Category Archives: Educational Resources

November is National Family Caregivers Month

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Caregiving is both a rewarding and complex situation for families.

Finding affordable and reliable caregivers can be difficult, so many spouses, partners, parents, adult children, and other family members care for their loved ones without paid assistance.

Texas Health and Human Services provides web sites and programs to assist families with this complicated endeavor.

HHS Caregiver Support and Resources: https://hhs.texas.gov/services/health/support-caregivers/caregiver-support-resources. Sections on this site include benefits, in-home care and personal attendant services, transportation and meals, and medication management.

HHS Strengthen the Care You Give: https://hhs.texas.gov/services/health/support-caregivers.Too many caregivers neglect their own physical and mental well-being while caring for their loved ones. This site provides information on caregiver self-care, training and planning, and support and resources.

Take Time Texas: https://apps.hhs.texas.gov/taketimetexas.Take Time Texas connects caregivers of children and caregivers of older adults to information and resources related to respite care.

HHS Turn To: https://hhs.texas.gov/services/health/prevention/turn-to.This site provides information about sources for support. Sections include support for yourself, for your child, for your friends and family, and for your community

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

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Diabetes is a serious, chronic condition that can lead to heart disease, nerve damage, eye problems, and kidney disease. Type 1 cannot be prevented, but Type 2 can be delayed or prevented by living a healthy lifestyle that includes good nutrition, physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight.

There is a wealth of information online about diabetes.

A good place to start is Medline Plus, a site that provides information for the public about health topics: https://medlineplus.gov/diabetes.html

Another resource is the Diabetes Information Clearinghouse from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes. The Clearinghouse includes all the basics about diabetes, plus topics such as tests and diagnosis, risk factors for Type 2 diabetes, healthy living with diabetes, and preventing diabetes problems. You can also e-mail the Clearinghouse at healthinfo@niddk.nih.gov, or call 800-860-8747, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. eastern time. In addition, the Clearinghouse features a page for National Diabetes Awareness Month: www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/community-health-outreach/national-diabetes-month

The American Diabetes Association also has a website with extensive information: https://diabetes.org. Sections on the site include life with diabetes, health and wellness, and food and nutrition. You can search for in-person and virtual diabetes education programs at https://diabetes.org/tools-resources/diabetes-education-programs and locate local American Diabetes Association chapters at https://diabetes.org/local/find-chapter. Contact the national office at 800-342-2383, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. eastern time, or e-mail askada@diabetes.org.

That All May eRead: Using the eReader to Access Online Services

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Join the National Library Service (NLS) on Tuesday, October 29, at 6:00 p.m. central time for the next session of the online series That All May eRead. This session will cover how to access online services using the Zoomax and Humanware braille ereaders.

Registration is not required.

Click on the link to join: https://tinyurl.com/4z5sht89

These sessions will be recorded.  

Fall Gardening in Texas

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By Rodessa

Fall is right around the corner—September 22nd, to be exact. What does that mean? It’s the perfect time to begin your fall gardening. The Talking Book Program has a ton of books and resources to get you started with growing your seasonal crops. Whether you are a novice or expert, have an acre of land or a small countertop, there are many ways to satisfy your green thumb. 

To start, determine what growing region you reside in. This will help you discover what vegetables grow best in your area and when you should plant them.

Below is a list of cities and their corresponding zones. Please determine your zone by your nearest major city.

Zone 1: Amarillo

Zone 2: El Paso, Lubbock

Zone 3: Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Bryan/College Station, Houston

Zone 4: Corpus Christi, Laredo

Zone 5: McAllen

For more detailed information on zones, recommended plants, and plant dates, please refer to the Fall Vegetable Gardening Guide for Texas found within the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension website.

Direct Link provided below:
Fall Vegetable Gardening Guide for Texas – Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service (tamu.edu)

Now that you have discovered your grow zone, you are ready to start planting! Here are a few books we’ve found to be helpful on your plant journey. Feel free to reach out to the Talking Book Program for a more in-depth search into the gardening materials we have to offer.

TEXAS GARDENING THE NATURAL WAY: THE COMPLETE HANDBOOK by Howard Garrett (DBC 18790)
The complete handbook for Texas gardening the natural way. How to design, plant, and maintain gardens and lawns, with over 600 native and adaptable plants. Organic product recommendations and resources as well.

NEIL SPERRY’S COMPLETE GUIDE TO TEXAS GARDENING by Neil Sperry (DBC 14567)
This reference book is the acknowledged source for novice and veteran Texas gardeners. Radio/TV personality Sperry tells gardeners everything they need to know about growing fruits and vegetables, lawn maintenance, landscaping, and other subjects.

HERB GARDENING IN TEXAS by Sol Meltzer (DBC 12002)
All the information you need to grow and use herbs, including herbs used to ward off insects, pests, and gourmet recipes using herbs.

EASY GARDENING FOR TEXAS by Joseph Gebran Masabni (DBC 17955)
“Full sun” in Texas means six to eight hours starting in the early morning, and shade in the afternoon. Gardening in the Lone Star State has unique challenges, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grow vegetables here. Learn what varieties to plant for the best harvest, which insects are your foes and which are your friends, what vegetables you can grow in Texas winters, and how to keep weeds to a minimum.

POSTAGE STAMP GARDEN BOOK: HOW TO GROW ALL THE FOOD YOU CAN EAT IN VERY LITTLE SPACE BY INTENSIVE GARDENING TECHNIQUES by Duane Newcomb (DB 09694)
A botanist explains clearly how to exploit the small plot to its fullest advantage through intensive methods of cultivation. Emphasis is on organic gardening.

VEGETABLE GARDENING (DB 14655)
Step-by-step guide for growing vegetables in a window box or a large garden provides instruction for buying seeds, preparing the soil, making compost, and double digging. Includes a quick and easy planting chart.

SQUARE FOOT GARDENING by Mel Bartholomew (DB 21079)
A system of gardening that the author claims consumes at least 80 percent less space, time, and money than is normally spent while still producing continuous harvests. The book is a companion piece to the PBS television series of the same name.

ENABLING GARDEN: A GUIDE TO LIFELONG GARDENING by Gene Rothert (DB 43253)
A step-by-step guide to barrier-free gardening for people with disabilities and older adults. Provides a checklist for assessing one’s gardening abilities, then offers advice on selecting appropriate structures, tools, equipment, plants, and garden designs.

ACCESSIBLE GARDENING: TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR SENIORS AND THE DISABLED by Joann Woy (DB 49080)
Advises gardeners with special needs on ideas, tools, and methods. Topics include garden design and layout, raised beds, container and tabletop gardening, easy composting, watering, lawn care, and accessories to facilitate physical tasks. An appendix lists sources of tools, supplies, and information.

KID’S GUIDE TO CONTAINER GARDENING by Stephanie Bearce (DB 70025)
Explains how to grow plants—herbs, vegetables, flowers—in pots, tubs, wooden boxes, or any other container that will hold soil. Discusses the advantages of these portable gardens, selecting the right plant for your climate, and keeping it growing. For grades 3-6.

SUPER SIMPLE HANGING GARDENS: A KID’S GUIDE TO GARDENING by Alex Kuskowski (DB 81571)
Provides techniques for growing plants in hanging containers and explains how to choose the right tools, soil, plants, and pots. Discusses safety precautions and includes instructions for making your own containers, including one for upside-down plants. For grades 3-6.

HOW TO HAVE A GREEN THUMB WITHOUT AN ACHING BACK: A NEW METHOD OF MULCH GARDENING by Ruth Stout (DB 53896)
The author, the sister of mystery writer Rex Stout, left New York City for the Connecticut countryside in 1929 and began experimenting in the garden. Her anecdotes record her trials, tribulations, and the new methods she devised to simplify her work.

JIM WILSON’S CONTAINER GARDENING by James W. Wilson (DB 59191)
Former PBS Victory Garden host advises people who want to explore gardening in pots, troughs, and other vessels. Provides information on containers, soil mixtures, and plants, herbs, and vegetables appropriate for various locations and situations. Includes condensed encyclopedia of plants adapted to container gardening.

RAISED BED GARDENING: A COMPLETE BEGINNERS GUIDE: GROW EVERYTHING FROM HERBS TO TOMATOES IN YOUR OWN CUSTOM RAISED BEDS by Tara Nolan (DB 115673)
A complete beginner’s guide, you will learn everything you need to know to prepare and execute your garden plan and grow and harvest your produce. The book includes: plans for building quick-and-simple beds that you can make yourself with a few common tools; details on how to build the right soil mix to fill your beds; list of the easiest plants to grow as a beginner; plant information, along with which plants work best with other plants; planting advice, including spacing instructions; advice on mulch, watering, and fertilizing; organic pest control; how to harvest and store your produce; and more.

THERESA YOUSSEF’S VEGETABLE GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS by Theresa Youssef (DB 62130)
Basic gardening guide covers soil preparation, crop selection, organic and container methods, and pest control. Provides instructions for growing eighteen vegetables and four herbs—onions, lettuce, spinach, peas, cabbage, potatoes, broccoli, beets, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, squash, corn, beans, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, okra, parsley, mint, basil, and catnip—grouped according to hardiness.

CARROTS LOVE TOMATOES: SECRETS OF COMPANION PLANTING FOR SUCCESSFUL GARDENING by Louise Riotte (DBC 19721)
Plant parsley and asparagus together and you’ll have more of each but keep broccoli and tomato plants far apart if you want them to thrive. Utilize the natural properties of plants to nourish the soil, repel pests, and secure a greater harvest.

MISTER OWITA’S GUIDE TO GARDENING: HOW I LEARNED THE UNEXPECTED JOY OF A GREEN THUMB AND AN OPEN HEART by Carol Wall (DBC 24818)
Describes how a period of transition in the journalist author’s life marked by her empty nest, a recent illness, and her aging parents led her to forge a deep friendship with a gifted Kenyan gardener with whom she transformed her yard and shared long-buried secrets.

Learning a Language with BARD

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One of the most popular requests we get at the Talking Book Program are from patrons who want to learn a language. We have several different self-instruction programs in our collection to help you dive right in.

Behind the Wheel: Behind the Wheel provides a flexible, solid, and universal foundation in speaking, understanding, and creatively expressing yourself in your chosen language. The program features an English-speaking instructor to guide you through the lessons and native speakers to aid with your pronunciation. Includes supplementary materials in Braille to reinforce and enhance the audio experience.

Languages in the TBP collection: Arabic, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish.

Berlitz Self Teacher: Braille language study guides designed for the student working alone.  Stressing oral practice, the guides present each lesson as a conversational dialogue incorporating vocabulary and grammatical points. Each sentence is followed by a pronunciation guide and English translation. Questions follow each lesson, and, where appropriate, tips on customs are given.

Languages in the TBP collection: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Drive Time: is a simplified program to learn the basics of vocabulary, grammar, conversation, and culture for a given language. The experts at Living Language have created a course that includes four hours of language lessons that you can use anywhere and anytime. It includes conversational lessons so you can practice listening and speaking a language naturally. The courses also have plenty of pronunciation exercises, simple explanations, examples, and real conversational practice.

Languages in the TBP collection: French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. We also have intermediate English. 

eTicket Audio Phrasebooks: Produced by Living Language, these audio phrasebooks contain simple and practical phrases, containing all the essentials for a trip.

Languages in TBP collection: Spanish and English for Spanish speakers.

Pimsleur®: is a way to learn a language through a program of short lessons using methods derived from research on memory and learning. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension, and on learning to speak the language. Features native speakers.

Languages in the TBP collection: Albanian, Armenian (Eastern and Western), Czech, Dutch, French, Greek (modern), Haitian Creole, Hebrew (modern), Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, and Thai.

English for Arabic, Cantonese Chinese, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish Speakers

Further Study

Once you learn the basics, you may want to find materials to read in your language of choice. BARD is here to help!

BARD: Change your preferred language

Filter search results by selecting your preferred language.

BARD website

1. BARD Main Page – Account Settings – 4th item down “Select this link to change your language preferences.”
2. Check the checkbox next to the language you are learning.
3. Hit the “update” button.

BARD Express

1. Go to Search BARD
2. Select the “Filter” button.
3. Select the checkbox next to one of the following languages:
Arabic
China
French Language Books, Fiction
German Language Books
Italian Language
Portuguese Language Titles
Spanish Language
4. Select the “Ok” button at bottom of the screen. Now all your search results will be in your chosen language.

BARD app for iOS and Android

1. Go to Settings Tab
2. Go to User Account Settings
3. Select “Language Preferences”
4. Tap the language you are learning. It will add books written in that language to your search results.

So, take this opportunity to learn a new language and let BARD help ease the way!

College: Take Your Talking Book Service with You!

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How exciting! You’re going off to college. It’s really your first true step into adulthood. So, it can be a little daunting too. But remember, you’re not alone; your talking book service can be there with you for this big transition.

If you’re going to a college in Texas, just call us to let us know your new contact information so we don’t lose touch!

But if you’re moving to a college out of state, don’t worry! No matter which state you move to, there is a talking book program service. And we can transfer your service to that state since you’ll be there for the majority of the year.  Once you’ve obtained your new address, give us a call about a week prior to your move at 1-800-252-9605 or send an email to tbp.services@tsl.texas.gov.

Textbooks

Unfortunately, the Talking Book Program does not have textbooks in our collection. But we do often have supplementary materials. For example, you’re taking a course on African American literature. We won’t have your textbook in our collection, BUT we have a lot of books written by and about African American authors. We also have general books about the Harlem Renaissance. Once you get your syllabus, feel free to contact us and see which books are in our collection. Or, better yet, search BARD.

Organizations with Accessible-Format Materials for Students

APH: Accessible Textbooks: An accessible textbook locator service.
Learning Ally: Learning Ally is a national nonprofit that provides reading materials in a variety of accessible formats for people with a wide range of reading disabilities, including blindness, visual impairment, dyslexia, and other learning differences. Students can browse the library, order and download audiobooks, and listen/study on PCs and Mac computers, smartphones and tablets running Android or Apple iOS, as well as on specialized assistive technology devices.
Bookshare® is a FREE, federally-funded library of ebooks designed for students with learning differences. Students who struggle to read traditional books are empowered to read in ways that work for them with specialized ebooks in audio, audio with highlighted text, large font, and braille.
Sight into Sound: An audio production service.

Other Helpful Resources

Let us know if there is other information you need. For example, if you’re writing a paper and need some research pointers, give us a call. Remember, even though you’re an adult, we are still your public library.

National Craft Month

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March is National Craft Month. Are you crafty? Celebrate by trying a new creative medium outside your craft comfort zone! If you aren’t already involved in making crafts, now is the time to give a couple of different ones a try. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of introductory books for various crafts. If you’re already at a more advanced level, let us know, and we’ll see what books we have in our collection to inspire your next creative endeavor.

General

CRAFT LAB FOR KIDS: 52 DIY PROJECTS TO INSPIRE, EXCITE, AND EMPOWER KIDS TO CREATE USEFUL BEAUTIFUL HANDMADE GOODS by Stephanie Corfee
(DB 108164) Grades 3-6
EARTH-FRIENDLY CRAFTS FOR KIDS: FIFTY AWESOME THINGS TO MAKE WITH RECYCLED STUFF by Heather Smith (DB 56455) Grades 4-7

Ceramics

CLAY LAB FOR KIDS: 52 PROJECTS TO MAKE, MODEL, AND MOLD WITH AIR-DRY, POLYMER, AND HOMEMADE CLAY by Cassie Stephens (DB 108162) Grades 2-4

Drawing

DRAWING, SKETCHING, AND CARTOONING: TECHNIQUES FOR DRAWING PEOPLE, PLACES, PETS, AND CARTOON CHARACTERS by Deri Robins (BRC 01046)

Felting

UNIQUELY FELT: DOZENS OF TECHNIQUES FROM FULLING AND SHAPING TO NUNO AND COBWEB; INCLUDES FORTY-SIX CREATIVE PROJECTS by Christine White (DB 67685)

Jewelry Making

JEWELRY MAKING FOR FUN AND PROFIT by Lynda S. Musante (DBG 04883)

Knitting

KNITGRRL: LEARN TO KNIT WITH FIFTEEN FUN AND FUNKY PROJECTS by Shannon Okey (DB 62882) Grades 5-8 and older readers

Leatherworking

LEATHER AS ART AND CRAFT by Thelma R. Newman (DB 08973)
KNITTING AND CROCHET FOR THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED AND ELDERLY by Shelagh Hollingworth (DB 17892)

Quilting

FIRST-TIME QUILTMAKING: LEARNING TO QUILT IN SIX EASY LESSONS (DB 108356, BR 24426)

Scrapbooking

MAKING SCRAPBOOKS: COMPLETE GUIDE TO PRESERVING YOUR TREASURED MEMORIES by Vanessa-Ann (DB 47555, BR 12114)

Sewing

FIRST TIME SEWING: THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE (DB 106097)

Weaving

MAKING RAG RUGS: FIFTEEN STEP-BY-STEP PROJECTS by Clare Hubbard
(BR 14617)
SPIDER’S GAMES: A BOOK FOR BEGINNING WEAVERS by Phylis Morrison (DB 17046)

Woodworking

KIDS’ BUILDING WORKSHOP: FIFTEEN WOODWORKING PROJECTS FOR KIDS AND PARENTS TO BUILD TOGETHER by J. Craig Robertson (DB 60805) Grades 4-7 and older readers
WOODCARVING by Everett Ellenwood (DB 70414) Grades 5-8 and older readers