GLS creates its own accessible reading material through its operation of the GLS Recording Studio. This year, due to the impact of COVID and to efforts related to moving from temporary space to the new permanent home, the recording studio saw very little use this year.  GLS Outreach used the recording studio to record an audio version of the GLS quarterly newsletter, HourGLS. This recording is uploaded to YouTube and is linked to the GLS website.

Digital audiobooks, previously created by GLS were downloaded 232 times in FY21 by talking book patrons and libraries across the NLS network of libraries, a  moderate decrease over last year’s usage of GLS recorded content.

The GLS Distribution Center has functioned well this year. Through a combination of NLS provided equipment and software and an interface with the ILS KLAS (Keystone Library Automation System), a customized cartridge holding as many as ten titles per cartridge is created for  and mailed to patrons. KLAS keeps a list of titles in a queue for patrons, such that when a cartridge is returned a new cartridge is created. In cooperation with reader advisors, patrons can set parameters for their service. Though the service suffers from a dysfunctional United States Postal Service, lending has remained robust throughout this first full year of transition to the Duplication on Demand service model. In addition to physical lending, GLS sponsors and supports BARD lending and Bookshare lending. 

Staff at GLS Atlanta provide a range of library services via the telephone, e-mail and social media. In normal years staff assist walk-in patrons, but this year they did not.  At the beginning of FY21, the library was closed to the public due to COVID-19 considerations. By the summer, the library continued to be closed to patrons due to the move back to Central Branch. However, staff continued to  provide virtual reference assistance, information & referral, and programming. Though COVID impacted all of these services, with a creative and energetic staff GLS continued to both assist patrons and provide remote programming. 

This year GLS staff served 11,112 patrons. Of those patrons, 3537 are registered BARD users and 273 are enrolled in the PINES -GLS partnership program to borrow large print items. Reader Advisors answered 13,813  calls from patrons. GLS hosted 45 programs, with 448 participants. Programs included:  Peer Support, Assistive Technology Class, Male BookClub, Make the Connection Book club, For Grown Folks only Bookclub and the children’s summer reading program. The highlighted virtual event was the June 2021 Spoken Word program where participants read aloud their own works such as poetry or short stories or read from their favorite authors.  It was a remarkably uplifting experience.

Georgia Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (GLS) relies upon making sure that everyone in the state is aware that the services are available to print impaired Georgians. As the NLS talking book program serves persons with vision impairment and functional disability which are most often age acquired, there is an ever changing, ever growing set of individuals who need to be informed of GLS services. The goals for GLS outreach are to educate and inform those individuals about our program through strong interaction with Georgia’s public library system and through partnerships with key agencies that also serve persons with print impairment, such as centers for independent living, aging & senior service organizations and rehabilitation service providers. Additionally, the outreach team goes into communities to talk to groups that may benefit from learning about the GLS program and resources. This year outreach focused on rebranding our program and updating all of our collateral materials.