NEWS For Immediate Release March 19, 2004

Contact: Cheryl Malden Program Officer 312-280-3247 cmalden@ala.org

SIRSI Leader In Library Technology Grant winner named

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the winner of the SIRSI Leader In Library Technology Grant, sponsored by the SIRSI Corporation. The award of $10,000 and a citation is provided to encourage and enable continued advancements in quality library services for a project that makes creative or groundbreaking use of technology to deliver exceptional services to its community.

This year’s grant is awarded to The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center, OverDrive, Inc, and TAP Information Services for their group project proposal for “E-Books Open Up the World of Print to Visually Impaired Readers.” The goal of the project is to create a rich collection of multi-format e-books that have been optimized for use by print-impaired library patrons, including the blind, visually impaired, physically challenged and dyslexic. All technologies supporting accessible digital content will be included in the project, including software, systems, and hardwareplayback devices. Digital talking books in various file formats, including recorded audio and text-to-speech technologies, will be included in the creation and use of the collection.

“The SIRSI Leader in Technology jury salutes Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center for the promise of its initiative, the quality of its proposal, and the soundness of its project,” said Alan Kirk Gray, award chair. “The jury was impressed with the potential of the program to provide a rich collection of multi-format e-books that have been optimized for use by print-impaired library patrons, including the blind.”

“E-Books Open Up the World of Print to Visually Impaired Reader” will serve as a replicable model for how talking book centers and libraries nationwide can mediate between content providers and end-users to improve the accessibility and usefulness of information for all. The result of the project will be a Web-based self-serve digital library for visually impaired readers. It will contain a sophisticated digital rights management and circulation system developed by OverDrive.

“The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center (MITBC) is taking leadership in a drive towards adoption of the DAISY, a world-wide standard designed to make content available for all,” added Gray. “The jury believes the initiative has significant potential for the community served by MITBC, and many other libraries, and anticipates that the program will provide a model with potential to be adopted by other libraries.”

The SIRSI Grant will be presented Tuesday, June 24, during the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.

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