Interchange Newsletter for Nebraska Talking Book & Braille Services
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Interchange Newsletter
Spring 2025
Vol. 9, No. 1
Summer Reading Program
Is there a young reader in your life who uses the Talking Book and Braille Service? As we approach the end of the school year, TBBS is excited to announce an opportunity to encourage continued reading of audio or braille books over the summer.
We are sponsoring a free Summer Reading Program for our readers who are 19 years and younger. This year’s theme is Color Our World! All readers who sign up will receive a welcome prize that includes a magnetic bookmark, stickers, and pencils. And, if they continue reading over the summer, they will win a pair of crew socks and an Owala water bottle! TBBS will also provide three creative craft kits over the course of the program.
If you have any questions or would like to register your young reader,
call us at 402-471-4038 or 800-742-7691. You can also email us at
nlc.talkingbook@nebraska.gov. TBBS will also be mailing out registration forms closer to the end of the school year.
DA2 Waitlist Available
TBBS is anticipating the arrival of the next-generation Talking Book player, the DA2, by the end of 2025!
The DA2 features Wi-Fi connectivity and 28 GB of internal storage. DA2 users will be able to connect directly to BARD to download and listen to audiobooks and magazines. A typical NLS audiobook is 120 MB, which means that the DA2 will be able to hold roughly 200 books – perfect for listening on the go!
In addition to its built-in speaker, the DA2 also has Bluetooth capabilities for use with Bluetooth-enabled speakers or headphones. There is also a standard headphone jack.
TBBS is now welcoming patrons who are eligible to borrow a DA2 to add their names to the waitlist.
A patron is eligible to borrow a DA2 player as quantities permit and as long as they are in good standing. To be in good standing requires that you must have:
- a. no more than one Library of Congress talking book player in your possession,
- b. not demonstrated a pattern of lost or damaged TBBS materials orequipment in any format, and
- c. borrowed at least one book or one magazine in the past twelve months.
Additionally, given the limited quantities and the function of the DA2, you must also have:
- access to an in-home Wi-Fi connection,
- a valid email address, and
- downloaded at least one book or one magazine via BARD in the pastsix months.
Preference will be given to borrowers who have been honorably discharged from the armed forces of the United States.
Please call or email TBBS in order to be added to the waitlist. When the DA2 players arrive, TBBS will contact patrons in the order added to the waitlist, from the earliest to the latest. Patrons will need to confirm that they are still interested in borrowing a DA2 within five business days. If no confirmation is given, TBBS will contact the next interested patron on the list, and so on.
BARD 2 Offers New Features for Patrons
BARD, the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download website, now offers expanded functionality and will serve as a gateway to exciting new services in the future.
We are pleased to announce that if you use BARD on the web, you will have access to BARD 2 in early May.
If you’re not a BARD user, this is your chance to sign up for the service and get instant access to hundreds of thousands of audio and braille books and magazines for reading with an NLS digital talking-book machine, a personal smart device with BARD mobile, a Braille eReader, or your PC with the BARD Express player.
Features of the new website include:
- a. Reorganization of the Wish List, Reading History, Subscriptions, and Account Settings under one menu.
- b. New sorting capabilities of book lists. You can now search throughbook lists and refine the results by format, language, and subject.
- c. An updated search engine, so finding books is easier and faster than ever before.
- d. Advanced search functionality.
Access to the new and improved BARD website requires a change in your login procedures. We have contacted all BARD web users and provided instructions for the new login procedures. If you have any questions, need assistance, or just want to tell us about your experience with BARD 2, contact us at nlc.talkingbook@nebraska.gov or call 402-471-4038.
Join the TBBS Online Community
We are excited to announce that our service now has its own Instagram page. Follow us at Nebraska Talking Book Service to stay up to date with key updates, future events, and new book suggestions!
Be sure to also follow our Facebook page: Nebraska Talking Book and Braille Service. Facebook is also where we host our Braille and Talking Book Club exclusively for our patrons. Each month we feature a new book for everyone to read and discuss together. We encourage you to join us!
New Books Added to Our Collection
DBC02085 Showdown at Sunrise by Wayne C. Lee. A western novel about Reed Marshall and the other settlers of Sunrise Creek, who unite to fight the ruthless ranch owner Bruce Braxton, who is trying to force them off their homestead. Fiction.
DBC02095 Stage to Lonesome Butte by Wayne C. Lee. A young man carrying a large sum of cash on the stagecoach is hard-pressed to defend his money and the lives of the other passengers from a gang of cut-throats. Fiction.
DBC02182 A Need to Kill: The True-Crime Account of John Joubert, Nebraska’s Most Notorious Serial Child Killer by Mark Pettit. Two young boys were kidnapped and brutally murdered for no apparent reason. When lawmen finally caught their man, he was no more than a child himself-a young man obsessed with death, unable to distinguish between pain and pleasure. Explicit descriptions of sex, strong language, and violence. Nonfiction.
DBC02199 The Seven Visions of Bull Lodge as told by his daughter, Garter Snake; gathered by Fred P. Gone; edited by George Horse Capture. This novel is a record of the spiritual life of Bull Lodge, religious leader, healer, and keeper of the tribal Feathered Pipe, one of two tribal objects of the Gros Ventres Native American Indians. Nonfiction.
DBC02201 Panther! by Roger A. Caras. A panther of the Florida Everglades survives Hurrican Dora only to confront the deadly fangs of a diamondback rattlesnake, the jaws of an alligator, the hug of a hungry bear, the trap of an obsessed human hunter, and the bullets of boys on a lark. Strong Language. Fiction.
DBC02203 Riot in a Parrot Shoppe and Other Eruptions by Helen G. Crosswait. A collection of short stories and poetry that provides a regional perspective, specifically focused on stories from Nebraska. Nonfiction.
DBC02208 The Forest by Roger A. Caras. Roger Caras, nature commentator and author, delves into the lush ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest forests, home to a rich network of wildlife. He warns of the rapid destruction of these forests due to logging and disease, with 150 acres disappearing every minute. Caras vividly portrays the urgency of preserving this vanishing natural heritage. Nonfiction.
DBC02210 Something Beautiful by Linda Light Strasheim with Evelyn Bence. Former Miss Kansas describes how her Christian faith sustains her, consigned to a wheelchair by multiple sclerosis. Nonfiction.
These locally-produced audiobooks, and more, can be found here: https://nlc.nebraska.gov/tbbs/nebraska-bks.pdf. A complete listing of audio magazines – including new subscriptions! – can be found here: https://nlc.nebraska.gov/tbbs/magazine.aspx.
Order Form and Mailing Instructions
Mark the books and magazines you wish to order, then put this page into an envelope and mail to:
Nebraska Library Commission
Talking Book and Braille Service
The Atrium, 1200 N St, Ste 120
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508-2023
(402) 471-4038 | (800) 742-7691
You can also order online by going to https://forms.gle/VPkHcXP4tnxYPMas7.