Focus on Bestsellers

When you indicate on your application or over the phone that you want to receive bestsellers, you may receive any kind of book, even those subject areas you don't prefer. Bestsellers are both fiction and non-fiction books that have sold well in bookstores. Some of the topics include adventure, biography, history, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and westerns. To assist you in ordering the kind of bestseller you enjoy, we ask that you review one or both of our bestseller catalogs, "Bestsellers 1979-1983," and "Bestsellers 1984-1994." Please contact your reader advisor at 1-800-992-9012 to order these catalogs

Focus on Schools

As the 1998-99 school year continues, we'd like to offer our schools (and patrons attending school) tips for prompt service. To request books on cassette tape or on record for school, please call at least one week in advance for the materials you need. Our Braille collection is limited in size, so Braille requests will be handled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Each book you keep that you don't use prevents other patrons or schools from receiving the materials they need. Please remember the reader who may be waiting for materials may be you. For textbooks and large print materials, contact the Media Centre for the Visually Impaired at 517-224-0333. For more information about school services, please contact Nancy Skowronek at 517-373-7132.

Focus on L.A. Theatre Works

The L.A. Theatre Works, a twenty-year-old nonprofit theatre and radio production organization, recently donated five recorded dramas to the Library of Michigan Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. These audio dramas have been performed by a variety of top Hollywood actors and actresses, in front of a live studio audience. The following titles areavailable:

LM 7060 "Park My Car in Harvard Yard" by Israel Horovitz (1 cassette, 100 minutes)

LM 7061 "Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting" by Ed Schmidt (1 cassette, 96 minutes)

LM 7062 "The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial" by Peter Goodchild (2 cassettes, 120 minutes)

LM 7063 "Night, Mother" by Marsha Norman (1 cassette, 100 minutes)

LM 7064 "Brighton Beach Memoirs" by Neil Simon (2 cassettes, 120 minutes)

The library owns only one copy of each audio drama. These materials are loaned for ten days and mailed out on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information on these audio dramas, please contact your reader advisor at 1-800-992-9012.

Focus on Our Gift to You

This issue of Focus 23 is being sent with a magnet, our gift to you. The magnet features our address and toll-free telephone number, as well as our Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) number. We encourage our patrons to contact us about our library service at anytime. Your comments and concerns are always welcome. Our goal is to provide you with the best library service possible. Call us and let us know how we're doing, what kind of books you like or dislike, if you are getting too many or to few books, or any equipment questions.

Focus on Magazines

The Library of Michigan Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is currently experiencing a shortage of cassette containers. Please help by checking in your closet, under your bed, or other locations in your home for stray magazine cassette containers. If you need mailing cards to return these containers, contact your reader advisor at 1-800-992-9012.

Library of Michigan, Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

Call: 517-373-5614

Toll-Free: 1-800-992-9012

Internet: http://michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17449_18641---,00.html

Eligibility: Anyone unable to hold or read regular printed materials may receive this free service.

Services:

• Recorded books: records, and cassettes
• Books in Braille
• Described videotapes

Materials:

• Fiction and nonfiction
• Adult and children's books
• General interest magazines

Gifts and Bequests:

• May be sent to the Library of Michigan Foundation