South Dakota Looking Out for Visually Special Dakotians

“Imagine that every book about South Dakota was available to everyone except you,” Colleen Kirby said. “Stop and think about what if you couldn’t go to Barnes & Noble, what if you couldn’t go to your library. Everyone else is talking about the latest book about South Dakota, but you can’t read it.”

Well, fuck that.  I need my South Dakota updates and if anyone tries to take them from me I'll rip their ears off and add them to my ear collection. 

Wait... Wait...  Okay, I get it now.  Colleen Kirby is the assistant state librarian for South Dakota.  She is talking about the large number of South Dakotian literature that is not available to the visually special population.  See, blind people need to hear books or touch them with their mutant hands, and the items are on cassettes that can not be easily played by the sightless.  As we all found out during the great "steam train disaster" of 1952, the blind can only use current gen technology.  Kirby and the state library are looking to re-record much of the archived collection using local talent rather than just buy a converter on ebay for thirty bucks.  

We at the Banned Library hope the state's project succeeds and the visually special can soon get all that great South Dakota knowledge they have been missing.  Also, we hope we did not offend any blind people with our little jokes because, as we all know, the blind have special ninja powers and could defeat all of us given enough time without rearranging the furniture.

Library seeks voices for audio books - Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

Library seeks voices for audio books Sioux Falls Argus Leader More than 1,500 books now on cassette tapes need to be recorded in a digital format, said Colleen Kirby, assistant state librarian. “This is actually a very cool project,” said Mary Johnson, Siouxland Libraries director. “We were pretty thrilled when ...

Prison Library News: Two Stories of the Locked Up

Ah, prison.  The place to get away from it all, let your guards down, and take time to focus on your past mistakes without the rest of the world to distract you.  It is like a spa that you can not leave.  You know, except for all the violence and stuff.

Today we look at two stories, one heartwarming and one legal.  Let's get to it.

A program in the Dodge County Jail in Wisconsin allows inmates to record audio books for their children.  The program is meant to connect children with their incarcerated parents and has been a success.  Nothing says "Goodnight, Moon" like 3 to 5 for B&B.  ABCNews

An Alabama prison refused to allow an inmate to read a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the grounds that it was a security threat.  Mark Melvin, the inmate, has sued the prison to allow him to read Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon, citing censorship.  We can only assume that the inmate found nothing good on cable tv after Charlie Sheen was kicked off 2 1/2 Men this summer.  PCMag