It's been a while since we've had an "around the office" post here, so we wanted to vicariously invite all of you working this Christmas Eve (or catching up on KLASusers afterwards) to our annual holiday celebrations.

Whatever you celebrate: may your days be joyous and bright!

For the office potluck, we had an excellent array of holiday dishes, usually classics but often with a little something new. An office favorite is the soup that John Owen brought every year--that recipe was handed down to George who dutifully carries on the tradition.

After lunch, we have a white elephant gift exchange, with each person either opening a gift or stealing someone else's. There's always a lot of laughter, and just a little chaos.

On another night, we all go out for a more formal dinner, with families invited.

Not pictured: Drea, because she was the one making the rounds with the camera.

Dave brought a present for us all this year: new signage to try to keep the other tenants of the building out of our parking spaces!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of the festivities! You all are part of the Keystone family too, and we hope for a chance to see you in the next year's webinars and mini-conference--or even better, in-person at KLASusers 2027!

At a recent Open Forum, NLS announced that they would no longer be distributing the TBT4 audio version of Talking Book Topics. An Operations Alert will be forthcoming, but in the meantime, we’ve started discussing how we can help you continue to offer this to your patrons.

The good news: you can treat this like any other NLS-provided serial for duplication. You also have other options. 

First things first, understanding the scope:

How many copies do you need/want to send?

How many Active TBT4 subscribers do you have? 

You can easily check this on the SER-TBT3 or SER-TBT4 record in your Serial’s module: the Active Subs (subscriptions) count is on the Title tab. 

If you want to take a deeper look and exclude patrons that haven’t had any other activity lately, you can Query from the Patron Module:

Quick Search - 

• Main Status - Equals - A
• Last Served Date - Is Between - 01/01/2025 - (today’s date)

Advanced Search - 

• Subscription - KLAS ID - Equals - SER-TBT4 (or 3, if that is the version used in your database)
• Subscription - End Date - Is Blank

Once you know how many patrons you’re dealing with, some questions to consider:

• Can you duplicate a cartridge for each TBT4 subscriber on a single day? Over the course of a week?
• Do you want to combine TBT cartridges with other serials when possible, or always send it on its own?
• Do you want to make sure it always goes to all Active patrons, even if they haven’t returned previous issues?
• Do you / will you continue to treat TBT as a default subscription, or will you want patrons to Opt In instead of Opting Out?

And one final question to think about:

• Should TBT be a Circulating Serial (and so update the patron’s Last Served Date), or a Publication (which doesn’t update the Last Served)? 

In other words, should a patron that only receives TBT and nothing else still count as Active? 

(Note: Either Cir or Pub can be used for TBT regardless of whether you decide to go with Option 1 or Option 2 below.)

Option 1 - Send as a Standalone (Our Recommendation)

You can give the duplication-version of the TBT4 serial its own unique Medium. This is our recommendation for most libraries.

Benefits:

• Will ensure that the TBT is sent on its own cartridge without other serial issues.
• Counts towards its own Cutoff, which can be set high to ensure that it goes out quarterly even if the patron is at Cutoff for their books or regular Serials.
• Makes it easy to get specific statistics about how many TBTs you are sending to how many patrons, without inflating your statistics for the other serials.
• Allows for a different schedule for the orders: Nightly so it goes out ASAP when available, or on a different day of the week than the rest of your Serials to help distribute the work.

Downside:

• Requires another entry on the Patron’s Profile tab.
• Yet another Batch to run.

Option 2 - Send with other Serials

Alternatively, you can treat the TBT4 like any other NLS-provided serial.

Benefits: 

• No change to your workflow.
• No new Medium required.

Downsides:

• May be buried in the middle of other serials on a cartridge.
• May not go out right away if the patron is at Cutoff.
• May make your serial run overwhelming, depending on subscriber count.
• Will get your TBT statistics mixed into your other Serial statistics.

Alternatives, Supplements, and Other Thoughts

As far as we can tell at this time, everything that is technically needed for you to duplicate TBT4 for your patrons is already in place with just a little set-up needed from Customer Support, primarily the SDS- or MOC-TBT4 title record.

However, as mentioned above, we expect more information from NLS soon, so you have time to consider how to best serve your patrons.

The PDF and HTML formats will continue to be produced, and the DB monograph version will continue to be made available (although it will continue to be delayed compared to the Serial version, due to the conversion process). 

We know some of you are already providing your patrons with alternate ways of accessing the material, from mailing out Large Print excerpts (such as sending the chapter on Westerns to patrons who have requested it), to providing Browse links on your WebOPAC for patrons to easily review and request from the genres that interest them.

Are there other ways you want to provide this information, versus duplicating and mailing a cartridge with the full TBT issue?

For example, would you want to do a monthly query for the titles added in your biggest Genres, to print as a bibliography in Large Print and as a PDF?

If you’ve gotten creative with your TBT distribution, please share in the comments below what you’ve tried and what the reception was!

As NLS makes sure that the "I"s are dotted and the "T"s are crossed on all the open collection acknowledgements, here's a run-down of all the required fields:

1. Patron Main

On the Main tab, the relevant Patron Types are:

• IP or IS for Institutions (make sure that Individual checkbox is blank)
• For juveniles, any patron type that begins with P will be checked for for the age (make sure that Individual checkbox is marked)

2. Contact tab

On the Contact tab, make sure the Alt Contact is present and complete:

• Legal for Institutions
• Parent or Guardian for juveniles
• Title in Description field for Institutions
• Full Name for either
• Phone and email for both

2b. Contact Preference

If there is more than one Alt Contact of a relevant SubType (such as two Parents on a juvenile's account), you need to specify which one to sync to NLS as having provided the Acknowledgement Answer.

Do this by setting a Contact Preference for the ParentalAck.

Finally, you need the Property record (aka Preference) recording the Answer and the Answer Date.

• For Institutions, the Property Type is Legal Acknowledgement
• For Juveniles, the Property Type is Parental Acknowledgement
• Either way, the answers are likely worded as "Parent Does Acknowledge" etc.
• Include the Date Answered

Questions & PIMMS Error Report

If you aren't sure why an account is included in NLS' list of non-compliant records and/or in your PIMMS Error Report, please check each of the above fields, and let customer support know the Patron ID if you still need help! If the record was in your Error Report, please include the text of the error as well.

The KLAS Users' Program Committee is planning for the 2026 free, online KLAS Users' MiniConference slated to be held via Zoom during afternoons the week of May 11-15, 2026.

Previous MiniConferences offered sessions such as: KLAS New Features, Keystone Updates, informal open forum / birds-of-a-feather sessions, and more! In preparation for this year's MiniConference, we're asking you what topics you want to hear about, and what you'd like to share.

Take a minute to ruminate, brainstorm, consider, and think about it... and then let us know!

Topic Suggestion & Session Submission Deadline = Friday, January 23, 2026

For many years, Keystone offered regular Administrator’s Training sessions at our office in Raleigh. Not only did that allow us to give admins in-depth training on their own systems, but it also gave them the opportunity to get to know us and network with a few of their peers as they learned together.

However, travel costs are a barrier to some, and others are banned from business travel to North Carolina for political reasons. Then on top of that, we had a pandemic situation. The answer was clear...as much as we loved having you in person, it was time to offer admin training virtually.

We want to make sure attendees get just as much benefit from the online version as they did from attending in person. That means the online version need just as much hands-on, personalized, and interactive an approach as the in-person version did, including opportunities for discussion with the other attendees and introduction to several Keystone staff members. 

We hope this will allow more of you than ever before to benefit from admin training. Be sure to let us know if you’re interested in joining in!

Training Structure & Content

We took this opportunity to revamp and re-evaluate the structure of the training. Because the in-person version required attendees to stay here in Raleigh, it was kept to two (very busy, intense, somewhat demanding) days. To make it a little easier to absorb all of the information without eating too much into your schedules, we spread out the online version to four half-days running from 1:00-4:30 PM Eastern Time each day. The lesson plan itself has been updated from a progressive tour of the admin menu to a more module and task-oriented approach.

Library for the Bind & Print Disabled (LBPD) Administrator Training Agenda

• ​Monday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM Nightly Configuration
  • 3:00-4:30 PM Roundtable Discussion
• Tuesday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM Duplication on Demand Setup
  • 3:00-4:30 PM Catalog-focused Settings
• Wednesday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM Reports / Query / Excel
  • 3:00-4:30 PM Patron-focused Settings
• Thursday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM User Permissions
  • 3:00-4:30 PM WebOPAC Settings

Instructional Resource Center (IRC) Administrator Training Agenda

• Monday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM Catalog-focused Settings
  • 3:00-4:30 PM Patron-focused Settings / APH Census
• Tuesday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM Materials Requests
  • 3:00-4:30 PM WebOPAC / WebOrder 
• Wednesday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM Acquisitions / APH Integration
  • 3:00-4:30 PM Other Administrator Controls
• Thursday
  • 1:00-2:30 PM Reports / Query / Excel Security
  • 3:00-4:30 PM Specialized Notes & Census

Provided Training Resources:

All attendees receive a copy of the KLAS Administrator Training Manual and ongoing access to all session recordings. Finally, to help attendees orient themselves to each topic and come prepared to discuss their own settings and needs, we developed pre-class worksheets for each session. These worksheets are not checked or graded, it’s fine if attendees don’t have time to get through them all, but they will help ensure you get the most out of the training. 

For more information about what is covered, please see the Administrator’s Training – What to Expect article.

2026 KLAS Admin Training Sessions

• June 8-11, 2026 - Library for the Blind and Print Disabled KLAS Administrator Training
• September 14-17, 2026 - Library for the Blind and Print Disabled KLAS Administrator Training
• November 2-5, 2026 - Instructional Resource Center KLAS Administrator Training

Prerequisites for attendance:

• Attendee must have a KLAS Administrator role in their local system
• Attendee has authority to change records and policies for their KLAS system

Training Cost

The training costs $600 per attendee, which covers the staff time needed to prepare for and run the training session. You also receive the KLAS Administrator’s Reference manual, which will be mailed to you (or provided electronically if that’s more accessible for you), the pre-class worksheets, and recordings of each session.

Registration Form

To register for an upcoming session or express interest in another date, please fill out the following form:

• KLAS Administrator's Training Registration Form

If you have any trouble accessing the form or if you have questions, please let us know! We hope to see you soon.

It's that time again! Join Jesse & Josh at 3 PM ET, Tuesday, December 16 for the next KLAS Administrators' Open Forum!!

The KLAS Admin Open Forum is held monthly via Zoom on the 3rd Tuesday at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific. This is especially for KLAS Admins to have a place to share, discuss, ask questions, network, and more. Why reinvent the wheel when we can learn some great wheel designs from someone else?!

Jesse McGarity, VA, and Josh Easter, SD, host / moderate this monthly opportunity for KLAS Administrators' to come together online and discuss their experiences, issues, ideas, anecdotes, resources, etc. with KLAS Admins from other organizations. So, be sure to join them!

• What: KLAS Administrators' Open Forum
• When: 3 PM ET / Noon PT Tuesday, December 16
• Where: Zoom!
  • Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81583844348?pwd=JpWDArINdY5WHzYukWbnveYwaTEaqW.1
  • Join Instructions: https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/81583844348/invitations?signature=6ekw84yXLmVFDJs2L-pC5ju8gQtkieDeioIqblSJ1FA
    
    • Meeting ID: 815 8384 4348
      Passcode: 369429
• Who: ALL KLAS Administrators

Add this event to your personal calendar: 

It's that time again! Join Jesse & Josh at 3 PM ET, Tuesday, November 18 for the next KLAS Administrators' Open Forum!!

The KLAS Admin Open Forum is held monthly via Zoom on the 3rd Tuesday at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific. This is especially for KLAS Admins to have a place to share, discuss, ask questions, network, and more. Why reinvent the wheel when we can learn some great wheel designs from someone else?!

Jesse McGarity, VA, and Josh Easter, SD, host / moderate this monthly opportunity for KLAS Administrators' to come together online and discuss their experiences, issues, ideas, anecdotes, resources, etc. with KLAS Admins from other organizations. So, be sure to join them next Tuesday!

• What: KLAS Administrators' Open Forum
• When: 3 PM ET / Noon PT Tuesday, October 21
• Where: Zoom!
  • Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81583844348?pwd=JpWDArINdY5WHzYukWbnveYwaTEaqW.1
  • Join Instructions: https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/81583844348/invitations?signature=6ekw84yXLmVFDJs2L-pC5ju8gQtkieDeioIqblSJ1FA
    
    • Meeting ID: 815 8384 4348
      Passcode: 369429
• Who: ALL KLAS Administrators

Add this event to your personal calendar: 

Recently, several KLAS libraries were the target of a recent spate of DDOS attacks (Distributed Denial of Service).

A DDOS attack’s goal is not to take over or gain access to secure data, it’s about preventing things from working properly. Simply stated, it sends a flood of ridiculous requests to a server and makes it impossible for the server to handle its typical load of real requests. It is like having so many people continuously dial a company's phone number that many / most legitimate calls can’t get through. 

Last Friday, KLAS’ OPAC servers were the target of a DDOS attack for several libraries. First Sacramento, CA and Albany, NY on Friday morning followed by Oregon on Friday afternoon. Additionally, Louisiana has been the ongoing target of a similar attack for nearly a month. All Keystone-hosted sites were brought back online within the same day, with additional mitigations in place to protect against attack, and we consulted with the self-hosted sites as requested.

So what does this mean for other libraries that were not specifically targeted?

Keystone firewalls reject all web traffic from outside of the United States, because DDOS attacks typically originate from outside of the US. Additionally, all US IP addresses are inspected with the most common threats prevented. With library staff and patrons spread across the United States, we typically allow most US based IP addresses access to the OPAC.

Last Friday’s DDOS attacks were outside the norm. They all originated from US-based IP addresses and were distributed across many regions and IP ranges making it much more difficult to shut down the bad ones. If you noticed your server traffic being a bit sporadic this is the likely reason. 

In response, we started making changes early Friday morning to mitigate the attack and continued to monitor and adjust settings as needed throughout the day and into the weekend. Actions taken to address this situation include a much higher scrutiny of all connections to the OPAC servers and increasing protection tools to utilize a higher, more targeted mode for all IPs, including those within the US. It is possible that on rare occasions a valid request may be denied, but we now have far stronger protection against DDOS attacks. We also made adjustments to the OPAC’s 'load balancers' as a way to block the attack even farther out from the servers. We are sorry any libraries were impacted by these attacks, but now all libraries on KLAS Hosting Service are much better protected.

At this time, we consider the situation resolved and server connections stable since the adjustments we made, but also continue to monitor for any signs of another issue.

To help libraries / organizations interested in possibly hosting a future KLAS Users' Conference, we created a planning guide to help explain the facility, logistics, and other needs for putting on the event. This document contains checklists and suggestions to provide guidance as you plan as well as historical information about previous conferences including attendance numbers and registration fees. Please let us know if you are interested in hosting a future conference and / or have any questions about the information provided.

• KLASUsersConferencePlanningGuide_-_2025-08-29.doc
• KLASUsersConferencePlanningGuide_-_2025-08-29.pdf

It's that time again! Join Jesse & Josh at 3 PM ET, Tuesday, August 19 for the next KLAS Administrators' Open Forum!!

Suggest topics of discussion:Serial batches and why they are hard, Serve Code Adjacent – nightly configuration for specific people?, or continuing the Code discussion from last time with Note Types.

The KLAS Admin Open Forum is held monthly via Zoom on the 3rd Tuesday at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific. This is especially for KLAS Admins to have a place to share, discuss, ask questions, network, and more. Why reinvent the wheel when we can learn some great wheel designs from someone else?!

Jesse McGarity, VA, and Josh Easter, SD, host / moderate this monthly opportunity for KLAS Administrators' to come together online and discuss their experiences, issues, ideas, anecdotes, resources, etc. with KLAS Admins from other organizations. So, be sure to join them next Tuesday!

• What: KLAS Administrators' Open Forum
• When: 3 PM ET / Noon PT Tuesday, August 19
• Where: Zoom!
  • Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81583844348?pwd=JpWDArINdY5WHzYukWbnveYwaTEaqW.1
  • Join Instructions: https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/81583844348/invitations?signature=6ekw84yXLmVFDJs2L-pC5ju8gQtkieDeioIqblSJ1FA
    
    • Meeting ID: 815 8384 4348
      Passcode: 369429
• Who: ALL KLAS Administrators

Add this event to your personal calendar: 

Katy Patrick and Drea Callicutt presented a session at the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference discussing how to access and use the various training and reference resources Keystone provides for KLAS Users' including klasusers.com, the KLAS Users' and KLAS IRC Users' listserv, and more! Below is the recording of this session. If you have any questions or feedback, please email Keystone Customer Support ().

Calling ALL Instructional Resource / Materials Center KLASUsers! We invite you to join us for a KLAS IRC Users' Open Forum, the first of a quarterly series hosted by KLAS IRC / IMC Users for KLAS IRC / IMC Users. This free, online session will occur Wednesday, July 30 at 3:00 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific.

Katie Eromae, Arizona Instructional Resource Center, will serve as your user moderator, and Keystone staff will be available to answer questions / provide insight as needed. So, mark your calendar, bring your tips, tricks, feedback, insight, etc, and join us!

• What: KLAS IRC Users' Open Forum
• When: 3 PM ET / Noon PT Wednesday, July 30
• Where: Zoom! 
  •  Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84502027892?pwd=yHGjK9pBaTpiO0piU9PWYog4cxdXUR.1
  • Dial-in for Audio:  https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdrbsdfKJY
    • Meeting ID: 845 0202 7892
    • Passcode: 280450

Add to your Calendar: 

It's that time again! Join Jesse & Josh at 3 PM ET, Tuesday, July 15 for the next KLAS Administrators' Open Forum!! 

Suggested topic of discussion for this month's open forum:

• Code Categories - Service Codes, Blocks, & Note Types

Other topics are always welcome.

The KLAS Admin Open Forum is held monthly via Zoom on the 3rd Tuesday at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific. This is especially for KLAS Admins to have a place to share, discuss, ask questions, network, and more. Why reinvent the wheel when we can learn some great wheel designs from someone else?!

Jesse McGarity, VA, and Josh Easter, SD, host / moderate this monthly opportunity for KLAS Administrators' to come together online and discuss their experiences, issues, ideas, anecdotes, resources, etc. with KLAS Admins from other organizations. So, be sure to join them next Tuesday!

• What: KLAS Administrators' Open Forum
• When: 3 PM ET / Noon PT Tuesday, July 15
• Where: Zoom!
  • Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84640453029?pwd=qwC3QPAgfoSRaLcT3QnRzt4WmVQ3FV.1
  • Dial-in for Audio:  https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc9f7DzNSc
    • Meeting ID: 846 4045 3029
    • Passcode: 833489
• Who: ALL KLAS Administrators

Add this event to your personal calendar: 

They had such a great time last month they're gonna do it again! So, be sure to join Jesse & Josh at 3 PM ET, Tuesday, June 17 for the next KLAS Administrators' Open Forum!!

It is held monthly via Zoom on the 3rd Tuesday at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific. This is especially for KLAS Admins to have a place to share, discuss, ask questions, network, and more. Why reinvent the wheel when we can learn some great wheel designs from someone else?!

Jesse McGarity, VA, and Josh Easter, SD, host / moderate this monthly opportunity for KLAS Administrators' to come together online and discuss their experiences, issues, ideas, anecdotes, resources, etc. with KLAS Admins from other organizations. Be sure to join them for the inaugural meeting next Tuesday!

• What: KLAS Administrators' Open Forum
• When: 3 PM ET / Noon PT Tuesday, June 17
• Where: Zoom!
  • Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84640453029?pwd=qwC3QPAgfoSRaLcT3QnRzt4WmVQ3FV.1
  • Dial-in for Audio:  https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc9f7DzNSc
    • Meeting ID: 846 4045 3029
    • Passcode: 833489
• Who: ALL KLAS Administrators

Add this event to your personal calendar: 

Something NEW is coming next week....the KLAS Administrators' Open Forum.

It will be held monthly via Zoom on the 3rd Tuesday at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific. This is especially for KLAS Admins to have a place to share, discuss, ask questions, network, and more. Why reinvent the wheel when we can learn some great wheel designs from someone else?!

Jesse McGarity, VA, and Josh Easter, SD, are collaborating to host / moderate this monthly opportunities for KLAS Administrators' to come together online and discuss their experiences, issues, ideas, anecdotes, resources, etc. with KLAS Admins from other organizations. Be sure to join them for the inaugural meeting next Tuesday!

• What: KLAS Administrators' Open Forum
• When: 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific
• Where: Zoom!
  • Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84640453029?pwd=qwC3QPAgfoSRaLcT3QnRzt4WmVQ3FV.1
  • Dial-in for Audio:  https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc9f7DzNSc
    • Meeting ID: 846 4045 3029
    • Passcode: 833489
• Who: ALL KLAS Administrators

Add this event to your personal calendar: 

On the morning of Thursday, March 20 a business meeting of the KLAS Users' Group was held at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis, IN as part of the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference. During the course of the meeting, KLAS Users' Group President Maureen Dorosinski presented proposed changes to the KLAS Users' Group Bylaws. The changes were then voted on and approved by those present. The documents below contain the most recently approved bylaws of the KLAS Users' Group as approved on Thursday, March 20, 2025.

• KLAS_User_Group_Bylaws_2025.docx
• KLAS_User_Group_Bylaws_2025.pdf

On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 18 staff of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) presented to staff of LBPD libraries as the staff of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in collaboration with Keystone staff updated instructional resource center staff about APH's integration collaboration with KLAS as part of the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference. Here are the recordings of each session.

KLAS UC2025 NLS Update

 KLAS UC2025 APH Integration Update

Thank you to all the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference local hosts, speakers, and attendees as well as the Keystone Staff, KLAS Users Group Officers, Logistics Committee, and Program Committee, for making our second hybrid conference meaningful and memorable. Now, we'd like to ask our attendees, both virtual and in-person, to share you feedback about your conference experience. How did we do? What went well? What can we improve? All your opinions and insight will be used as we plan future events and conferences.

Please select the feedback form appropriate for your experience: 

• KLAS UC2025 Virtual Attendee Feedback Form
• KLAS UC2025 In-Person Attendee Feedback Form

March 17, 2025 – Keystone Systems, Inc. and Kansas Talking Books are proud to announce that Natalia Renfro is the recipient of the prestigious 2025 Julie Klauber Award. The Julie Klauber Award, presented by Keystone, is a national award that recognizes a library staff person who uses KLAS as part of their daily job functions and demonstrates outstanding dedication and service to library patrons who are visually impaired / print disabled.

Renfro, a valued team member of the State Library of Kansas’ Talking Books division, expressed her excitement and gratitude upon receiving the award. “Having the opportunity to collaborate and learn firsthand from experienced and knowledgeable KLAS users from across the country will allow me to incorporate new and innovative ideas into my work with Kansas Talking Books,” said Renfro. “I will better understand how KLAS and its resources can further the services and support we already provide for our valued patrons. I will also have the opportunity to meet people who are equally committed to working towards the goal ‘that ALL may read.’”

For Kansas Talking Books, Renfro’s recognition is a significant achievement that will benefit both the organization and its patrons. “Nataly receiving the Julie Klauber Award is an honor,” said Michael Lang, Director, Kansas Talking Books. “Her actions embody what we all strive for at the State Library and Kansas Talking Books—exceptional patron-focused service. This recognition not only highlights Nataly’s personal dedication but our division’s overarching customer service philosophy.”

As part of the award, Keystone Systems will provide Refro a trip to the 2025 KLAS Users’ Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana and will honor her during the conference’s opening general session on Monday, March 17. Lang emphasized the impact attending the conference will provide Renfro, “She will gain invaluable hands-on experience with Keystone staff and fellow KLAS users. “She’s going to come back from Indy with a number of new skills to better serve our patrons,” he added.

Renfro’s colleague, Maggie Witte, who nominated her for the award, echoed these sentiments. “It means so much and I’m so proud of Nataly to receive recognition for her dedication to ensuring patrons have the best library and reading experience with our accessible materials and services,” said Witte. “She works hard to assist our patrons solve their audio player issues with patience and compassion, and she constantly supports the efforts of other Kansas Talking Books staff to provide excellent service.”

Renfro’s passion for accessibility and literacy is deeply rooted in her personal experiences. “Having the opportunity to facilitate access to reading materials and resources for non-English speakers is a lifelong passion of mine,” she said. “Coming from immigrant parents has given me the opportunity to live this truth every day. Literacy is one of the few things in this world that leads to the betterment of the individual, and through each individual, to the community at large.”

As the recipient of the Julie Klauber Award, Renfro will continue her mission to expand access to library services and resources, ensuring that all patrons, regardless of language or ability, receive the highest level of support and service.

For more information about Keystone Systems please visit www.klas.com. To learn more about Kansas Talking Books and its services, please visit https://library.ks.gov/talking-books

About the Julie Klauber Award:

The annual Julie Klauber Award recognizes outstanding and dedicated library staff that work with KLAS in their daily job functions and provide exceptional service to their library and the community in the spirit of Julie Klauber. Klauber was a national expert and leader on disability issues. She served as the director of Talking Books Plus library in Suffolk County, NY, and authored several articles on library resources and services for people with disabilities.

About Keystone Systems:

Keystone Systems, Inc., a leading provider of accessible library software since 1983, provides software and service solutions to libraries with complex demands. Keystone developers have created a powerful, yet elegant library automation system (KLAS), which has the flexibility to meet specific needs of special, academic, and public libraries. For more information about Keystone Systems or KLAS, visit www.klas.com.

A brief tour of the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference Zoom Event is available below. Once you are registered, please make sure that you can access the event, and contact us if you need help (preferably before the conference begins). 

Accessing the KLAS UC 2025 Zoom Event for the first time:

1. If you registered by credit card, use your Zoom account log-in email address and password to log-in to the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference Zoom Event.
2. If you have are a Guest attendee or paid your conference fee via Invoice, you will be sent an email from "Zoom Events <>;" with the subject line "You are invited to register for 2025 KLAS Users' Conference" sent to the email address associated with your Zoom account.  The body of the email contains a link to "Register".
   1. You MUST use the "Register" link in the "You are invited to register!" email sent to your email address. The email will look like the image below.
      
   
   
   1. If you cannot find the email, please check your SPAM or JUNK folder.
   2. If it's not in your SPAM or JUNK folder and you need to have the email resent, please contact , and ask for us to do so.
3. Select the "Register" link from within the email. This will take you to the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference Zoom Event.
4. Select the "Register" link in the Zoom Event.
5. Select the appropriate ticket type (Ex: "Invoiced Virtual" = paying by invoice & attending virtually & "Virtual Guest" = guest virtual attendee), select "Continue", answer the registration questions, and then log into the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event using your Zoom account email and password. 
   • If you don't have a Zoom account, create a free, basic one using the same email address where you received the "Your are invited to register" email here: https://zoom.us/signup#/signup
   
6. If you paid your conference fee via invoice but didn't send us the email address you use to log-into Zoom, you can't claim your ticket and CANNOT access the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event. So, please send  the email address you use when you log into Zoom ASAP!

Accessibility Resources:

• Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts
• Other Zoom Accessibility information

Important Notes about the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event:

1. You must log into the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event with your individual Zoom account credentials. 
2. Session times based on your local time zone.
3. General Sessions will be in a webinar format and streamed directly to the lobby. Virtual attendees will be able to comment / ask questions via the chat function, but can't use their computer camera / mic.
4. All Breakout sessions will be in a meeting format in which virtual attendees can be on camera, use their microphone, and / or the Zoom chat function.

KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event Video Tour:

• Link to the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event
  • If you don't see the "Join Lobby" link, be sure you're logged-in using your Zoom account credentials.

We'd like to introduce you to our 2025 Julie Klauber Award winner, Natalia Renfro, Kansas State Library Talking Books, and thought the best way to do so is by sharing the nomination we received for her. Maggie Witte, Kansas State Library Talking Books, described Natalia (Nataly) as "a hard, consistent worker who works well with the library team dedicated to making sure all of our patrons have access to the players and materials they need for a fulfilling informed and personalized reading experience."

Keystone Systems is honored to provide Nataly a trip to the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference, where she will be recognized during Monday's opening general session. An official press release will be published just before the award ceremony.

Nataly's Nomination for the 2025 Julie Klauber Award:

How do you know the nominee? Have you worked with them? If so, in what capacity?

Nataly started working for Kansas Talking Books in 2016 as one of our circulation clerks working closely with all of the staff and working as our machine for the last few years. I have worked with her in ensuring all of the books are found, creating No Due Date titles such as the Bible, helping patrons figure out issues with their DTBMs, and just as a team to ensure everyone has access to what they need.

What service(s) has the nominee done in the spirit of Julie Klauber?

Nataly ensures that patrons have access to our services by carefully managing the checking in and out, storage, and upkeep of the digital talking book players so patrons have as little disruption in their reading experience as possible. She is patient and supportive when patrons call with player issues, helping them check for errors if they can and/or getting replacement players in the mail as quickly as possible. When mail issues arise, she calmly works with patrons, other Kansas Talking Books (KTB) staff, and even the post office to see if the issue can be determined or to find a solution, if possible. She also helps patrons get access to audio-described movies, advocating for the addition of movies that meet their needs, circulating those movies when the patrons request, and making sure they are ready for the next patron. It is through her efforts that our patrons have access to informational and recreational materials and the playback equipment to access those items. She is also bilingual and assists our Spanish-only patrons to find and check out the books they like or adjust their accounts accordingly.

How do they affect your library/community and/or the KLAS Users’ Community?

She is always supportive of all the efforts of staff, assisting in any way she can. She is compassionate towards patrons, caring for their point of view. She helps the library circulation run smoothly with her efforts.

What are the nominees job responsibilities and how do they relate to KLAS?

Her job responsibilities are:

• maintaining the inventory of digital talking book players and check players in and out to patrons when they return them for maintenance or for other reasons using Equipment module;
  adding No Due Date materials, such as the Bible and other religious texts, using KLAS, ensuring there are always the religious texts patrons are interested available using the Circulation module;
• adding audio-described movie titles to the collection and maintaining that collection which she creates records for those titles in the collection and adds all the necessary metadata for them using the Catalog module;
• handles the readers advisory and circulation of audio-described movies to patrons who ask for them using the Patron module;
• assisting patrons with player issues or calling previous patrons or their family members to attempt to retrieve digital talking book players which she uses KLAS to look up accounts and make notes in the comments using the Patron and Equipment modules;
• assist Spanish-only patrons with their accounts by making changes to preferences or adding books to their service queues in the Patron module;
• assists in cataloging duties as available in the Catalog module.