Giving the Gift of Accessibility

There's so much going on these days at Bookshare: a growing community that's getting hard to keep track of!


We came up with a book wishlist for donors who wanted to pitch in and buy specific books requested by Bookshare members. We have talented members of the team that whip together graphics and even videos to promote these! It was fun singing along in the Bookshare holiday video.

One donor made a special offer to our top volunteers, those who have provided at least 150 books to Bookshare: that they could request any one book and we'd (not they!) get the book scanned and into Bookshare. More than fifty book requests have already come in. Our Volunteer Coordinator, Pavi Mehta, sent me this email last week and I thought it was definitely blog-worthy!

From: Pavi Mehta
Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 11:36 AM
To: Bookshare Team
Subject: Thank You Notes from the Volunteers

Hi All,

Just wanted to send out these snippets of appreciation from volunteers (in response to what Carol Lake’s donation made possible). Through her contribution we were able to give our most active volunteers (those who have directly contributed to adding 150 books or more to the library) a chance to request a book -- any book that they wanted to see in Bookshare’s Collection. All they had to do was send in their “wish” and we take care of the rest. We have requests in for 51 books (wide ranging in subject and genre). Have included a list of the titles at the end of this mail for those who are curious.
It was great to be able to extend a Thank You gesture to our most dedicated volunteers (and we’re in the process of designing and implementing a more comprehensive Appreciation Program).

Passing on their thrilled gratitude to the Bookshare Team here … and echoing their good wishes to all for a Happy Holiday Season and terrific New Year!

Pavi

• What a great present! Thanks, and thanks to the generous donor!

• WOW! This is totally unexpected, and so neat! Thank you!

• Thanks for the opportunity to choose a book! What fun!

• What a thoughtful way of saying "thank you" by Bookshare; thank you so much

• Hi! What a wonderful gift!! Please extend my thanks to the donor and to the entire Bookshare staff!

• Thank you so much! That is such a kind and generous thing for you all at Bookshare to do. And my thanks also to the donor who made this possible. And it is a pleasure on my end to volunteer, I only wish I had time to do more.

• Thank you for this opportunity to choose a book and not have to do anything else other than see it listed in the new books section (smile).

• Your e-mail was deeply appreciated, It's a joy to be part of your volunteers.

• What a wonderful gift! :D Your note and the gift of getting a book into the collection has made my day. Getting to read a book I like without scanning it first is a real luxury, better than chocolate. Will you please tell the staff and donor how much I appreciate this?

• Thank you! What an absolutely delightful gift, and I appreciate it very much. Submitting books for bookshare has been a favorite volunteer activity of mine for years.

• Thank you so very much for thinking of us! I've been a long time Bookshare member and volunteer and the growth is just amazing!

• It is truly a pleasure to be a BookShare volunteer, and it is wonderful to feel appreciated! What a lovely gift for the holidays!

• I want to thank you for the email. It is nice to know the work I have done has been appreciated.

• Thank you for asking me to add a title to Bookshare's collection. I feel honored! Seasons greetings to you too!

• Thanks so much. You have made my holiday!

• Thank you so much for this privilege. I am so happy to be able to volunteer for bookshare. As an avid reader myself, it brings me great pleasure to be able to share the books that I enjoy with others.

• Please pass along my deepest thanks to the donor who made this possible. Happy holidays!:

• I hope you'll pass on to the donor that I, for one, couldn't have received a nicer gift than a book I can read in braille, in my comfy reclining loveseat, to the melodies of soft classical music, a lilac candle burning, diet cream soda within reach (..), and Blackberry pie, my dog, at my side. If it can't be a book I'm requesting, There are literally hundreds of books on my list of books in the Bookshare collection I know I'll love reading. The best part about receiving your letter is knowing Bookshare notices how much I try to send you well proofread books and that my dedication is as unflagging as my health allows.
********
Volunteer Requests:

1. Rural Nurse
2. Celtic Myths and Legends
3. Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America
4. The Online Copywriter's Handbook : Everything You Need to Know to Write Electronic Copy That Sells
5. Where Love Rules
6. Piece de Resistance: A Novel
7. As Meat Loves Salt
8. Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life
9. Conversations With Nostradamus: His Prophecies Explained, Vol. 1 (Revised Edition & Addendum 2001)
10. Designing Great Beer
11. Pantheism: A Non-Theistic Concept of Deity
12. Elements of Pantheism
13. Brethren: Raised by Wolves, Volume One
14. Each One Believing
15. The Structure Of Evolutionary Theory
16. The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination
17. Grounds to Believe: Elect Trilogy #3
18. Disney High School Musical: Stories from East High #13
19. Comanche Moon
20. Dead Men Walking
21. Lake in the Clouds
22. The Raiders
23. Twin of Fire
24. Twin of Ice
25. Any books by Michael Feldman
26. Any books by Michael Perry.
27. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma
28. The One Year Devotionals For Teens
29. Hunger's Brides: A Novel of the Baroque
30. 1,000 Indian Recipes
31. The Everything Guide to Writing a Romance Novel
32. The Dangerous Book for Boys
33. IMPULSE
34. The Celebration Hymnal
35. Songs and Hymns for Worship
36. By Heresies Distressed (Safehold)
37. Who Knew II
38. The Skylark
39. Shadows in bronze : a Marcus Didius Falco novel
40. Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha
41. No: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home
42. Heaven's my Destination
43. Exalted, Second Editio
44. How Pathogenic Viruses Work
45. Knitting the Season
46. Knitter's Book Of Yarn
47. The Knitter's Book Of Wool
48. Culinary Harmony
49. Pleasures of your Processor
50. Herbal Healing For Women
51. The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia