Maine State Library-Talking Books Plus

Summer is almost here! Get ready for a great summer reading program provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled!

[Image: Digby and friend are surrounded by stacks of books as they read outside.]

NLS Summer Reading Program - National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) | Library of Congress NLS summer reading adventure! Enjoy online events, activities & story times for all. Register & explore through braille & talking books!

Press release for our friends at the VIP (Visually Impaired Persons) group.

"The next monthly meeting of Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) will be held on June 2, 2026, at 1:15 p.m. in the Boothbay Region Community Center, located in the Meadow Mall on Townsend Avenue, Boothbay Harbor.

The meeting this month will be a drum circle! It will be facilitated by member Kitty Hartford, who will provide a multitude of instruments. The drum circle will be a shared event that requires no previous. experience. Drum circles reduce stress and promote emotional healing, while promoting creative expression. Join us for an unique adventure!

People with any type of vision issue are welcome to attend, along with their caregivers and drivers.

For more information, call Joan at (207) 633-2498.

Need a ride? Call Kitty at (207) 633-6355.

[Image: Standing is Chris Boynton, Director of Outreach Services, who is giving a presentation of Outreach Services to members of the VIP group, who are sitting around a rectangular table.]

Today is and we're ready to celebrate it! Bookmobiles and home delivery services, school visits and pop-up libraries, community partnerships and always-available digital downloads and resources, our libraries go beyond their four walls to serve our Maine communities. You can learn more about the Maine State Library's Outreach Services at https://www.maine.gov/msl/outreach/index.shtml

in 1976, to commemorate both Thomas Jefferson’s 233rd birthday and the nation’s Bicentennial, the Federal Reserve issued a redesigned $2 bill. The new bill kept Jefferson’s portrait on the front but replaced an engraving of Monticello on the back with a vignette of John Trumbull's painting "Declaration of Independence." According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), five of the 47 people portrayed in the painting itself were cropped from the bill due to space.
You don’t see many $2 bills around nowadays. But 50 years ago — when gasoline averaged 57 cents a gallon and a typical fast-food meal cost less than $2 — that $2 bill had the purchasing power of more than $11 today.
Speaking of U.S. currency, did you know that NLS partners with BEP to provide free currency readers to eligible individuals who are blind or visually impaired? The compact iBill Talking Banknote Identifier announces a note’s value in one of three ways: by voice, a pattern of tones or a pattern of vibrations. Find out more — and download an application if you’re eligible — at www.loc.gov/nls/services-and-resources/us-currency-reader-program?loclr=fbnls.
[Image: The front and back of a $2 bill. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, U.S. Department of the Treasury.]