Episode Transcript
[00:00:17] Speaker A: Greetings readers. Welcome to the second episode of the February 2025 Library News. The Library is excited for Braille Challenge this month. The 2025 Iowa Regional Braille Challenge will be held at the Iowa Department for the blind on Saturday, February 22, with a snow day of Saturday, March 1. The theme for this year is Blast off with Braille. We are excited to offer lodging at no cost to families again this year, as well as a Travel reimbursement of $50 for families who live more than 50 miles from Des Moines. There will be free parking during the event and lunch for participants and their families. And following the Braille Challenge, there will be an ice cream social and birthday bash to celebrate the Iowa Department for the blind's 100th birthday, which will also include karaoke. During the Braille Challenge, there will be parent sessions talking about high expectations at home and school.
For the most up to date information about the Braille Challenge, visit the Braille Challenge page on the Library blog at iowalibrary blog.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: For this month's Dela Spotlight Love Across Time beyond the Highland Mist By Karen Marie Moaning, DB 59185 Adrienne D. Simone finds herself transported from modern day Seattle to medieval Scotland. Against her will, she marries Hawke, an earl known for his prowess in war and in love. Adrian vows to resist him, but but Hawk is determined to win her. Cassandra in Reverse By Holly Small, DB115359 Cassandra Penelope Dankworth is a creature of habit. She likes what she likes museums, jumpsuits, her boyfriend Will, and strongly dislikes what she doesn't mess, change her boss drinking out of her mug. Her life runs in a pleasing, predictable order. Until now. She's just been dumped. She's just been fired. Her local cafe has run out of banana muffins. Then something truly unexpected happens. Cassie discovers she can go back and change the past, one small rewind at a time. Cassie attempts to fix the life she accidentally obliterated, but soon she'll discover she's trying to fix all the wrong things.
A Stitch in Time By Kelly Armstrong, DB117451 Throne Manor has always been haunted and has always haunted Bronwyn Dale. As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great aunt's house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination. Now, 20 years later, Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor, and when she returns, William is waiting William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He's a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self imposed exile and his beloved Mors. He's also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago. As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorn Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past.
Chants of a Lifetime By Jude Devereux and Tara Sheets, DB112954 in one century she loved him madly, and in another she wants nothing to do with him. In 1844 Ireland, Liam O'Connor, a rogue and a thief, fell madly in love with the squire's daughter and unwittingly altered the future.
Shy and naive Cora McLeod thought Liam was the answer to her prayers. But the angels disagreed, and they've been waiting for the right moment in time to step in. Now Liam finds himself reunited with his beloved Korah in Providence Falls, North Carolina. The angels have given Liam a task he must make sure Cora falls in love with another man, the one she was supposed to marry before Liam interfered. But this court is very different from the innocent girl who fell for Liam in the past. She's a cop and has confidence and independence he wasn't expecting. She doesn't remember Liam or their past lives, nor is she impressed with his attempts to guide her in any way. Liam wants Cora for himself, but with his soul hanging in the balance, he must choose between a stolen moment in time or an eternity of damnation.
[00:05:00] Speaker C: A Dance Through Time By Lynn Kurlin, DB78 082 New York, 1996 Romance writer Elizabeth Smith, whose career and engagement have stalled, goes for a walk in Gramercy park and wakes up in medieval Scotland in James MacLeod's castle. Elizabeth Falls for James but is determined to return home. Outlander By Deanna Gibbolton, DB 118350 the year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British isle. Suddenly she is a Sassenach, an outlander in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord 17:43. Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of Lairds and spies that may threaten her life and shatter her heart. For here, James Frazer, a gallant young Scots warrior, chose her, a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire, and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives. A quantum Love Story By Mike Chan DB11 9386 the only thing harder than finding someone in a time loop is losing them Grieving her best friend's recent death, neuroscientist Mariana Panenez ready to give up everything to start anew, even her career. After one last week consulting a top secret particle accelerator. Except the strangest thing. A man stops her and claims that they've met before. Carter Cho knows who she is, why she's mourning, why she's there. And he needs Mariana to remember everything he's saying, because time is about to loop in a flash of energy. It's Monday morning again. Together, Mariana and Carter enter an inevitable life four days at a time, over and over, without permanence, except for what they share with everything, resetting even bank accounts. Joy comes in the little delicious and expensive meal, a tennis match, giving a dog his favorite treat. In some ways, those are all that matter. But just as they figure out this new life, everything changes. Because Carter's memory of the time loop are slowly disappearing, and their only chance at happiness is breaking out of the loop forever.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: The Second Chance Year by Melissa Weisner DB119080 Sadie Thatcher's life has fallen apart in spectacular fashion. In one fell swoop, she's managed to lose her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend, all thanks to her big mouth. So when a fortune teller offers her one wish, Sadie jumps at the chance to redo her awful gear. Deep down, she doesn't believe magic will fix her life. But taking a leap of faith, Sadie makes her wish, opens her eyes, and nothing has changed. And then, in perhaps her dumbest move yet, she kisses her brother's best friend, Jacob. When Sadie wakes up the next morning, she's in her former apartment with her former boyfriend, and her former boss is expecting her at work. Checking the date, she realizes it's January 1st of last year. As Sadie navigates her second chance year, she begins to see the red flags she missed in her relationship and in her career. Plus, she keeps running into Jacob, and she can't stop thinking about their kiss, the one he has no idea has ever happened. Suddenly, Sadie begins to wonder if her only mistake was wishing for a second chance.
The Husbands By Hollywood Grazio, DB 120591 When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There's only one problem. She's not married. She's never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they've been together for years. As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can't remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a light bulb and abruptly disappears in his place. A new man emerges and a new, slightly altered life reforms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question, if swapping lives is as easy as changing a light bulb, how do you know you've taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living Love Beyond Time By Bethany Clare DBC 27286 after joining her archaeologist's mother on a dig in Scotland, a schoolteacher finds herself transported 400 years into the past and just moments away from marrying an impossibly handsome Scotsman.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: The magazine of the month for February is Bon Appetit. This magazine covers a range of topics including cooking, entertainment, and travel, and also features recipes from famous restaurants. Bon Appetit is published 10 times a year and is available in audio format, both on cartridges and as audio downloads through Bard.
[00:11:12] Speaker C: Hello, it's Leland again with your February Tech tip. This month I want to talk about how you can get your own books for your NLS book player. That's right. Today I'm talking about Bard Express and how it works. Let's get started. Bard Express is a program that can be downloaded from the NLS bard website@nls bard.loc.gov. you'll be prompted to sign in with your Bard account. If you aren't signed up for Bard Services yet, contact us at the Iowa Library for the Blind and we'll help you get signed up. Once signed in, look for the heading Additional Links and select the option for Bard Express. This will take you to the Bard Express main page, where you can find information and resources about the program. Under the heading how to Get Bard Express, click Click the link that says Download Bard Express. This will start the download. Once it finishes, run the setup file and when the installation is complete, you should see Bard Express icon on your desktop. Bard Express allows patrons to search and download books from the NLS collection. Books can be listened to directly from your computer or transferred to a cartridge from use with your book player. If you don't have a personal cartridge, you can also use a USB thumb drive. Your book player has a USB port on the right side where you can plug it in. This is a great tool for anyone who wants to download books independently. It does require a computer with Internet access to work and a little bit of work to get set up. For those already using Bar Express, the There was a recent update with some minor improvements. If you aren't prompted to update the next time you open Bard Express, you can manually check by clicking Check for Updates under the Help menu. If you have any questions or need more information, feel free to give us a call.
[00:13:24] Speaker D: Hi everyone, my name is Denise Bean and thank you for the invitation to be this month's Staff Spotlight Pick. It is such an honor as you may imagine with the title Youth Services Librarian. You may think my favorite author pick would be from the section of Young Readers. Well, actually it is far from it. Let me just say there is nothing like a good mystery to get your heart pumping. When I first started at the library over seven years ago, Deana Cross, who is now featured on her library blog Monthly Book Review by From Dina Dina mentioned checking out the author Linda Castillo. After a few chapters, Linda had me hook, line and sinker. I am really not sure that one of her books would be my preferred pick, however, Breaking Silence combines pure suspense and detective work. Kate Burkholder investigates crime scenes within the Amish community. The death seems accidental, but once Kate gets involved it turns into a game of search and find. Most interesting Kate has a little girl, grew up within the Amish community. Her books are compelling and on the edge of your seat suspenseful. In the book Darkstone Rising, Kate just got married to John Tapas Yeti and spent their honeymoon at Lake Erie. It was a matter of time before they were back on a case. I love her books. Alright, switching gears. Any book that includes Rising out of the Pit of Despair and Overcoming Obstacles grabs my attention. The book titled Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand is a World War II story of survival. While reading this book you feel every inch of Louis Cebrini's pain. This is a true story about an Olympic runner and World War II bombardier who survived a plane crash in 47 days adrift at sea only to become a POW in Japan. They also made a movie about this book. I usually prefer the book over the movie. Another book titled I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall is fantastic. It is about surviving a car crash and turns into a twist of survival. I had recommended this book to one of our high school patrons who enjoyed reading nature's survival mysteries this book covered all the bases.
On the lighter side, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl is humorous, light hearted, but packs valuable lessons about good character and family. I remember as a kid watching this movie repeatedly, as if the ending would change. The book is much better. Like music, books are essential to life. As a youth librarian, I feel fortunate to have the best job in the universe. Books and Children who Need Books Many.
[00:16:18] Speaker A: Faces of Bard will be held on Thursday, February 13th at 6pm via Zoom. The topic this month is an open forum. There will not be a presentation, just a full hour of answers to your questions about anything related to Bard. Smart Speaking to the Smart Speaker, a new limited series program from the National Library Service will be held Thursday, February 20th at 6pm the topic for this month will be Book Management and the My Talking Book Skill. The program will start with a brief discussion, demonstration and presentation. After the presentation, NLS will answer questions about book management or anything else related to using the My Talking Book skill on Alexa enabled Smart speakers at all may eread the monthly NLS program that focuses on the NLS Braille ereader will be held at at Tuesday, February 25th at 6pm via Zoom. You can contact the library to get the login information for all the NLS programs.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: The Collections Division of the National Library Service has a new monthly newsletter that can be delivered right to your email inbox. Collection Connections is a monthly e newsletter that contains books of note curated by the NLS Collections Division. Each issue contains book lists to spark your curiosity and interest. To sign up, send an email to connectionsoc.gov Please don't hesitate to contact the library with any questions or comments at 515-281-1323 or by email at librarylind state ia us. The library is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm Happy reading. It.
