free public library service which includes easy access to the informational and recreational reading materials needed by individuals in the State of Washington who are unable to read standard print material (Washington Talking book & Braille Library [WTBBL], n.d.c). WTBBL not only serves the visually and hearing impaired but also people with other sorts of disabilities, such as dyslexia and physical disabilities that make holding books difficult. Considering that 70% of the patrons are over the age of 65, it is clear that not all the patrons are congenitally blind.

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Figure 1. All Patrons by Age (WTBBL 2010)

Core Library Services

The core library services are its collections and Evergreen Radio Reading Service. When it comes to its collections, WTBBL has braille, books on cassette, digital books, and large type, which refers to print books with a typeface that is 14 points or larger. These collections are managed by 19 staff and about 400 volunteers annually. The specifics of the library collections are the table below.
Books by format Braille Cassette Digital Books Large Type Total Titles Items

13,800 29,939 57,310 287,763 3,742 26,255 17,024 18,639 91,876 362,596

Another core service of WTBBL is the Evergreen Radio Reading Service, a 24/7 local radio station for the blind. In addition to tuning in to the radio programs, patrons can also listen to podcasts directly from the WTBBL homepage and download them as audio files. This radio service is very unique because there are only two such radio services in the nation: one in Hawaii and one in Washington.

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It goes without saying that the volunteering program is essential to WTBBL. Available volunteer positions include book inspectors, machine inspectors, cassette player technicians, and news/programs readers for the radio service. D. Junius, the Volunteer Services and Outreach Coordinator, shared about WTBBLs volunteers: more than 400 people donate more than 32,000 hours each year to assist in making various Library programs available. In addition to Brailling and taping books, volunteers produce radio programs, provide clerical support, repair equipment and cassette tapes, and carry out special projects (WTBBL, n.d.b). During the interview, D. Junius also said that these invaluable 32,000 volunteer hours are equivalent to 16 full-time employees.
Physical Space and Current Trends

The WTBBL is located in downtown Seattle in what used to be a Dodge dealership (WTBBL, n.d.a). The environment and space is very open and welcoming. Just inside the entrance is an information desk where a staff member greets patrons and volunteers. To the right of the information desk is the childrens room where some books are written in both print and braille so a sighted parent (or child) can read along with the child (or adult). Beyond the information desk is the main library space that includes two reference desks where staff members help patrons, usually via telephone, with questions ranging from help with playing devices to complex requests for changing the interest codes in readers profiles. The interest codes describe the types of books patrons like and dislike so that appropriate books can be automatically matched to their reader profiles. W. Derby, one of the visually impaired staff members at the reference desk who helps clients via telephone, mentioned an interesting fact that the WTBBL is one of the few talking book libraries that hire from the population they serve. In addition to desks, there are shelves stacked with large print books as well as cassettes and digital cartridges. Each digital cartridge is a USB drive containing one digital file of an audio book. The cartridges are still cassette size with a finger hole to help those with physical disabilities use them. The USB

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drives are only compatible with specific readers and other adaptive technologies in order to avoid copyright infringements. The back of the library is where materials are stored, shipped and reshelved. WTBBL has a system much like Netflix, in that once a patron sends back a book the next one on their list will get sent out. Most of the materials are provided by the National Library Service. However, the WTBBL also has its own recording studios which allow them to locally produce a lot of content that is then available for their patrons including podcasts, talk shows, and readings. Most of the locally produced content is broadcast on the Evergreen Reading Radio Station. The WTBBL has volunteers who audition and (if accepted) record an entire reading of a book for their patrons. Finally there is a transcription room where print books are transcribed into braille and either bound or fed into the computers so braille readers can access it on a computer with adaptive technology.
Areas of Improvement

There are not as many places to sit in the WTBBL library compared to other public libraries. The reason for this is that their patrons are spread across the state and/or are home-bound due to disabilities. According to our interviews, the WTBBL serves about ten thousand (10,000) out of the estimated one hundred ninety thousand (190,000) eligible for their services. The fact that the WTBBL serves such a small portion of the eligible population is one major area that the WBBL would like to improve. Many people do not even know they are eligible for the free services that the WTBBL provides. Another reason possible patrons may be reluctant to use the WTBBL is the social stigma of going there-i.e., admitting a visual, hearing or physical limitation. In light of the circumstances, the WTBBL is applying for a grant that would help them achieve their outreach and education goals of increasing patronage and visibility in the state.
Recent Successes

One of WTBBLs biggest successes is receiving the National Library Services award for Network Library of the year for 2009. WTBBL received this

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nationally recognized award on June, 18, 2010, because of its excellence, innovation, and special achievement in providing library service to the patrons. According to the Program Manager D. Miller, among 57 regional libraries in the United States, WTBBL is still the only Braille library where patrons can download locally produced audio books from its homepage. This feature has been specially recognized for NLS Network Library of the year award. Another recent success is the increasing use and popularity of digital materials including digital downloads directly from their website. In the interviews, when asked about the biggest current and future trends, the interviewees resounding answers were digital downloads for both. The use of digital content and materials has steadily increased each month since its introduction in the fall of 2009.

Figure 2. Monthly Circulation by Media (WTBBL 2010) The benefits of digital media include better sound quality, ease of use, and better access. In addition, with budget cuts continuing with no end in sight, digital download would reduce the amount of physical shipping and could save budget in the long run.

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Recommendation for Innovation

After reviewing sources from our interviews and background research, we propose that the WTBBL shall continue to focus on their outreach and education efforts, specifically those that educate individuals about WTBBLs digital services, through a renewed consortium with public library systems and agencies serving individuals with special needs across the state of Washington. The proposed state-wide patron service consortium has the following features: partnerships with local agencies in programming and sharing resources, connecting WTBBL with its eligible users across the state, and educating patrons on WTBBLs digital services.
Partnership

Put simply, a partnership is a relationship where two or more agencies collaborate to achieve a common goal. In our case, the common goal would be to provide better services for the visually impaired, physically impaired, and other individuals with special needs. A renewed consortium with such a goal provides a framework for pooling resources, improving communication, and creating effective feedback loops across different service agencies. While there is an initial set-up cost, the consortium will yield long-term benefits for not just WTBBL but also other agencies across the state.
Connection

Being the only library in the state of Washington serving individuals with special needs, WTBBL has faced tremendous challenges with regards to promotion and outreaching. A consortium with local agencies across the state can help WTBBL effectively spread awareness about its services while, in the long run, offsetting the costs for frequently sending representatives from WTBBL to other locations across the state. Local agencies, such as public libraries, nonprofit organizations like Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind, as well as for-profit senior homes and healthcare networks, are the primary points of contact for many patrons and potential patrons. Partnerships with these agencies and other agencies identified by WTBBL will help WTBBL overcome the physical distance between the library and its target population in communities across the state.

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Besides strengthening WTBBLs presence in the state, the consortium shall aid WTBBL in its efforts to provide instructional outreach about WTBBLs digital services, including the Evergreen Radio Reading Service, audio books downloads, and use of the digital talking book machine (DTBM). Currently, WTBBL educates its patrons about their digital services mainly through their library service desks and the phone. Once partnerships with other service agencies are established, WTBBL can collaborate with those local service agencies to provide instructional programs outside of Seattle and into the communities, allowing them to make use of their resources in a more effective way. For example, WTBBL could devise a technology workshop that involves children and their visually impaired parents or grandparents learning together. Then they could share the mechanics of this workshop with library branches and community centers in the consortium. Community centers could implement the workshop and share their feedback with WTBBL to help improve programming in the future.

Closing Remarks
In a time when technology and information behaviors constantly coevolve, libraries are faced with the challenge of adapting their practices to meet patrons evolving information needs. Nevertheless, for a library like WTBBL, even though their collections and operation undergo changes year after year, their central mission of meeting patrons needs remains the same, and will continue so.

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References
Washington Talking Book & Braille Library. (n.d.a). About WTBBL and the Building. Retrieved from http://www.wtbbl.org/wtbblhistory.aspx Washington Talking Book & Braille Library. (n.d.b). Helping the Library: Donations and Volunteering. Retrieved from http://www.wtbbl.org/supportinglibraries.aspx Washington Talking Book & Braille Library. (n.d.c). Washington Talking Book & Braille Library. Retrieved from http://www.wtbbl.org/ Interviewees: D. Miller, Program Manager S. J. Hagan, Shipping Supervisor E. Ryan, Administrative Assistant T. Kaye, Patron Register A. Ravenholt, Assistant Program Manger D. Junius, Volunteer Services and Outreach Coordinator
W. Derby, Readers Advisor

Note: All graphs presented in the paper were supplied by an interviewee based on WTBBLs internal data.