Now that we're into 2024 (with January flying by rapidly!), let's take a look back at the past year together.

The 2023 Users' Conference was a return to in-person training, networking, and collaboration, but for the first time we also had a hybrid option! This format was tricky to run. Yet with the hard work of the Users' Group Programming and Logistics Committees we feel we achieve a good balance of in-person exclusives like providing in-person-only, hands-on training sessions each morning, online value such as ensuring front-line and specialist staff had options to attend only sessions relevant to them, and offering the ability for libraries unable to travel for conferences to still benefit from the conference, while also remaining accessible.

You can find the presentations and handouts from the conference here: KLAS UC2023 Presentations & Handouts 

Keystone staff also attended a number of other conferences, including the NLS Sub-Regionals and the APH Annual Conferences. These events provide another opportunity for us to connect with our users, and to learn about the challenges and opportunities your libraries and organizations face.

• KLAS Users' Meetings at 2023 NLS Regional Conferences
• 10/3/2023 APH KLAS Users' Meeting

Outside of these events, we strove to continue providing training throughout the year. This included the release of two new Manuals in our new format (Reader Adviser Manual and Transfers Manual). Each are designed to be friendly to use in a print or digital format including with a screen-reader, and I have more in the works! We also hosted webinars including Preparing for e-Braille and a KLAS Q&A with Katy, and continued providing online Administrator's Training sessions.

Additionally, the klasusers.com forums were busy this year. Thank you to everyone who helped get the word out about catalog errors and reissued titles on the Cataloging forum, posted ideas and requests in the Development Suggestions forum, and weighed in on others' requests and questions. 

In terms of development, we've been making progress on several large projects and released a whole lot of smaller improvements, new features, and bug fixes. Ongoing larger development projects include:

1. the APH Ordering Integration which is now functioning live for Free Matter orders at our test site (with support for orders that require Shipping pending development on the APH end of the integration)
2. the new WebOPAC, which was previewed at the conference and will include better support for series, serials, and duplication

We know these are highly anticipated and continue to work towards getting them out to you.

We have also been working extensively with Data Management and NLS to get PIMMS issues identified and fixed, implement Inactive Reason tracking, and lay the groundwork for the network libraries to take over distribution of NLS serials from the Magazine on Cartridge (MoC) program.

Shout-out to the KLAS Development Advisory Committee (KDAC) for their invaluable help not just generating ideas and suggestions, but helping us monitor and evaluate development suggestions from the forum and other sources, ensure corner cases are considered and accounted for, and prioritize all these projects and more.

As we carry on into the new year, I know we will have even more good things to share with you and look forward to the journey!

Keystone has some annual holiday celebrations during the month of December that give our staff and families an opportunity to gather together, enjoy some delicious food, reflect on what we've accomplished over the last year, and discuss what might be possible in the next. This year, our Holiday Dinner and our office potluck / white elephant gift exchange happened on consecutive days.

On the evening of Tuesday, December 19, we gathered around a long table in a private room at Cafe Luna in downtown Raleigh for an evening of wonderful Italian food. The conversation was lively and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to catch up on the lives of our coworkers outside of the office.

Just after noon on Wednesday, December 20, we gathered in our project area for our annual office potluck. We are always impressed by the variety of choices once everyone's contribution is added to the buffet spread. Our staff even thoughtfully create dishes taking into account known food allergies and sensitivities, so there's something to appeal to everyone and no one goes hungry!

After our potluck lunch, we do a white elephant / dirty Santa gift exchange. Our rules are: only one steal per gift per round, and everything's in play until the person with the last number's round. Does your organization do a white elephant exchange? If so, what are your rules?

I hope you enjoyed a brief look at some of this year's Keystone holiday celebrations. Hopefully, your year end also included festive gatherings such as ours, or at least some good rest and relaxation.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from all of us!

We've been working with Data Management / NLS on a patron project in PIMMS. As part of this project, We've been thinking about how to better manage patron status transitions in PIMMS.

PIMMS has a Suspended status and a Deleted status. Once a patron record has a Deleted status, that ID cannot be used in PIMMS again.

KLAS can have many statuses, but currently most libraries have Deceased, Suspended, and Withdrawn all mapped to the PIMMS Suspended status (and now collecting reasons for discontinuing service). The thinking here was that we didn't want an "oops" change of status to permanently delete a patron from PIMMS.

NLS has expressed concern that patrons are lingering in Suspended status for extraordinarily long periods of time. In KLAS, there is nothing currently that automatically moves a patron to PIMMS Deleted, except when withdrawn patrons are purged.

We think that Withdrawn should be the status that corresponds with PIMMS Deleted status. It is the next step in the process.

Currently:

• Most libraries move patrons from Active to Suspended to Withdrawn.
• It's very rare that a patron is "accidentally" changed to Withdrawn. Once the patron is withdrawn, they are gone, generally for good.
• Changing a patron to Withdrawn marks all outstanding items as Lost.

It's a logical step for us to add:

• Delete patron record from PIMMS.

This does mean that if a patron goes from KLAS status Withdrawn back to Active for some reason, you'll need to create a brand new patron record for them, so that they get a new PIMMS ID. The old Withdrawn record could then be merged in to transfer the HasHads to the new record.

Let us know if you do not agree! Otherwise, look for this change to come in January 2024.

If you had to guess, what would you say was the most popular title across all KLAS Talking Book Library (LBPD) patrons? How about the most popular author? I doubt you’ll guess the most popular series.

While Mitake was gathering the LBPD circulation statistics to send to NLS, she compiled all the libraries’ most popular titles, authors, and series to find out the combined top favorites. It was interesting to see the impact even a small library can have on the rankings. For example, the 7th most popular series was all due to just two libraries! The #1 most popular series was in the top at 30 libraries. Those two series had an equal number of titles.

Have you made your guesses? While you ponder a bit longer here are some (perhaps unhelpful) hints:

• The most popular author’s most popular book was only in 19 libraries’ top 200 titles, and his most popular series barely made the top 40.
• The most popular title was written by the 5th most popular author.
• The most popular series was written by the 4th most popular author, and the most popular book in that series was the 3rd most circulated title.

If you guessed Long Shadows by David Baldacci, author James Patterson, and the Heart of the Mountains series by M. M. Beller, then give yourself a piece of left over Halloween candy! Below are the top four in each category along with a few honorable mentions.

The Top Four Most Popular Titles by the Number of Libraries

1. Long shadows by David Baldacci (30 libraries – 12,382 circulations)
2. The boys from Biloxi by John Grisham (30 libraries – 7,803 circulations)
3. This healing journey by Misty M. Beller (28 libraries – 10,625 circulations)
4. Portrait of an unknown woman by Daniel Silva (26 libraries – 12,201 circulations)

Honorable mention goes to Razzmatazz by Christopher Moore which is the 4th most popular title in terms of circulation numbers, 9,237, but only 22 libraries had it in their top 200.

The Top Four Most Popular Authors

1. James Patterson with 41,108 circulations and 53 titles
2. William W. Johnstone with 30,756 circulations and 52 titles
3. Danielle Steel with 26,920 circulations and 32 titles
4. Misty M. Beller with 22,829 circulations and 7 titles

Honorable mentions that all had over 10,000 circulations are David Baldacci (10 titles), John Grisham (13 titles), Debbie Macomber (18 titles), Donald Hamilton (9 titles), Tracie Peterson (15 titles), Daniel Silva (3 titles), Stuart Woods (11 titles), Lauraine Snelling (16 titles), Mary Connealy (8 titles), and Wanda E. Brunstetter (10 titles).

The Top Four Most Popular Series by Sum of Circulation

1. Heart of the Mountains series by M. M. Beller (22,066 circulations, 4 titles, anywhere from 7 to 28 libraries had it in the top 200)
2. Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton (13,496 circulations, 9 titles, anywhere from 1 to 19 libraries had it in the top 200)
3. Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva (12,646 circulations, 3 titles, all due to the popularity of one title (see above) since the other two books were popular at one library apiece and had less than 500 combined circs)
4. Amos Decker series by David Baldacci (12,382 circulations, all due to just one book, but it happened to be the most popular book, see above)

Honorable mentions are Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington series (9 titles with 10000+ circs) and S. D. Sykes’ Somershill Manor Mystery series (3 titles, 9000+ circs). Impressively, Lauraine Snelling’s Daughters of Blessing series of four titles racked up 8800+ circs despite only being in the top 200 at two libraries.

Did anything surprise you? Which authors or books or series were you expecting to be at the top? If you want to know the top titles at your library, you can find that in the summary report that Nancy emailed you when asking for permission to share the data with NLS.

Our next webinar is coming up fast, and it's going to be a fun one: it's time for another Q & A with Katy!

This is an informal, Keystone-presented webinar where I invite all of you to come put my KLAS knowledge to the test, and get answers to all those nagging questions. Whether it's a little thing that never quite feels worth emailing Customer Support about, or something you've asked before, but didn't quite understand the solution--I'll have my demo databases at the ready to walk you through the answer.

Of course, I don't know everything, so if you manage to stump me, I'll get the info, consult with Customer Support and the other experts here at Keystone, and get back to you.

All experience levels, staff roles, and organization types welcome!

• When: Thursday, Nov 2, 3:00pm Eastern Time / Noon Pacific
• Who: All KLAS users!
• Where: Zoom!
  • Zoom link - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88940481673?pwd=MzRJNTYwaWR0ZkZ0NnRUQnlmRmhtUT09
  • Dial-in for Audio - https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdG7n08Afh
    • Meeting ID: 889 4048 1673
    • Passcode: 670244

As usual, if you can't make it live, the session will be recorded for future viewing. You can even send in your questions ahead of time so I can cover them for you!

Finally, stay tuned, because we have plenty more online learning opportunities coming over the next year. We'll be hosting a webinar every month in 2024, covering a variety of Talking Books / LBPD-focused, IRC-focused, and general interest topics. In May, we'll hold an online Mini-Conference with Keystone updates, New Features, and more, so mark your calendars for May 7-8, 2024! In the meantime, if there's a topic you want to hear about, or something you want to share with the network, the Program Committee would love to hear from you.

I'm looking forward to chatting with you and answering all of your KLAS questions on November 2!

The KLAS Users’ Group Program Committee is seeking new members and new ideas!

UC2023 is a wrap—so it’s time to roll over the committee, look ahead to creating new online content, and get back to work. This committee is a great starting point for folks wanting to get more involved in the Users’ Group, whether they’re new to using KLAS or an old hand. With just one meeting a month, this is a low-commitment volunteer opportunity.

Everyone is welcome, but we will especially welcome people from IRCs (Instructional Resource Centers) or other less-represented organizations.

Even if you aren’t ready to hop on board as a committee member, we’d still love to hear from you! Is there a KLAS topic you want to learn more about? A past webinar you think needs an encore performance with updated information? Or is there a roundtable or open discussion topic you think everyone could get together and dig into?

Don’t be shy! Leave a comment, or email , , or . The Users’ Group is for you, and this is a great way to help make sure you’re getting the most and best out of it.

A guest blog post by Lee Anne Hooley, Worcester Talking Book Library

July 17th-20th brought the opportunity for me to attend the KLAS conference that was held at the Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville. This is my second in person conference since my career in the Talking Book world began back in 2018. The hybrid option is a fantastic option as well, but to me, there is nothing quite like coming together and learning.

Many of the sessions employed a hands-on approach to it. For instance, “Care and Feeding of your Scribe.” I learned quite a bit on how to take things apart as needed, as well as the general anatomy of them. In addition to learning how to swap out parts, I was able to get some feedback and ideas from other colleagues on how to better utilize the barcode scanners.

Two other sessions “Defining, Saving, and Sharing Queries” and “Exploring the WebOPAC,” featured worksheets. As much as I thought my school days were long over, it was really fun and challenging to not only have an assignment to help me improve me queries, but also it was great to be able to demo and add feedback to the new patron facing end of the WebOPAC. Having Katy and Nancy there and in person to answer questions when I got stuck or just to offer feedback and ideas was priceless.

Of course, my favorite part of coming together was the sense of community we get from coming together. We’re in the process of starting up our recording studio program, and sitting at the bar every night (for a truly great happy hour, by the way) gave me ideas and lots of folks to contact when I have questions. Sometimes it can feel isolating being a talking book librarian as most of the folks who can relate are scattered around the country. Being able to sit at a table and casually ask questions or trade stories in a casual environment is so valuable.

Last but not least, the amount of hilarity and inside jokes. Librarians are great people, and this group is no exception. From the Recession Special to Chandra’s future Grammy winning career to banana pudding everywhere to wayward goose alerts and parting shopping tips on how to get good deals on designer handbags, I laughed a lot with some fantastic folks and Maureen has all the selfies to prove it. Many thanks to the fine folks at Keystone for bringing us together. Can’t wait for to take on Indianapolis.

When I began my job at the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) in March of 2022, I understood that being Managing Librarian would include, among other things, being the KLAS Administrator. I had been an ILS administrator in the past, but this was for systems where being the "administrator" really just meant you were the one with the most knowledge about the system (which meant, well, not a lot), the one to make the helpdesk calls, and the one to be the vendor's point of contact for the annual payment and the up-sells. For KLAS, being an administrator means taking on a much more active role in understanding and promoting the ILS’s functionality, reporting, and finding solutions for staff and patrons.

As a member of the KLAS Users' Group Officers, I've gained significant insight into how things work, and can work, and am truly excited about attending the KLAS Users' Conference 2023: A Perfect Tenn next week—where I know I'll learn even more. And, as you’ve likely seen from the conference schedule, you don’t have to be an administrator to find lots of sessions that will help you in your particular job. I’m looking forward to an in-person conference (my second since 2019) and to see KLAS folks face-to-face who I bother an inordinate number of times each week (you know who you are!)

In the next few days, you’ll have a number of opportunities to engage with Keystone, other NLS Network and IRC Library staff. I hope you’ll take these opportunities!

Attend the Conference (July 17-20, 2023):

There’s still time to sign up, especially if you plan to attend virtually: https://klasusers.com/klas-uc2023

Attend Thursday's KLAS Users' Group Business Meeting & General Sessions via Zoom (free to all):

Thursday, July 20 Agenda (All times are Central Standard Time):

• 11:15 AM - KLAS Users' Group Business Meeting
• 12:00 PM - Answering Your Parking Lot Questions
• 12:40 PM - Reconsidering Circulation - Based on circulation statistics gathered from a number of libraries, Keystone's Mitake Burts will present a birds-eye-view of changes to circulation patterns across the network of NLS libraries and open a discussion on where the circulation may be heading next
• 1:25 PM - Conference Closing Remarks

Thursday, July 20 Zoom Meeting Info:

• Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87314746960?pwd=TDBMM3IySk1BcXhMdS9odXBWbVV0Zz09
• Meeting ID: 873 1474 6960
• Passcode: 412790
• Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kd1J0VRASH

Read the proposed changes to the KLAS Users’ Group Bylaws:

We’ll be voting whether to accept these changes at the Business Meeting:

• July_2023_KLAS_Users_Group_Bylaws_Proposed_Changes.docx
• July_2023_KLAS_Users_Group_Bylaws_Proposed_Changes.pdf

Become a KLAS Users’ Group Officer:

We will be seeking nominations for Secretary during our annual business meeting on Thursday, July 20. The Secretary’s role is defined and the election process outlined in KLAS Users’ Group Bylaws, Article VI. Officers. Come join the Users’ Group Officers!

I look forward to seeing you next week in person or virtually. Thanks so much for being such an engaged group!

Best,
Traci Timmons, President, KLAS Users’ Group

Are you excited for the 2023 KLAS Users' Conference? We sure are!

While we're grateful that we get to hang out with some of you in-person, we also want our online attendees to have a great conference experience. To help get you oriented, here's a short video tour of the Zoom Events platform:

While we hope this platform will be easy-to-use for everyone, please do let us know if you have any questions or issues. Ready to try it out? Log in any time to start building your personal agenda, filling in your profile, and making connections!

If you attended one of the NLS Regional conferences (or just checked out the slide deck), you already know we are considering offering a Cataloging Service. But what's involved, and how will it work? To get there, let's start with a look at what Keystone is already doing for your catalog.

Current Catalog Enhancements:

Every MARC Records file posted by NLS is then reviewed by Mitake here at Keystone, before being posted for download here. That review, and accompanying corrections as needed, covers:

• Language code
• Subtitle formatting 
• Series in non-English languages
• Remove publisher imprints from series (ex: Penguin Classics; Pocketbook)
• Audience Notes (typos & inconsistencies in 521/546, ex: split “Contains Sex & Strong Language” into two headings)
• Diacritics clean-up
• Annotation (combine tags so Audience Notes are included after standard annotation)
• Check for subjects with “stories” vs “fiction” (ex: combine “Mystery & Detective Stories” and “Mystery & Detective Fiction”)
• Ensure 082 & 072 exist
• Validate & normalize MARC

Additionally, we generate a query set of titles included in each Talking Book Topics (TBT) issue, pull the MARC record for the TBT monograph record if not included in one of the batch files, and pull MARC records on demand for Titles needed to load BARD transactions. For Keystone-hosted customers, we also load all MARC records, including both the regular batch files and any on-demand titles.

For a one-time setup charge, we can provide subject mapping and series mapping services, which involve combing through your headings to match them up with the ones generally included in certain MARC tags of the NLS records, and creating the filters and heading data to ensure the NLS headings load automatically from the MARC to the BibRec. 

Like everyone, the rapid increase in the number of new titles has made it harder and harder for us to keep up the current level of cataloging. For example, as part of ongoing Series maintenance, we're adding 50-100 new Series headings a month to each Series customer--way more than we anticipated when initiating the Series maintenance service and offered upkeep of new headings at no change after the initial set-up fee. The absolute last thing we want is to offer less right when you need more, but Katharina spent nearly an entire week this month on just Series maintenance (and she’s faster at it than any of the rest of us). While we will absolutely honor no maintenance charge for the first year, at renewal, ongoing support of new series headings will need to become a charged service for us to continue offering it.

Proposed Cataloging Service

To make our cataloging service more sustainable, we're looking to start with some structural changes.

Instead of working with the batch MARC Records files which come out twice a month (or so) from NLS, we will instead pull in the titles as they become available with a PICS API integration. This should give us a steady flow of Titles to review, rather than a twice-monthly blast from a firehose.

The other big change will be where we make the record updates. Rather than changing those files into everyone's separate database, and then having to do a bunch of maintenance in each of those databases, we plan to set up a centralized cataloging database. We will then do any cleanup and corrections to the titles there. Once the title is ready, we will then push it into the subscribing customer databases via a batch program. This will occur routinely overnight for standard new files, but can also be done immediately to push out a freshly reviewed on-demand back catalog title. 

Because we know everyone's patron base, staff and institutional preferences, and service approach is unique, subscribers will still have some options. You can choose whether you want to import the full record "our way" from the central database, if you want to exclude one or more specific MARC tags (ex – if you want to maintain your own series, you can get the rest of the record without the series tag). Or if you only want to overlay specific tags onto the NLS original (ex – if you chose not to get the full cataloging service but want to buy into Series maintenance), we can overlay that one MARC tag onto the original title as it comes from NLS).

Planned additional review & correction before pushing titles to subscriber databases:

• Narrator
• Alt length
• Pub year (print publication)
• Alt pub year (recording year) 
• Fiction/non-fiction checkmark
• Reading level
• Headings merges for typos / alt forms / etc
• Sequel heading
• Addition & removal of "Current TBT Issue" heading

So what will it cost? 

While we would love to just offer this to everyone, it is going to be a major time commitment. However, by distributing the cost of this staff time across customers, we hope to keep the charge well below what it would cost your library to hire even a part time cataloger.

As we finish developing this service, and the situation with the incoming records changes, these estimates are subject to change. Set-up fees may apply and will depend on the level of subject mapping and / or series set-up needed to make your database compatible with the centralized records. Please contact customer support for a full quote for your library.

1. Series Service: one-time set-up fee + $200/month ongoing at renewal
2. Basic Cataloging Service (no series): $250/month*
3. All-in: $400 /month*

*Initial set-up charge may be needed if subject mapping and series setup are not already been done.

On Wednesday, June 21 at 3:00 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific we held our most recent KLAS Users' Roundtable: KDAC Q&A.

During this online session KLAS Users had opportunity to meet KLAS Development Advisory Committee (KDAC) representatives, ask them questions about being on the committee and / or how it operates, share ideas for improvements to KLAS, and more!

Current KDAC Members include:

• Dan Malosh, Committee Chair, Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library
• Traci Timmons, KLAS Users' Group Officers' Liaison, Washington Talking Book and Braille Library
• Barnaby Camp, Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled
• Christina Quintana, Arizona Instructional Resource Center
• Donald Salvato, Xavier Society for the Blind
• Dorothy Hughes, Maryland School for the Blind
• Jesse McGarity, Virginia Beach Public Library, Accessible Resources and Services
• Pepper Watson, Oklahoma Accessible Instructional Materials Center
• Sally Shreck, Maryland Instructional Resource Center
• Sarah Smedley, Palm Beach County Library Talking Books
• Zoelinna Schar, Nevada Talking Book Services

KLAS Users' Roundtable: KDAC Q&A Chat Transcript & Recording

• 06-21-2023_KDAC_Q&A_Chat_Transcript.txt

Follow-up notes from Katy: The instructions for changing font size in KLAS are now available in the Knowledge Base!

However, to add or remove stopwords, you must contact customer support so that the appropriate indexing can be done after the change. Additionally, we believe all libraries are set up with the usual stopwords (a, an, the)--if that does not seem to be the case for your library, please contact customer support with example screenshots.

Congratulations to Kimberly Tomlinson, Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library, and Maggie Witte, Kansas State Library, Talking Books Service, our two finalists for the 2023 Julie Klauber Award!

You have each made a significant impact on your library, patrons, and your community! We hope sharing selections from the nomination submitted for you lets both you and others see just how much work you have done and how your efforts inspire others.

The selected recipient of this year's award will be honored during a ceremony held on Monday, July 17 in Nashville, TN as part of the 2023 KLAS Users' Conference.

Nominee: Kimberly Tomlinson, Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library

Nominated by: Zarina Mohd Shah, Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library

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

Kim's work with the Audio & Braille Literacy Enhancement (ABLE) is one of her outstanding achievements. ABLE is a nonprofit organization that works with WTBBL by brailling and recording Wisconsin authors, our "Bulletin Board" quarterly newsletter, DVD catalogs, Milwaukee Magazine, and more. ABLE also provides essential services to the visually impaired and print disabled in local communities, schools, and other institutions and individuals nationwide, including braille transcriptions, tactile representations of graphs, diagrams, pictures, and audio recordings, at an affordable cost.

ABLE relies on donations and grants to offer services for the print-disabled. In writing local grant proposals, ABLE needs, for instance, KLAS Readership and Circulation statistics to add support for their services. Kim performs the crucial role of diligently gathering and delivering valuable data to ABLE, including the number of WTBBL patrons in each county, circulation numbers of a recorded local author from a specific county, and other interesting facts from the KLAS data (and NLS BARD) ABLE could work with.

The number of local grants received with help from data compiled by Kim from KLAS makes it possible for ABLE to offer their services. ABLE appreciates Kim's important role in supporting their organization and mission that has a lasting impact on our print-disabled communities.

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

Kim's knowledge and understanding of KLAS were invaluable in assisting WTBBL's successful migration to the new DOD system at the end of 2021. In hindsight, our work seemed seamless during that busy period. Kim's efforts were instrumental in helping WTBBL staff complete the migration smoothly. For example, Kim trained staff to modify and update patron's records in preparation for DOD and for patrons to pick up their books in the new format. Kim's guidance helped us complete the migration smoothly. WTBBL staff appreciated the new system and shared the knowledge of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the new DOD system with patrons. For instance, there are no longer due dates for digital audiobooks. WTBBL did our best with Kim's guidance and sealed our expectations of her as our KLAS Guru.

Nominee: Maggie Witte, Kansas State Library Talking Books Service

Nominated by: Michael Lang, Kansas State Library Talking Books Service 

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

Recently, Maggie has coordinated and led the network LBPD summer library reading program working group. The group allows library staff to share ideas for accessible summer reading programs. I don’t know if others agree, but I feel that NLS’s new commitment to providing resources to support summer reading is a direct result of this working group. Maggie is also an active member of the NLS summer reading committee.

This year she created a circulating braille awareness kit. The kit, filled with braille books, games, and activities, will introduce sighted children to the braille alphabet and teach them the importance of braille for readers.

Last year Maggie partnered with the Wamego Public library to provide braille overlay labels for their StoryWalk. Since then she has provided braille for four more Storywalks and plans to continue this project with WPL and hopefully expand to other libraries. She continues to lead virtual monthly and a quarterly book discussion groups and provides excellent individual service to our users.

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

The summer reading resources shared from the working group and the increased support of NLS promise to create a much more robust and accessible summer reading program for talking book users nationwide and allow for libraries with fewer resources to provide a wonderful program.

With her programs, she creates a community of patrons across Kansas, who share many commonalities, but due to distance may never had met if not for Maggie.

She continues to advocate for and raise awareness of the accessibility needs of print disabled through activities like the StoryWalk, braille kit, and presentations at professional conferences.

Overall, she provides empathetic friendly service to our patrons, working hard to find solutions that fit their needs.

Per the KLAS Users' Group Bylaws, upon the vacancy of an officer position an election must be held to replace the officer. As such, we are now conducting an election for the office of Vice President of the KLAS Users' Group. Please meet your candidate for the open Users' Group Vice President position, Maureen Dorosinski!

A link to vote for Vice President will be sent to each KLAS organization / library's designated representative in the near future.

KLAS Users' Group Vice President Candidate

Maureen Dorosinski, Librarian / Production Supervisor, Florida Bureau of Braille and Talking Book Library Services

Biography: My name is Maureen Dorosinski, I am the Librarian and Production Supervisor at the Florida regional library, and head of the recording studio since 2015. I use all modules of KLAS: Administration, Patron, Catalog, Equipment, and Serials. I am the lead in coordinating the Florida Duplication on Demand changeover and am gaining a greater understanding of what makes a successful Dup on Demand program.

I am part of the NLS Subject Heading working group, and I am expanding our program offerings, including an Early Literacy Program.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with and External Specialty of Theatre from Michigan State University, and a Master of Science in Library and Information Studies from Florida State University. I specialized in Youth and Reference Services, with a certificate in Youth Services. Native American Studies is a passion. I have a background in radio.

I love running and crafts and can be found in a thrift shop on the weekends.

Statement of Goals: To be part of a solution that helps us manage and keep up with the incoming new MARC records from NLS, while a cooperative solution to challenges such as DBC subject headings, commercial audiobooks, and incorporating Rating Unrated Books.

The Julie Klauber Award is one way we at Keystone Systems recognize the invaluable support that volunteers and staff provide to their organizations and their patrons. Each organization may nominate one staff member or volunteer using the Julie Klauber Award Nomination form. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 5.

Who was Julie Klauber?

Julie Klauber was a national expert and leader on disability issues and was instrumental in helping develop Keystone's growing national presence. In 2012, Julie received the ASCLA Francis Joseph Campbell Award recognizing her work advancing library services for patrons who are blind and print disabled. Julie served as the director of the Talking Books Plus Library in Suffolk, County, NY and authored several articles on library resources and services for people with disabilities. Additionally, she created and maintained the newsletter Disability Resources Monthly and the corresponding website www.disabilityresources.org. Julie passed away on September 3, 2002 after a long, brave struggle with cancer.

A word about Julie Klauber from her former coworker:

Valerie Lewis sent the below email to the KLASUsers listserv on January 24, 2011:

It has been more than eight years since Julie passed away. Her name comes up every day.....truly, it does. I work with 5 other people who worked with Julie for many years. I sit in the office that was once hers. Her husband and sons are often in my home. I work with her husband Avery, to continue the important work that she and he started many years before I was lucky enough to meet them.

Julie was a librarian, but more she was the truest advocate for access to library programs, services and materials for all, particularly people with disabilities.

In addition to being the librarian for the sub-regional library that served Long Island, NY, Julie and her husband established a non-profit organization that provided information and referral resources for librarians, service providers and individuals living with disabilities.......long before and into the earlier days....of the internet.

Julie spent truly all of her time making sure that people with disabilities had access to information.....all information. She created partnerships with local and national corporations that brought assistive technology to local libraries. She created library resources in alternative formats and worked with libraries and librarians across the country, to promote accessible library services.

It has been my honor to be a member of the Julie Klauber Award Committee. It has given me the opportunity to read about lbph staff and volunteers who create new and innovative ways of making library materials, services and programs accessible to their patrons. Something still so difficult to do, even in these technologically advanced times.

You may think that the daily practices and procedures of operating a library for the blind and physically disabled are hum-drum and nothing out of the ordinary, but think again. It is through the work and creativity of each and every member or your organization, that people with disabilities have access to information....something we treasure so dearly and take so for granted.

On that note, we encourage you to think about how the wheels of your organization turn and who are the people turning it.

With warm regards,

Valerie Lewis, Director
Long Island Talking Book Library

Who can be nominated for the Julie Klauber Award?

Each KLAS library or organization may nominate one staff member or volunteer who: 

• Works with KLAS in their daily job functions.
• Has demonstrated outstanding service to their organization and / or their community in the spirit of Julie Klauber during their time with the library.
• Will appreciate and benefit from attending the KLAS Users' Conference.

Please use the Julie Klauber Award Nomination Form to submit your nominee's info before the Friday, May 5 nomination deadline.

What does the award recipient receive and how are they selected?

The selected Julie Klauber Award Recipient receives a trip¹ to the 2023 KLAS Users' Conference to be held in Nashville, TN July 17-20 and will be honored as part of an award ceremony held Monday, July 17 including receiving a personalized plaque to commemorate their achievement.

Award finalists will be selected from all nominated individuals by the Julie Klauber Award committee². James Burts, CEO of Keystone Systems, will then determine the 2023 recipient after consulting with all the finalists' supervisors.

Biographies of previous Julie Klauber Award Recipients are available at the Julie Klauber Award Winners page.

² 2023 Julie Klauber Award Committee Members include:

• Chandra Thornton, Palm Beach County Library System, 2016 Julie Klauber Award Recipient
• Teresa Kalber, Colorado Talking Book Library, 2011 Julie Klauber Award Recipient
• Lisa Nelson, Utah State Library Program for the Blind and Disabled
• Kimberly Tomlinson, Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library
• Pepper Watson, Oklahoma Library for the Blind, Accessible Instructional Materials Center
• Erin Pawlus, Arizona Talking Book Library
• Andrea Ewing Callicutt, Keystone Systems, Inc.

A Customizable (Accessible) Bibliography Generator, that was Dan Malosh of MN's request on the Forums about two weeks ago:

Would anyone else benefit from a customizable bibliography generator in the Cataloging module?

My library would love to have this capability for our large print books and DVDs. With regards to large print titles, we imagined employing fields like, author, title, KLAS ID, publication year, and genre …and maybe annotation.

This sparked a lot of interest... and then Sam Lundberg of NM chimed in to let us know about his rather ingenious method for doing just this, using KLAS's standard Export to Excel function and Word's Mail Merge.

The best part (at least in my opinion): once you have your Word template set up, you can simply select the exported Excel document from any catalog query or book search results to get a booklist that is nicely formatted to your exact specifications! The only thing this can't do automatically is generate the BARD link, though someone familiar enough with manipulating Excel data can add that prior to importing the data into Word, provided they do it the same way every time.

Learn how to create your booklists by following Sam's instructions, and give it a try with his example template and export:

• Mail Merge Booklist Instructions
• Example Booklist Template (on opening, you will be prompted to select your data source, which should be the Excel file below)
• Example KLAS Export

I don't know about you, but I'm imagining the possibilities already. If you build a template of your own for any KLAS export, I hope you'll share it with the Users' Group here!

Per the KLAS Users' Group Bylaws, upon the vacancy of an officer position an election must be held to replace the officer. As such, we are now conducting an election for the office of President of the KLAS Users' Group. Please meet your candidate for the open Users' Group President position, Traci Timmons!

A link to vote for President will be sent to each KLAS organization / library's designated representative in the near future.

KLAS Users' Group President Candidate

Traci Timmons, Managing Librarian, Washington Talking Book & Braille Library

Biography:

Traci Timmons joined the team at the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL) in the spring of 2022. She has been a librarian in special and academic libraries for more than twenty years. She was drawn into the LBPD world because her son is dyslexic, a patron of WTBBL, and she saw firsthand the incredible work these libraries do. Prior to joining WTBBL, Timmons was the head of libraries and archives at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) where she was the administrator for SAM's ILS, EOS.Web. She has also worked at the University of Washington Libraries, the University of South Florida Libraries, a large accounting firm library, and was a web developer for several software companies. She has an MA in Art History from the University of South Florida and an MLIS from the University of Washington.

Statement of Goals:

I have enjoyed my, albeit short, stint on the KLAS Users Committee as Vice President and want to continue my work through the President role. I'm excited about the KLAS Users' Conference--A Perfect Tenn: KLAS UC2023--in July in Nashville and would relish being part of the team that makes it a truly memorable conference. I am the KLAS administrator at WTBBL and have really come to appreciate, even more, how KLAS uniquely addresses the work of LBPD and IRC libraries, and how the KLAS Users Committee supports this great vendor-libraries relationship. I am a strong manager, advocate, collaborator, and problem solver--and will continue to bring those qualities to the role of President. Thank you for your consideration!

It’s happening; the first in-person KLAS conference since 2019! I am looking forward to traveling to Nashville this summer for A Perfect Tenn: KLAS UC2023 and I hope to see many of you there. We know not everyone can travel and are happy to be able to offer an online option for those who can’t. But if you’re sitting on the fence about which one to choose, I’m here to offer a gentle nudge toward the face-to-face option with my top five reasons to attend the UC2023 in person.

1. Hands On Sessions: Have you checked out the proposed schedule for this conference yet? Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each start with a two-hour hands-on training block that is only available on site. I’ve been to an in-person training with Keystone staff and can guarantee you’ll walk away with something new.
2. Meet Keystone Staff: Speaking of staff, getting to know the Keystone staff and drilling down into the nitty gritty of KLAS with them is a fantastic learning opportunity.
3. Spark New Ideas: I always come back from a conference ready to implement big changes. From my recent experience, that list hasn’t been as long with online conferences. The conversational nature of an in-person conference seems to inspire more ideas than the online format, where I find myself drawn away from my computer screen to take care of day-to-day tasks.
4. Networking: Meet your peers from across the country. Learn how they do things. Find new ways to use KLAS. Get recruited for a committee. Enjoy the opening reception with great food and entertainment! I’m really excited to tour the Tennessee School for the Blind and learn about the services they provide to their students.
5. Share Your Expertise: This one is a cheat. You can share your knowledge with the KLAS Users’ Group in either format. Whichever you choose, we want to hear from you. You can help make this an extraordinary learning experience by sharing your expertise and creativity with colleagues from other organizations and libraries! Submit your proposals on the KLAS Users’ website.

Whether attending in person or online, early-bird registration closes on April 30. Make your plans soon to save some money. Visit the registration page for details.

Hoping to learn something new or touch base with Keystone staff? We've got some great training and networking opportunities on the calendar, with more in the works! Let's take a look at what we have coming up:

Online KLAS LBPD Administrator Training - March 27-30

The next online session of KLAS Administrator training for staff of Libraries for the Blind and Print Disabled will be held the afternoons of March 27-30. If you act as the KLAS Admin for your library and have never taken (or it's been a long while since you've attended) KLAS Admin Training, we encourage you to join us!

This training is done via Zoom, sessions are recorded and provided to attendees for later review, and allows you to get down and dirty in parts of KLAS aimed to help you improve service for your patrons and give you the knowledge to better support your staff and library as they use KLAS. Cost is $600 / attendee and each must have the authority to change records and policies for their KLAS system.

Find out more and then register for a session via these articles:

• Online Administrator's Training
• Administrator’s Training – What to Expect

E-Braille Circulation Roundtable - Date TBD

During the year of a KLAS Users' Conference, the Program Committee focuses their efforts on eliciting sessions for and building the agenda for the conference, instead of offering an online program every month. However, we still aim to host one webinar each quarter (other than the one in which the conference takes place) to address more timely concerns and help keep everyone in-touch and up-to-date. 

For our first quarter offering this year, we're seeking panelists for a Roundtable discussing the best ways to prepare for the NLS refreshable braille devices and manage E-Braille circulation. The session will be scheduled based on panelist availability.

If you want to participate, please contact our session organizers, James Gleason at Perkins Library and Katy Patrick at Keystone Systems. We'd also love to hear what questions you might have, topics you want to see discussed, or tips you have to share!

National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled Regional Conferences

We're excited to have the opportunity to again attend NLS conferences in person to see and connect with you. Keystone will send two staff members to each of the three regional conferences this year. In addition to hosting the KLAS Users' Meetings, we hope to attend conference sessions, be available for informal discussions, and learn about your challenges, new initiatives, and more!

Dates / times of each KLAS User meeting:

• Western Regional NLS Conference - Wednesday, April 26, at 5 PM
• Northern / Southern Regional NLS Conference - Wednesday, May 3, at 11:30 AM
• Midlands Regional NLS Conference - Tuesday, May 16, at 2 PM (tentative; final schedule pending)

2023 KLAS Users' Conference - July 17-20

This one's a no-brainer, but you know we can't help it. This is the biggest opportunity we've had for in-person training and networking since our 2019 conference and it will offer even more ways to connect with other KLAS Users' since it's our first HYBRID conference! The KLAS Users' Program Committee and Keystone staff are working hard to plan learning experiences for all types and levels of KLAS Users.

We hope you will help us make it excellent by joining us in-person or online, submitting an in-person or virtual session proposal, or sharing a session topic suggestion! 

More conference info:

• KLAS UC2023: Preliminary Conference Info
• KLAS UC2023: Call for Session Proposals
• 2023 Conference Session Ideas Forum Post - reply with your suggestions or requests for session topics!

We hope to see you soon at one of these training & networking opportunities! 

After over 20 years of service in Keystone's Customer Support department, John Owen retired on December 30, 2022. Last Thursday, Keystone staff gathered at Margaux's Restaurant in Raleigh, NC to enjoy a celebratory dinner in honor of John and his dedication to his clients and coworkers. John will be remembered for his calming voice, adeptness at diagnosing and fixing various types of mailing card printers, and his unrivaled selection of shoes. While his presence is already missed, we're excited to have had Katharina training for six months in anticipation of his departure.

John, we wish you all the best in the next chapter of your life! You and Laura will always be a part of the Keystone family!

Below are a selection of photos taken at John's retirement celebration:

Another year is in the books, and we’re stoked to be officially in a conference year! But, before we barrel ahead, let’s take a look back at 2022.

Around the Office

The Keystone offices were a little less quiet this year as some of the staff have transitioned back to working from the office on a regular basis. However, there have been even bigger transitions as we've seen some staffing changes.

Longtime developer Brian White and customer support specialist John Owen retired, but new faces George and Katharina have joined the family in their stead.

Events & Training

This past summer, we held our 2022 KLAS Mini-Conference to help fill the gap between conference years. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make it a successful event! We hope to see you all again either in-person or online for the 2023 Users Conference!

We also held the first online IRC Administrator's Training! Thanks as well to our first round of IRC Admins, and we hope everything you learned has been serving you well.

Last but not least, we want to highlight the Onboarding New KLAS Users webinar. If you've had staffing changes of your own, or expect to bring on some new staff in the new year, make sure to check it out!

KLAS Development

Finally, 2022 has been a big year for KLAS development, even if it has sometimes seemed quiet from the user's side, as we made big strides in some big projects. Here's some of the highlights:

• Scribes can now unlock NLS Cartridges making it easier to repurpose physical collections and quicker to start using new white cartridges. 
• To meet PNDB funding requirements, a major integration project with Rolka-Loube was implemented and is in Live use now as agencies complete their year-end reporting.
• The New WebOPAC, while not yet ready for release, is coming along beautifully. Thank you everyone for your feedback and feature requests!
• APH Integration for our IRC customers is another ongoing project which, while not yet in Live release, should be ready to go very soon.

And of course, there was much, much more--all of which can be found in the 7.7 Release Lists. 

I want to take some time to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to you all, my customers and friends. In my twenty years at Keystone I've tried to develop and foster relationships with all that have reached out to me for help. Keystone allowed and encouraged this and I'm thankful to them for trusting me with your care.

It's now time for me to start the next phase of my life. My wife Laura retired almost three years ago and it's time for me to join her. Friday December 30, 2022 will be my last day at Keystone. We plan to travel and enjoy spur of the moment adventures with family and friends. Plus a few “Honey Do's” that she's been listing over the years.

Thank you all and God Bless each and every one.
John Owen