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“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.”

 

  - Twyla Tharpe

 

 

Seeing with the Senses: A Celebration of Art for Those with Low Vision and Blindness

Saturday, June 1, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. 

 

The Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney, and the Guggenheim present an afternoon of art-making workshops, salon-style conversation, verbal description, and touch tours.

 

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is presenting a series of free lectures and art-making workshops at the Library. The programs will be held in the first floor community room. All participants will receive a pass for one free admission of up to five persons.

• Thursday, April 25, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Art-making workshop: Over, Under, and Around: Movement in Art. Look at how movement, motion, and energy are represented in art, and then make your own art in this hands-on workshop.  Space is limited and registration is required. Preference is given to persons who are blind or have low vision.

• Saturday, May 18, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. MoMA Lecture: Introduction to Contemporary Art. Explore art that bewilders, confronts, amazes, and inspires, and considers the current global artscape in its historical and social contexts. Major works and movements in painting, photography, sculpture, and performance will be examined.

• Thursday, June 13, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Art-making workshop: Putting it Together: Collage and Assemblage. Look at how artists use a wide array of different materials to create one unified artwork, and then make your own collage in this hands-on workshop. Space is limited and registration is required. Preference is given to persons who are blind or have low vision.

The content of this series is based on free monthly touch and description tours conducted at MoMA for adults who are blind or partially sighted. MoMA Access Programs are made possible by a lead grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Major annual support is provided by MetLife Foundation. Additional support is provided by The Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art in honor of Michael Margitich, Allene Reuss Memorial Trust, an anonymous donor, J.E. and Z.B. Butler Foundation, Von Seebeck – Share B Charitable Trust, The Estate of Isabel T. Bedrosian, the Bloomingdale’s Fund of the Macy’s Foundation, Ducommun and Gross Family Foundation, Charles Henry Leach II Foundation, Langner Family Fund of The New York Community Trust, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and other generous donors." 

 

All programs on Tuesdays, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.

• April 9 - Join Yaëlle Biro, Assistant Curator in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to learn about African Art. During this interactive lecture, she will introduce a few African objects.

• May 14 - Join Art Beyond Sight staff and Sol Aramendi for a photography workshop. Aramendi is a New York based Argentinean artist working in new media, photography and video. For more information call Marie Clapot at 212-334-8723.

• June 11 - Join Peter Galub for a songwriting workshop. Peter is an accomplished singer/songwriter/guitarist and music therapist, and his songs have been featured in films and television.

 

Our book discussion group meets on the third Saturday of every other month at 10:00 a.m. Join us to talk about thought-provoking books! Register by phone (212-206-5400), email (ahlbph@nypl.org), or in person.

This year’s discussion schedule:

• April 20: Dancing Arabs by Sayed Qashu, DB 63792. 

• June 15: The Road by Cormac McCarthy, DB 63649. 

• August 17: Once and Then by Morris Gleitzman,    DB 71539 and DB 73876 (2 books).

• October 19: The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, DB 73460.

• December 21: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, DB 74890.

 

Take listening to digital books to the next level by learning how to use the advanced features of both the Standard and Advanced model players. This workshop includes a demonstration of downloading books from BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) and a discussion of commercial book players as well as the library-issued players. Registered patrons who do not yet have a player will be able to take one home.

The workshops are held in the library's second floor computer lab from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesdays, April 24, May 15, and June 5. Attendance is limited, so please register in advance by phone (212-206-5400), email (ahlbph@nypl.org), or in person.

 

We’ve added more programs thanks to the enthusiasm of our new children’s librarian and the increasing popularity of our children’s room! All programs are accessible to children with and without disabilities.

Wednesdays, April 10, May 1, and June 5 at 10:30 a.m. Children and their parents or caregivers can enjoy stories, rhymes and songs at this story time that is suitable for all ages. 

Tuesdays, April 16, May 21, and June 18 at 3 p.m. Children (accompanied by a favorite adult) will enjoy songs, finger plays and books. Story time will give your child the opportunity to hear a story while interacting with other children their age. Ages 0-4 welcome!

Monday, April 29, 1 p.m. Children are invited to celebrate a birthday – real or imagined - with a craft hour! Use your creativity to make a gift or something cool to take home that same day! All ages welcome. 

National Survey for Talking Book and Braille Readers

The Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) is conducting a survey to understand how to better serve the needs of readers of talking books and Braille. It will be used to improve services to current NLS readers and find out what services non-NLS readers are looking for. Take the survey online or to learn more about it, go to www.LibraryOfCongressSurvey.org. Or, you can call    1-866-545-1618 to schedule a time to take the survey over the phone. You do not have to be a current NLS reader. It will take no longer than 25 minutes and is available until May 10.

 

Do you want to have a say about the activities and services at the Andrew Heiskell Library and meet other users? Is there something you want to share with library administration? If you want to show support for the library, learn about library services and programs, meet members of the staff, and provide feedback, come to the library’s Citizens Advisory Council meetings. All ideas and opinions are welcome! 

Upcoming meetings through the fall: 

• Saturday, April 6 at 11:00 a.m.

• Thursday, June 6 at 6:00 p.m. 

• Thursday, September 12 at 6:00 p.m.

 

Here is a list of recently published books chosen by Madeline Sanchez, one of the most avid readers on the library’s staff. 

• The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House by Edward Klein – DB 74936. Klein reveals new details about the Obama administration’s political inner workings, as well as Barack and Michelle’s personal lives. Bestseller. 2012.

• The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker - 

DB 74890. Science fiction tale about a girl’s struggle to come of age as the earth’s rotation slows and the end of the world may be nearing. 2012.

• Criminal by Karin Slaughter - DB 75039, BR 19514.  An epic tale of love, loyalty, and murder that spans forty years, two chillingly similar murder cases, and a good man’s deepest secrets. 2012.

• Close Your Eyes by Iris Johansen - DB 75138. Blind for the first twenty years of her life, Kendra honed her other senses to superhuman perfection- and unintentionally became a secret FBI weapon. 2012. 

• Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo - DB 74457. The author describes the heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century’s great, unequal cities. Bestseller. 2012.

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - DB 74112. Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die, until a medical miracle shrunk the tumors in her lungs…for now. Bestseller. 2012.

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – DB 74888. Nick and Amy alternate telling the story of their troubled marriage, their move from New York to Nick's Missouri hometown, and Amy's disappearance on their fifth wedding anniversary. Bestseller. 2012.

 

Thank you, to those who took part in our last survey about downloading from BARD. Of those who responded, 12 patrons download materials by themselves or with assistance from someone else. 3 both download books from BARD and receive them through the mail. 26 respondents do not download materials from BARD at all. Of those who do not download from BARD at all,  4 did not know BARD existed, 9 do not use the internet, 18 do not have a computer or internet access, 4 have tried BARD but found it too difficult, and 9 said that they did not know someone who could assist them in order to download from BARD.

 

We'd love to hear from you! And to help you provide us with feedback, we've included a tear-out sheet with just a few questions. You can send in your answers by mail, fax, phone, or email. Do you follow us on Facebook? You can send in your answers there, too. Please give us honest feedback that can help us focus our resources. We’ll share the results of each issue’s questionnaire in the following issue. 

This season’s questionnaire is about postal delivery times for library materials.  We’re interested in finding out how long it takes for your telephone, email or social media book requests to arrive via U.S. Postal Service.  

After requesting a book by phone, email, or social media, what is the average time it takes for a book to arrive? (Circle one.)

1. 4 days or less

2. 5-7 days

3. 7-14 days

4. More than 2 weeks

What county do you live in? (Circle one.) 

1. Manhattan

2. Bronx

3. Staten Island

4. Queens

5. Brooklyn

6. Nassau

7. Suffolk

 

• Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodato - RC 5627.  An adolescent girl tries to cope with life after the death of her older sister.  Her parents are too traumatized to give her comfort, so she retreats to an elaborate world of her own invention.  2009.

• Tennessee Williams New Selected Essays:  Where I Live by Tennessee Williams - RC 5649. Williams writes about the theater and the lives of great writers, directors, and actresses that he knew and worked with.  2009.

• City of Strangers by Ian MacKenzie - RC 5656. MacKenzie examines the pressures of family and love in a violent and uncertain world.  2009.

 

Every Saturday, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Volunteer tutors are available to assist new and experienced computer users. You'll be able to get help with email, blogging, downloading audio books, learning accessible computer games, using the web, using accessibility software, and more. The tutors read with braille and print, use text-to-speech technology, and speak a variety of languages.  

The clinic takes place in the second floor computer lab.

To ensure someone will be available to help with a specific question, please make an appointment by calling volunteer Chancey Fleet at 347-632-8383.

Did you know you can use the Andrew Heiskell Library’s PAWS Catalog to request books? Do you have access to a computer with internet access and want to search our catalog, request books, and see what’s been sent to you? You can do all of this with our online PAWS Catalog at http://lblpac.nypl.org/klasweb. 

To set up your account, please call the library. 

Please remember that all NLS magazines currently distributed on cassette will be distributed on digital cartridge later this year. You will be expected to return digital magazine cartridges in order to receive future issues. Digital magazine cartridges will be light blue and arrive in a dark red container. 

Download Books from the Internet!

Did you know you can download Braille and talking books from the internet on BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download)? BARD is a National Library Service website that has 46,000 Braille and talking books for download. There are unlimited copies of books for downloading. And best of all, they do not need to be returned! Call the Library for details.