Text-to-Voice Service translates Web content over telephone. Designed for visually impaired users or those with limited internet access, Voice Terminal Service (VTS) provides instant access to user-defined Internet content in real-time over ordinary landline or mobile phone. It combines Internet surfing capabilities and email access with Notifier service for anytime, anywhere functionality. Taking advantage of text-to-speech technology, subscribers can listen to and respond to email messages, surf Web, and access real-time Web content.

This past April, the National Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress, entered the first phase of its transition to a digital playback system, as well as releasing an upgraded version of its pilot download website. Beginning with the testing of 5,000 digital players by NLS patrons in their homes, NLS has begun to launch a full-scale production and distribution of 26,000 players per month, ensuring continued access to reading materials for more than 500,000 registered users.

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

The perfect antidote for library staff members and library lovers comes in late October at the Columbia Marriott in the form of the 2009 SCLA Annual Conference, October 28-30. This year's theme is: South Carolina Libraries: Diverse People and Exceptional Services. The Annual Conference will be a premiere continuing education event offering a Preconference on diversity, dozens of workshops and networking opportunities for all.

The SCLA Awards Committee invites nominations for the Outstanding Librarian Award, Jane Walter Mason Award for Excellence in Technical Services, and Friend of Libraries Award to be presented at the SCLA annual conference, October 28-30, 2009.

Learn more about what's going on in South Carolina libraries! Listen to our Lion's Roar podcast. The latest edition for the week of August 14, 2009 (episode 19), is now available online and on iTunes.

Are you looking for book recommendations for the young and very young who are headed back to school soon? The latest edition of the Reading Rooster Recommends is now available on the SC State Library's YouTube channel. Visit http://www.youtube.com/scstatelibrary and subscribe to the State Library's YouTube channel and get regular updates from the Reading Rooster!

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Midlands resident Carmella Broome and the Talking Book Services (TBS) division of the SC State Library will soon be completing the recording of Ms. Broome's memoir. Carmella's Quest: Taking On College Sight Unseen is published by Red Letter Press of Columbia and was released in standard print in Feb of 2009. During the past several months, Ms. Broome has spent time reading her book aloud into the State Library's digital recording equipment so that others who are blind can enjoy it. Ms.

The Lion's Roar podcast for the week of July 31, 2009 (episode 18), is now available online and on iTunes. Included in this episode: The South Carolina State Library is pleased to announce the redesign of its web site; The Friends of Florence County Library was selected as one of five 2008 Baker & Taylor Award winners for "Guess What Friend is Coming to Dinner."; 2009 National Book Festival will be held on Saturday, Sept.

How many children in America are not taught to read? The answer is 90 percent if the children are blind. Most Americans are shocked to hear this statistic. And we should be. The blind read and write using Braille, so why is our educational system failing to teach Braille to so many children? Why are these children being denied the opportunities that come with a proper education? What if you could not read and write? Where would you be today?