Announcements

• Bookshare Story Contest
• Upcoming Training
• New Bookshare Videos
• New Bookshare Stats
• Hot Books

Bookshare Story Contest

Want to share your best Bookshare experience? Has Bookshare changed your life in a unique and significant way? Enter your story for a chance to win!

Following the launch of our new site, we want to give our loyal Bookshare members the opportunity to share their stories with the rest of the community. Everyone’s story is special in its own way, so tell us how you use Bookshare in your everyday life. What assistive technology do you use with Bookshare? Why do you use Bookshare and how has Bookshare made an impact on your life?  What is your best Bookshare memory? This is a contest and there will be winners, so please use your creativity! Only Bookshare members are eligible to win.

To enter the contest CLICK HERE.

Official contest rules:

Must be current Bookshare Member.

You can submit your story via video, MP3 or text/Braille formats. Make your video or MP3 a minute or less and your text document no more than one page in length.

Contest runs from March 16, 2009 – April, 31, 2009
Winners will be notified individually and announced on the Bookshare website on June, 15, 2009.

If winner is a minor, a parent consent form will have to be signed.
Bookshare retains the right to post winning media on our website. Bookshare will request consent from the author prior to any other use of the media.

One winner will be chosen from each of the following categories:

• Student – K-12
• Student – University
• Student – Adult Ed
• Individual Member
• School K-12
• Most Creative
• Best Video
• Best MP3
• Best Text/Braille
• International
• Grand Prize, best overall story and presentation for U.S. Members.
• Grand Prize, best overall story and presentation for International Members.

Prizes:

Grand prize: Your choice of the Victor Reader Stream, the Classmate Reader or an Apple I-Touch.

Other prizes: Bookshare Attire and logo items.

All winners will have their video posted on the Bookshare website.

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Bookshare Training Webinars

Upcoming trainings will include more information on how to read and download books using our free e-book reader software, Victor Reader Soft and READ:Out Loud. We will also feature a future webinar on how to get textbooks from the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC).

Free online webinars for Parents

• To register please visit bookshare.org/about/training

Free online webinars for Educators

All Pacific Time

• 3/17/2009
  1:30-2:30 pm
  BKS Buzz - Tips on how to get K-12 textbooks from the NIMAC (National Instructional Materials Access Center)
• 3/25/2009
  1:00-2:00 pm
  Bookshare 101
• 4/1/2009
  1:00-2:00 pm
  BKS Buzz - Tips on how to use READ:OutLoud
• 4/15/2009
  1:00-2:00 pm
  BKS Buzz - Tips for getting your student an Individual Membership
• 4/23/2009
  1:00-2:00 pm
  Bookshare 101
• 4/29/2009
  1:00-2:00 pm
  BKS Buzz - How to use Bookshare on a Macintosh computer
• 5/13/2009
  1:00-2:00 pm
  BKS Buzz - Summer planning with Bookshare
• 6/3/2009
  1:00-2:00 pm
  BKS Buzz - Meet Bookshare's video winners!
• To register please visit bookshare.org/about/training

Free online webinars for Universities

• Past Webinar held on Thursday, February 19

More free trainings coming soon, please check
bookshare.org/about/training to find a current listing.

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New Bookshare Videos

Bookshare completed ten new videos last year that profiled student members plus their parents and teachers. Some of these videos also demonstrate how Bookshare is used and provide a "How-To" look at Bookshare in the classroom.

While producing these videos, Benetech Communications Director Ann Harrison traveled to schools in Lowville, New York, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Talladega, Alabama. The entire Bookshare staff would like to send out a special thanks to Bookshare student members Steffon Middleton, Alex Clark, Jessica Pinto, Shane McKnight, Curtis Holman and their families for participating in this project. Many thanks also to Bookshare teacher member Jill Dunaway at the Alabama School for the Blind. We are also grateful to teacher Mary Case at Lowville Academy, parents Mary Pinto and Kelly Clark and the following educators at the Albuquerque Public Schools for their invaluable support for this project: Heather Morrison, Megan Shanley, Rye Bailey, Gwen Sanchez, Renee Huber, Marjorie Quine-Smith, Valerie Dalton and Anne Pierce-Jones.

You can view these videos on YouTube and TeacherTube by searching for Bookshare.org. Or you can view these videos on the Bookshare website.

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New Bookshare Stats

• Number of Books in the Bookshare Library – 44,917
• Individual Bookshare Members - 5770
• Organizational Members - 46,728
• Total Bookshare Members - 52,498

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Hot Books

The most requested titles in the Bookshare collection are the Harry Potter books which continue to be the top most requested books in the library. Other popular books during this winter season are titles from the New York Times bestsellers list including: Plum Spooky, by Janet Evanovich, The Associate, by John Grisham, and Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin.

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