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.

From Maureen Dorosinski, KLAS Users' Group President:

There will be a discussion and a vote on the edits below, and for anything else about the bylaws the users would like to discuss, during the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference Users' Group Business meeting. This will be held during the last day of the conference, Thursday, March 20, 2025, This is a hybrid general session from 11:45 am-2:00 pm Eastern time.

1. Article VI, Vice-President: the sentence, "May be required to perform President’s duties if the President is unavailable." now says "The Vice-President may be required to perform President’s duties if the President is unavailable."
2. Article IX: the underline for Robert's Rules of Order extended past the word "Order.", this is fixed.
3. Also, Robert's needed an apostrophe "s", this is fixed.
4. Added to Article X: Minor revisions like the correction of typos, misspellings, or grammatical errors do not require the approval of the membership.

Current KLAS Users' Group Bylaws with above suggested edits:

• Klas_User_Group_Bylaws_Draft_2025.docx
• Klas_User_Group_Bylaws_Draft_2025.pdf

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 nomination form at the bottom of this article. The EXTENDED deadline for nominations is Friday, January 31. The selected 2025 Julie Klauber Award Honoree will receive a trip to the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference to be held in Indianapolis, IN, March 17-20. More information about the award, nomination and selection process, etc, is below.

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 in January, 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 below form to submit your nominee's info before end of business Friday, January 24.

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

The selected Julie Klauber Award Recipient receives a trip to the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference to be held in Indianapolis, IN, March 17-20 and will be will be honored as part of an award ceremony held during the conference's opening general session the afternoon of Monday, March 17 including receiving a personalized plaque to commemorate their achievement. The trip includes one round-trip coach ticket on Delta Airlines from the recipient's nearby major city to an airport near the conference location and hotel expenses for a single occupancy for March 17-20. Conference registration fees are covered by Keystone Systems, Inc. and meals are provided by the conference. If the recipient needs / desires a travel companion, such a person may be accommodated at Keystone CEO James Burts' discretion. 

Award finalists will be selected from all nominated individuals by the 2025 Julie Klauber Award Committee including:

• Teresa Kalber, Colorado Talking Book Library, 2011 Julie Klauber Award Recipient
• Lisa Nelson, Utah State Library Program for the Blind and Disabled
• Pepper Watson, Oklahoma Library for the Blind, Accessible Instructional Materials Center
• Erin Pawlus, Arizona Talking Book Library
• James Gleason, Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library
• Andrea Ewing Callicutt, Keystone Systems, Inc.

James Burts, CEO of Keystone Systems, will then determine the 2025 recipient after consulting with all the finalists' supervisors.

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

Julie Klauber Award Nomination Form

We've been getting quite a few questions and check-ins on the status of Institutional Acknowledgements, so I'm posting this as an official status page. In addition to getting the news out via the email listserv, this page will be updated as soon as the Institutional Acknowledgements are officially available.

Current Status: last updated 1/17/25

NLS is now ready to receive the Institutional Acknowledgement, and 7.8.24 has been released with the updated PIMMS sync. 

More info:

A guest post from Maureen Dorosinski, President, KLAS User Group, of Florida Division of Blind Services - Bureau of Braille and Talking Books Library

I was listening in on the last Reader Advisor meetup and when Alice said the NLS conference was “three weeks ago,” my heart bounced off the ground and back and I could not believe how time was slipping away.

I have been procrastinating on two writing projects and a presentation, but now it is critical that I get them done.

I start looking through photographs for the thousandth time, ones to send individually, use for the presentation, and this post. I look up and twenty minutes had gone by. I try again, looked up, and an hour had gone by. I try again, frustrated, and a whole weekend has gone by. I am truly crestfallen.

Where has my motivation gone? I think it could be once I share it, I am giving away a piece of it and it will be that much farther away. Despair grips me. Another week goes by.

I have a 14-foot display screen coming to the library for a slide show for the library staff. Time is ticking away and I am no closer. It’s TOMORROW. And my Google Photos for the week still sit at 990+ photos.

Once I write those final lines, clean up the album, present the last update, and name the folder, it is over. It gets put on a shelf, in a binder, into a computer folder. One more thing done. An ending. Closed. And I never want things to end.

How can I just…move on? Get things done?

One night, we all went to a reception in the Library of Congress Great Hall, where we listened to the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, and I was standing smack in the middle, right in front! I remember looking down and I was right on the edge of the compass rose seal in the middle of the floor- I got a little haughty and thought, I wore my jean jacket and sandals to the Library of Congress!

Then was abruptly humbled, with one upward glance, swamped by the grandeur of the Great Hall. Mesmerized by exquisite murals and ceilings, buttresses and arches, along the carved putti and cherubs lining the marble steps, with the columns and statues at every turn.

We had the opportunity to go to the Thomas Jefferson Library. His entire library recreated, displayed, and stretched out in a large, curved glass bookcase, and we could read the titles: The History of Philosophy by William Enfield, The Horrors of Slavery by William Ray, The Law of Charitable Uses by John Herne, and some works of Plutarch. To my utter glee, I found titles that were on the shelves, we can get them on Amazon or Google Books! We can read the same things he did!

A few of us even saw a Microsoft blue error screen on a display right outside the Jefferson library! (at the LOC!! Who would have thought…)

Walking around the Great Hall, I loved the fact that Poetry was the middle throne in the Poetry Gallery’s painted ceiling, with the words Architecture, Music, Sculpture, and Painting surrounding it. I had my architect husband Sean on a video call with me, so we walked that and another of the galleries ‘hand in hand’.

I found it amazing that the paintings of the words Home, Family, and Science seemed to be all right next to each other.

One of the inscriptions on the ceiling was, “Give instruction to those who cannot procure it for themselves.- Confucius”
This is what we do when we find books and get language learning materials, nonfiction books, and even programming. We are sharing instructions on how to do something for someone who wants what we can give to them.

Equally memorable on the trip were the unplanned things. I walked down a hallway after a meeting in the Madison building and found myself outside of the Performing Arts Reading Room and could not believe my luck. That there was such a place, of all the plays and reference materials! They even had a real card catalog, still in use.

In that area were the Sound Recordings archives, and they had an Edison record player, and the composer Rachmaninov’s desk! Just sitting there! I talked to the guys in the Sound Recording room, and it was funny, I overheard them having trouble looking things up in the LOC catalog. “Do I put the whole title in, and then click the drop down, or just use keyword?”

The next day I got my Library of Congress Reader’s card, and while time was short, I took advantage of an exceedingly high caliber research request of a previous patron, which was laying on a table: One Hundred Years of Comic Strips and another book with vintage strips like Little Orphan Annie and Blondie and Dagwood, Cathy, Dick Tracy…

Gathering in such an iconic place helps you realize YOU have a greater purpose in your work, and that it is something that is commemorated in the magnificent structures and collections of the LOC.

It takes three buildings to contain the greatness that is the Library of Congress. And by extension through NLS, we all can hold a piece of it as well in the work with NLS that we do every day.

It’s getting closer to the end of this piece, and I just don’t want it to end. I found the folder for the last conference I planned, and it’s like it never existed. I go back to Google Photos, and lose yet more time.

How do I hold on to it? I do not want it to ever end. When I do, it’s like it never happened. I looked a picture, and remember so many other little thigs I had forgotten. Am I doomed to putting it away, and forgetting it all?

That is certainly how it feels, but that’s not fact. The fact is we can carry the feeling with us every day, through remembering to follow through with meetings and projects we say we want to, even if it takes multiple Doodles to do so. It means calling, not just texting, that person that you could not believe it had been over a year since you had a true live conversation.

It means taking advantage of every new opportunity to connect with our fellow KLAS travelers and boil down what it means to you to be able to communicate it down to a few lines for your justification for the next conference. How about the KLAS Conference, in March 2025 in Indiana?

I think part of my reluctance to start and finish is that wondering if what I found significant will be of any meaning to anyone else.
At the end of the trip, I sent a message to Sean saying in part: “My visit was not long enough, my heart is too full to form words.” That could be the real reason I struggled to begin to write- my heart is just too full.

With love and memories,
Maureen Dorosinski, President, KLAS User Group

To support the new Parental Acknowledgement requirement from NLS, 7.8.22 includes a number of important changes.

1. When you update an individual Patron record - a value in the BirthDate field will now be mandatory.
2. When you update a Juvenile patron's Main tab, KLAS will ask for the Acknowledgement status and date received/signed.
3. The Acknowledgement is stored and updatable on the Preferences tab.
4. Juvenile patrons also need a Parent or Guardian Alternate Contact.
5. KLAS will be able to block Juvenile patrons without a positive Acknowledgement and a Parent/Guardian contact.
6. When Acknowledgement and Contact information have been entered or updated, that information will be sent to PIMMS.

Barring any last-minute problems, this update will be applied to all early release and auto-update customers for installation Wednesday, 10/02/2024. All other LBPD / Talking Books libraries are encouraged to schedule the update as soon as possible.

Read on for the full details on each of the above items.

1. Birth Date is now mandatory

To ensure that both KLAS and PIMMS can correctly identify juvenile patrons, the full date of birth is now mandatory for individual patrons. This will be in effect for new patron records, and for records being updated.

If a patron refuses to give their birth date, a value of 01/01/1900 should be used. 

2. Prompt for Parental Acknowledgement

On the patron Main tab, when any updates are saved to a relevant patron record, you will now be prompted to provide the Parental Acknowledgement.

Relevant patron records are:

• Patron Type: Any Individual patron type (PA, PJ, etc)
• Birth Date: Less than 18 years ago today
• Acknowledgement status: not already set to Yes

This prompt will have the options: Yes, No, or Not Received, and a field to enter the date that acknowledgement was received.

3. ParentalAck property

Once the prompt has been answered for a patron, the data will be saved for viewing or updates on the patron's Preferences tab (Alt-4) as the new property type "ParentalAck." 

The property will have fields Ack Answer (Yes, No, Not Received, or Not Applicable) and Answer Date.

If a No or Not Received later becomes a Yes, if a Yes is later rescinded, or the answer otherwise needs to be edited, that can be done here, along with providing the updated Answer Date.

4. Parent/Guardian contact preference

NLS needs to know the responsible party that provided the Acknowledgement. This person's name and email address should be saved as an Alternate Contact with a subtype of "Parent" or "Guardian" as appropriate.

If more than one such Alt Contact is on the patron's Contacts tab (Alt-2), the one responsible for answering the Acknowledgement must be designated as the "ParentalAck" contact preference (using the 'Add Contact Preference' gold star icon in the bottom right toolbar, or Functions menu - Add Contact Preference). 

If only one Alt Contact is on the record, the contact preference is optional. 

5. Block relevant patrons without the Acknowledgement

Once you are on 7.8.22 and indicate that you are ready to start blocking relevant patrons without the Parental Acknowledgement (or on the January 1 cutover date), we will apply the configuration to automatically apply the block.

Patrons that will be blocked are: 

• Patron Type: Any Individual patron type (PA, PJ, etc)
• Birth Date: Less than 18 years ago today
• Acknowledgement status: not set to Yes
• AltContact: no Parent or Guardian AltContact on file

If there are multiple Parents and/or Guardians on file but none are designated as the ParentalAck contact using the Contact Preference, the patron will not be blocked, but will be included on the PIMMS resubmit report for correction.

6. PIMMS Sync

The information in the ParentalAck property, the ParentalAck contact preference (or sole Parent/Guardian AltContact if no preference is set), and the full birth dates for all patrons will be now communicated to PIMMS. 

If you have further questions or concerns, please get in touch! As always, we'll be here making sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible.

Per your KLAS Users' Group Bylaws, KLAS Users' Group Officer transitions occurred on August 1, 2024. Now, your 2024-2025 Officers' and Committee Chairs want to have a chance to introduce themselves to you and answer your questions.

Are you interested in what being an officer entails / what role do they play in the users' group, and / or how your program, logistics or development advisory committee operates? This session was an opportunity for KLASUsers' to get answers to these these questions and more!

KLAS Users' Group Officers:

• Traci Timmons, Immediate Past President
• Maureen Dorosinski, President
• Josh Easter, Vice President
• Sara Zapatocky, Secretary

KLAS Users' Group Committee Chairs:

• Jesse McGarity, Program & KLAS Development Advisory Committee (KDAC)
• Maureen Dorosinski, Logistics

Starting Monday, March 17, 2025 Keystone Systems and the Indiana State Library, Talking Book and Braille Library Service come together to host the 2025 HYBRID KLAS Users' Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Below are all the resources and info you will need during your 2025 KLAS Users' Conference attendance:

• Conference Hotel: Embassy Suites Indianapolis Downtown
  • 110 West Washington St, Indianapolis, IN
• In-Person Sessions Location: Indiana State Library
  • 315 W. Ohio St, Indianapolis, IN
  • Indiana State Library Floorplans - PDF
• Online Sessions: 2025 KLAS Users' Conference Zoom Event
• KLAS UC2025 Overview Schedule - PDF
• KLAS UC2025 Agenda - PDF
  
• KLAS UC2025 Attendee Feedback Forms

2025 KLAS Users' Conference Zoom Event

• ALL conference attendees will use the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference Zoom Event throughout the conference. 
• The conference logo graphic to the right is a direct link to the KLAS UC 2025 Zoom Event.
• Important notes about the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event:
  • Use your individual Zoom account credentials to log into the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event.
  • Session times are based on your local time zone.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Using the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event

• How to initially access & navigate the KLAS UC 2025 Zoom Event
• You will use the KLAS UC2025 Zoom Event to:
  • bookmark sessions, create a personal schedule, and export your schedule to your personal calendar
  • view speaker information
  • watch and join conference sessions virtually
  • access session slidedecks and handouts
  • chat with other attendees
  • get conference announcements and updates
  • watch session recordings after the event
  • and more!

If you watched the recent Webinar on Issuing MoCs, you know that I strongly encouraged everyone to clean up their Serials... but what exactly should you be checking? 

As we get the first waves of libraries converted, I'm getting a crash course in what to look for and what our programs need to work, so here's the run-down! 

1. Active Serials

All of your active Serials need four things. The first three are on the title tab:

• Medium: DB
• Publisher: CMLS (It's fine to have the description spelled out, but the Code should be CMLS)
• Serial Type: Dir / Direct

For cleanliness sake, I also recommend making sure the Status is Active, and the Reading Level and Language are set appropriately, but the above are what we need for the program to make a local copy.

We also need an active Caption, which should look about like this. If you have MoC Dir serials without captions, please compile a list and send it to us.

2. Long-Discontinued Serials

At this point, we're recommending that the longest-discontinued serials be excluded from our copy programs. They've been unavailable for quite some time. 

If you agree to let these lie, please:

• Clear the Publisher field
• Set the Title Status to Withdrawn
• Include Discontinued or similar in the Title.

(Note: even for titles like these that you do not intend to circulate again, please do not delete serial title records, at least not without checking in with customer support to make very, very sure that nothing is still referencing the title.)

If you decide that you want to keep any of these for the option of sending back-issues, you need to either Cancel or Delete all active subscriptions for them, or patrons will get a very old serial issue. (See below for more details on clearing subscriber lists).

Any that you want to keep will also need the active serial info above, and something added to the Title to make it clear that the serial is discontinued.

Long-discontinued Serials list:

• AMH7 American Heritage - Discontinued Fall 2012
• BRD4 Das Beste aus Reader's Digest - Discontinued Mar 2020
• BUE3 Buenhogar - Discontinued Spring 2009
• CPZ4 Smart Computing - Discontinued Oct 2013
• DBF4 Diabetes Forecast - Discontinued  Sep 2020
• JFA4 Journal Francais d'Amerique - Discontinued Dec 2021
• MNY4 Money  - Discontinued Jun 2019
• NGT4 National Geographic Traveler - Discontinued Dec 2019
• OCI7 Cowboys and Indians - discontinued Fall 2020 
• OPR4 O, The Oprah Magazine - Discontinued Dec 2020
• PBY7 Playboy - Discontinued Jan 2021
• SVT4 Seventeen - Discontinued Dec 2018
• UNW7 U.S.News & World Report - Discontinued Jun 2009
• YAM4 Young Adult Magazine of the Month - Discontinued Dec 2013
• YOG4 Yoga Journal - Discontinued Dec 2023 (no issues on BARD)
• ZIG3 Matilda Ziegler - Discontinued Nov 2009

3. Recently-discontinued Serials

For these, you need to either Cancel or Delete all active subscriptions for them, or patrons will get an old serial issue (that they've presumably read before anyways).

Set the filter at the top of the Subscribers tab to Active, so that only the current subscriptions will show. Then, go through each and either:

• Update the subscription (Ctrl-o), add today's date in the End Date, and Save (Ctrl-s)
• Delete the subscription (Ctrl-d; enter to confirm). 

Cancelling by adding an End Date is preferable because it leaves a record of who was subscribed before. If the magazine resumes, you can resume the subscriptions by deleting the End Dates.(But if you have a long list, Deleting is faster.) 

We are working on a tool to help bulk cancel subscriptions, so if you have a later transition date and/or long subscriber lists on discontinued Serials, you might wait to see if we can get it to you in time. 

Finally, please make sure that the serial includes everything needed for Active serials: Medium: DB, Publisher: CMLS, Serial Type: Dir, and a Caption.

Most Recently discontinued Serials:

• AMH4 American History - Discontinued Spring 2024
• DOG4 Dogster - Discontinued Fall 2023
• OTL4 Outdoor Life - Discontinued  Spring 2023
• WRT4 The Writer - Discontinued Sept 2023

Dealer's Choice Serials:

Finally, there are two in-between discontinued serials, and you can decide which of the above lists they belong in:

• PES4 People en Espanol - Discontinued Apr 2022
• PSM4 Popular Science - Discontinued Dec 2022

4. Merged Serials

There are two pairs of merged serials that need review.

For Odyssey / Muse:

• ODY4 - Make sure the title reflects the dual nature of this serial
• ODY4 - Needs Publisher: CMLS, Serial Type: Dir, Medium: DB
• ODY4 - Needs both the odyssey and the muse caption/pattern, with the muse caption being the active one
• ODY7 / MUE4 / MUE5 - whatever the library has for Muse (BARD Back issues only) - needs to have the publisher cleared

Captions:

• odyssey_@chron1@-@chron2@ 
• muse_@chron1@-@chron2@

• EBN4 - needs to have the Ebony caption/pattern
• ESS4 - needs to have the Essence caption/pattern
• ESS4 - needs Publisher: CMLS, Serial Type: Dir, Medium: DB
• Your choice whether EBN4 should be copied to allow back-issues sent on demand (if not, remove the Publisher)
• Active Patron Subscriptions should be on ESS4
• Check EBN4 for subscriptions added after 2019 - It was announced as returning in 2023 and then withdrawn. Libraries should follow up with those patrons.

Captions:

• ebony_@chron1@-@chron2@
• essence_@chron1@-@chron2@

In Closing

Thank you for making it this far--sincerely. All of this cleanup will mean that you get all the issues you want loaded, but no ancient history getting duplicated and mailed out. It will help keep your first round of MoC Orders reasonable, and it will make the conversion process a lot smoother.

If you have questions, let us know. We will also be working on the libraries coming up for conversion next, so do not fear if you see some of these changing happening "on their own". It isn't the cataloging fairy; it's Katharina and I. (Although, maybe Katharina is the cataloging fairy...)

Mark your calendar and start making your plans for March 17-20, 2025 to join us as Keystone and the Indiana State Library, Talking Book and Braille Library come together to bring the KLAS Users' Conference to Indianapolis, IN!! More info will be coming soon, so be on the lookout.

This week we're sharing user perspectives from the two libraries who served as pilot libraries for how libraries for the blind and print disabled will circulate magazines on cartridge (MoC) via KLAS. Michael Lang, Director, State Library of Kansas Talking Books Service, shares the Gutenberg experience and Jesse McGarity, Technical Operations Specialist II, Virginia Beach Public Library, Accessible Resources and Services, provides insights from using Scribe for MoC. A big thanks to Michael and Jesse for testing the waters, helping us improve the process for all of you, and for sharing their experiences!

MoC at Kansas Talking Books Service

Submitted by Michael Lang

Michael Lang, checking in with an update on some of the lessons we learned getting started with local MOC production in Kansas. We ran into a few issues, some were issues of our own making and some were bugs in the system that needed to be worked out. As such, my MOC circulation numbers aren’t going to be very helpful for anyone. Nothing was running as we thought it should have at first. We started, ran for a week, had to pause as the bugs were worked through, and then restarted.

We are running our serials as a separate medium, so that magazines will be loaded separate from books. Our plan is to send them out on a calendar basis, weekly on Wednesdays. We’re still trying to make sure that’s working as intended.

Most of the problems we’ve uncovered are being or have already been patched by Keystone and NLS. Here’s the main problems we ran into.

• Issue 1: Old, some very old, issues of magazines were sent to our patrons. We intend to only send out one back issue to a new subscriber. That’s not how it worked when the switch got flipped. I believe this has been fixed.
  • Lesson 1: Pay close attention to which issues are being printed during your mail run at first.
  • Lesson 2: Consider cancelling subscriptions for inactive NLS magazines, or patrons might get the last issue of American Heritage magazine from 2019 (fake example) and wonder why.
  • Lesson 3: Look at your serials request lists in KLAS and see if anything looks funky prior to flipping the switch. Does someone have reserves for 2009 People magazines? Catch it before it goes out.
• Issue 2: Naming issues with Readers Digest caused multiple duplication errors, an issue that has been fixed by NLS.
  • Lesson: Know where your report is for orders in error status and run it throughout the transition. Patron Module – Reports Menu – Statistics – Duplication Order Status.
• Issue 3: Bug in the system has led to 0 new files (books or magazines) being added to our system since 3/15. Almost fixed.
  • Lesson: Sometimes being the pilot library breaks stuff, but if you can roll with the punches its worth it.

Overall, we’re excited about where this is going to get us when it’s all smoothed out. It’s given me a chance to email with Nancy and John a bunch which is always a treat 😊

MoC at Virginia Beach Accessible Resources & Services

Submitted by Jesse McGarity

In March, Accessible Resources and Services (ARS) at the Virginia Beach Public Library (VBPL) went live with MoC!

We are sending magazines out on separate cartridges from talking book. This is because we already had cartridges of separate colors (white for talking books, green for braille, and peach for magazines) and because we have a smaller patron size. We set the magazine limit to 15 per cartridge since they are smaller than books, with a max of two cartridges.

Some of the reasons we decided against sending talking books and magazines together is because we had the second color cartridge, but also because we did not want to confuse patrons. Additionally, we did not want to limit the number of talking books a patron would get.

After the first shipment it took us a week or so to figure out our settings were incorrect, but once we did, items started going out. The first two shipments were quite a bit for us (about 90) but as we wait for returns it has been much less. Right now our daily send out very low, about one or two. Hopefully has people realize we are sending them, it will be more.

The next step is to find a good way to add has/hads to each patron account, so they do not missing any issues.

As I’m sure you all know, NLS will be transitioning the distribution of the MoC (Magazine on Cartridge) serials to the network libraries. As the schedule for this transition is being filled in and we get the final testing done on the release necessary for MoC service, I wanted to let you all know how things are looking, what you should be thinking about, and what you should expect for the coming month or two.

Current Status

We have two pilot libraries up and running: Virginia Beach (VA1I) on Scribe, and Kansas State Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired (KS1A) on Gutenberg. They have provided us with valuable early feedback, informing how we have built the set-up programs and allowing us to do another round of fine-tuning on the eDoc and Service Serials programs.

These programs will be included in KLAS v7.8.13, which will be going out to Early Release customers soon. This release (or later) will be necessary for MoC serial distribution.

While KLAS has had Serials support for a very long time, the volume of MoC serials distribution demands a more automated process, with plenty of updates and improvements for duplication in place of physical production. Once this release is out, we will continue to prioritize Serials improvements and fixes as the needs are identified.

I’ll also note that, at least for now, only the non-TBT audio magazines are being passed to the libraries--not TBT3, and not any of the braille magazines. Those will continue to be distributed Direct from NLS

How it will work

When your switchover date arrives, we will run the setup programs to take care of everything on the KLAS side. The key program is an updated version of the eDoc Sync, which will check for new Serial Issue files on books.klas.com or your Gutenberg device. When a new file is found, it will create an Issue to match, along with the eDoc.

The creation of that Issue will generate Serial Reserves for all the Active Subscribers, which will also be pushed to their Service Queues. From there, things work very much like they do for regular DBs: when a patron needs service, the titles will be pulled into a Duplication Order.

If you choose to treat the serials as a separate Medium (which will keep them on a separate queue and in separate orders from the DB books, and count them towards a separate cutoff), we will also:

• Generate a local-distribution copy of the Serial title record with the new medium (the old record will be kept for BARD downloads only).
• Copy all the active subscribers to the new Serial title.
• Generate a Medium Profile and Service Queue for all active subscribers.

Decisions to make

We know that you all have your own workflows, preferences, and patron trends--and you know we do our best to make sure that KLAS can adjust to fit. That means you have some options about how we’ll set you up.

Please think about the following options, and let us know how you want things set at your library. We’ll be in touch as your transition date approaches.

Medium:

As I mentioned above, you have the option of using a dedicated Serial medium (generally DS / Digital Serials).

If you do not use a separate medium, the Serials will mingle in with the books in the same Service Queues and potentially the same cartridges. The plus side is that you will not need to manage separate profiles and queues, and patrons can all have the same hard limit cutoff for the total number of cartridges.

If you do use a separate medium, that will neatly separate your books and magazines, making it easier to ensure that both go steadily out to your patrons. It also means that you can get separate statistics on DB-Carts and DS-Carts, and if you chose, provide distinct labeling to differentiate book cartridges and serial cartridges for your patrons.

Cartridges:

I emphasized in the recent Braille Duplication webinar that cartridge inventory must be kept separate--that once a cartridge was used for a DB order, it should never be used for a DS order, and visa-versa. We have now identified the issue that was preventing KLAS from successfully passing inventory back and forth between media, so I am now (mostly) retracting that imperative.

Keeping your cartridge inventory is now considered optional except for multi-branch systems.

If you have multiple branches in your KLAS database, you still must keep your cartridge inventory labelled and separate until we are able to fix the underlying issue.

We do still recommend that cartridges are labelled according to their contents for the best patron experience. For now, doing so will also allow for more accurate statistics, especially AVL cartridge counts. We will continue work in the future to ensure that cartridges previously used for one medium but currently used for a different medium do not get double-counted.

Retention:

With physical issues of a serial, you only have room to hang onto so many back-issues. However, since these are digital, you will have all of the recorded back-issues for each magazine available by patron request.

However, when you subscribe a new patron to a serial, you probably do not want to send them twelve years of back issues, and they probably don’t want to get twelve years of back issues.

So how many do you want to send? Just the most recent issue? The past two or three to get them started? This setting can be manually adjusted per serial title if there is a magazine patrons tend to want more back-issues of, but please let us know what you want this setting to be for all the direct serials to start with.

Medium Defaults:

If you leave the serials as DB, they will hang out with the DB books and count towards all the same Medium settings. However, if you chose to make the serials DS, we will need to know what default settings you want in place for the subscribers’ medium profiles.  

For the Serve Type: how often do you want magazine cartridges to go out? Do you want to send patrons their next cartridge as soon as an issue is available, or let issues collect and only send a cartridge once per week? Every other week? Do you want to designate a specific day (perhaps a day when your regular circulation tends to be light) and handle all serials on that day, or do you want to set your patrons for Nightly serials service, but with a 7-day or 14-day Circ Delay setting to ensure that each patron is served ASAP when they return cartridges, but that they never get cartridges too close together?

All of the other profile settings will need to be set as well: NS Cutoff, Shipment Size, and Max Titles per Cartridge being the important ones. The Queue Size and Queue Refill Point are less relevant to serials service, but we need to put a number there, so tell us which one you want.

Branch Service:

If you are in a multi-branch system, do you want each branch to serve their own patrons, or do you want all Serials duplication to be done at the main branch?

Training & Networking

I’m sure you will all still have questions, and more questions will come up as you get started. You are always welcome to contact us with those questions, but to help people get started on the right foot, I do plan to host a training webinar later this month or in early May.

Our Pilot libraries have also agreed to share their experiences so far, so you can expect a guest blog post from them in the next week or two.

As libraries get up and running, we’ll be posting status updates including any new feature or bug fixes, and listing which libraries have made the transition (and whether they are Scribe or Gutenberg), so you will all know who in the network you can reach out to with questions.

If there is any other info you need to make this a successful transition, please let us know! We’ll be on your side and here to help for the whole journey.

This week's KeyNotes blog post is a guest post from KLAS User Development Advisory Committee Members Jesse McGarity, Virginia Beach Public Library Accessible Resources and Services and Barnaby Camp, Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled.

Thank you to everyone that responded to the KLAS Development and Advisory Committee (KDAC) survey. Of the 69 respondents, 88.4% worked for a Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (LBPD), 10.1% for an Instructional Resource / MaterialsCenter (IRC / IMC), while the remaining 1.5% identified as a School Library / Association / Other. The sample included librarians, reader advisors, BARD administrators, and other professionals. The purpose of the survey was to identify to KLAS developers the improvements or updated features that were the highest priority for users.

94% of respondents said they used the patron module daily, with the book search as the most used function, while 68% used the catalog module with heading maintenance as the most mentioned. Some users wished the search function would use Boolian operators. The highest priority for all respondents was to add an "Undo Function" for accidental merges in heading maintenance, restoring both headings to books and likes/dislikes to patrons. Next, was the ability to mark items previously marked as lost as something else (e.g., Lost-Returned) when returned, clarifying their status. Following, was to add a button that transfers current search parameters from "Find" to a query set in another window, enabling quick toggling through book records for copy/pasting subjects when "Title" exists in multiple formats.

There was a strong interest from IRCs for linking a related patron record as a 'contact,' ensuring that changes to preferred contact information on that record are reflected in the primary record. The most highly ranked potential update for LBPHs was checking the PIMMS database for existing patrons with the same name and birth year when adding a new patron record. Other high-priority improvements for LBPHs included allowing composite subject likes/dislikes for patron preferences, allowing users to sort orders by the last status date, and creating a new order type to send cartridges to patrons that don't count against their cartridge limit (the NSCutoff), also the ability to account for multiple medium/reading level situations on the same patron/institution record, for example to allow for “Large print - K-3," "Braille - 4-7," "Digital books - 8," all on the same account and to allow libraries to retain pre-bundled duplication orders .

Finally, in the open “red stapler” section, several respondents identified arranging series order in the service queue as one of their more tedious tasks. The question was asked on what would be the best way for KLAS to handle series. The majority preferred option B, which sends out the earliest book in a series that is not marked "Has/Had" and positions it relative to other books in the same series in the queue.

Thanks again to everyone who responded!