FYI

Linda Lord
Director of Library Development
Maine State Library
64 State House
Augusta, ME  04333
(207) 287-5620
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-----Original Message-----
From: Ranney, Melora [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2002 10:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: You CAN get there from here . . . @ your library


Maine State Library Outreach : You CAN get there from here

"You CAN get there from here . . .@ your library" is the message that Maine
State Library Outreach is sending out to blind, visually impaired, and
geographically isolated citizens throughout the state.

Outreach Services provides Books By Mail, Talking Books, and Large Print
materials to the people who need them, and now it's going digital.

Books By Mail--which has been in existence since 1981, when it replaced the
bookmobiles--will soon be available via Maine InfoNet. The service is in the
process of joining Minerva, the state's online consortium, which means that
by Summer of 2003 anyone who is without a full-service library can request
their materials interactively online.  Current Books By Mail users will be
getting a survey in January which will gather email addresses and important
feedback as to how citizens think the service should work.

Talking Books users can now request their books online, using an interactive
form.  Titles and book numbers can be found using the National Library
Service web site; the information can then be entered into a form on the
Maine State Library Outreach Services' web site.  Both sites are accessible
to the blind and others using screen reader technology or web braille.

Awareness about the great resources available through the Maine Online
Databases will be a part of MSL Outreach efforts to help users see how "You
CAN get there from here . . . @ your library."  For more information, see
the MSLO web site at www.maine.gov/msl/outreach .

Melora Ranney Norman, outreach coordinator
Maine State Library
LMA Cultural Bldg., SHS 64
Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 287-5653
www.state.me.us/msl/outreach