POSITIVE THOUGHTS CREATE POSITIVE ACTIONS
It is easy in today’s society to feel depressed and gloomy. If your spirit needs an uplift here is a list of books that can help you regain a positive attitude toward life.
DB69481 When Everything Changes, Change Everything by Neale Donald Walsch
DB68513 A Lifetime of Wisdom, Embracing the Way God Heals You by Joni Eareckson Tada
DB72501 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive: 101 Inspirational Stories about Counting Your Blessings and Having a Positive Attitude by Jack Canfield and others
DB68923 Never Give Up: Relentless Determination to Overcome Life’s Challenges by Joyce Meyer
DB73781 Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier Seven Days a Week by Joel Osteen
DB73924 Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan
DB73955 Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well by Billy Graham
DB68583 How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth) by Henry Alford Humorist Alford interviews well-known people over 70 who share a variety of experiences.
HOLIDAY CLOSING
The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center will be closed in observation of Memorial Day on Monday May 28, 2012.
FINANCIAL AWARENESS – INDIVIDUALS AND LIBRARIANS
Personal Finance is important for all of us to be up-to-date for our daily living and future security. People sometimes say “I’m not working so why do I need to know about personal finance?” It’s in everybody’s interest to understand personal finance and it is even more so for people who have fewer resources. It is very important for blind individuals to read as much as possible in order to compete in this global economy. Some suggested books for our readers are:
DB 68937 – Rescue Your Money (Ric Edelman)
DB 69694 – Getting Back to Even (Jim Cramer)
DB 67859 – Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan (Suze Orman)
DB 69533 – AARP Retirement Survival Guide (Julie Jason)
DB 70720 – First Budget Smarts – for young adults (Judy Peterson)
DB 72343 – A Purse of Your Own (for women) (Deborah Owens)
DB 69499 – Estate Planning for People with a Chronic Condition or Disability (Matthw Shenkman)
The National Library Service has contracted with two news-content and media-placement services to prepare and distribute newspaper, radio, and television features about the talking book and braille program. The two services offer the features free of copyright and free of charge.
The first of those features is now available to newspapers across the U.S. It is entitled “Money Matters for Visually Impaired People” and focuses on how important it is for blind and physically disabled people to understand the economy and personal finance.
You may read the feature at www.napsnet.com/articles/68007.html.
Willing Hearts and Hands
The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center is a busy, busy place with cheerful, energetic staff matching talking book users with the books to suit their reading tastes, pulling and preparing those books for mailing, and opening and inspecting those books before filing them back on the shelf. Our volunteers help the mailing and returning of materials move more smoothly and quickly. To further smooth our workload they shred paper, stuff envelopes for mailings, and prepare new books for the shelf.
Two community partnerships help us find those giving people who help us help you. The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and the Morton High School special education program have been long term partners that connect us with willing hands and caring hearts. The four Morton High School special needs students come with a job coach that teaches them the task, oversees their work, and works with them on basic work and socialization skills. These talented coaches teach students to say thank you, how to use a microwave at lunch, and how to manage their tasks effectively. The RSVP volunteers are retired people who give us a portion of their week year after year. They are both sunny, dependable people who either pull books for mailing or open the returned containers to speed up the check-in process. Two other community people come in weekly to open containers to help check in books or to fill in where needed on special projects.
Having been a volunteer myself, I can tell you what a rewarding experience it is to do something to help others. I have knitted hats and scarves for the homeless and lapghans for hospice, manned the Salvation Army kettles at Christmas, worked food booths for Kiwanis, … It makes me feel good to help and adds much to my life. As the director of Mid-Illinois Talking Books Center, I can tell you it also makes be feel good to be on the receiving end of the help. If you have time, consider giving back to your community. It enriches your own life while helping others who need it. We are doing okay, but there are many other organizations that would benefit from your time and help.
Titanic
A popular news topic in the last few weeks has been the Titanic. It has now been 100 years since the passenger liner sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg on April 15, 1912.
The following titles can provide you with more information and adventure.
DB 66711 Beyond Reach: The Search for the Titanic” by William Hoffman
An account of the 1981 search for the wreck of the Titanic. It also recounts the Titanic’s sinking.
DB 71644 “Disasters: Natural and Man-Made Catastrophes through the Centuries” by Brenda Guiberson
Written for grades 6 – 9, this title includes the sinking of the Titanic, the 1930′s Dust Bowl and other disasters.
DB 72188 “Voyage of the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady” by Ellen Emerson White
Written for grades 4-7, this is the fictional diary of a 13-year-old aboard the Titanic.
DB 48575 “Raise the Titanic!” by Clive Cussler
This fictional book describes Cussler’s character, Dirk Pitt’s adventurous attempt to raise the ship.
