Abibliophobia the fear of running out of things to read
Ezine fall 2021
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Table of Contents
8: Smile! By Renee Breaux
14: The Austin Bat Cave By Maya Linville
20: The Effect of School Reading By Maxwell Laake
26: A is for Audiobook By Sonali Srikanth
32: Smorgasbord of Shennanigans Abibliophobia | 4
6:Letter From the Editors 12: Garden of Genres By Renee Breaux
18: Top Eight Reading Destinations in Austin By Maya Linville
24: What are you Reading, AISD? By Maxwell Laake
30: Classictastic! By Sonali Srikanth
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Letter From the Editors Abibliophobia | 6
What’s up mate!? My name is Maxwell Laake. I enjoy math, hiking, anime, marching and normal band, and of course, reading! I’m personally an avid fan of fiction like Percy Jackson and Wings of Fire but I can appreciate non-fiction. I have an amazing older brother and he has an adorable dog. I’ve been an Austinite my whole life and it was fun learning about literature in the weird city of Austin!
Hiya! I’m Sonali, and I love reading, webtoons, and dancing. The computers here are insanely slow, so I’m glad I was able to get any work done. My favorite color is green, and my favorite artist is Hozier. My favorite book series are the All for the Game series and the Empirium Trilogy. I’m so jealous of everyone in my group with a dog.
Hey! My name is Jason Hasik. I enjoy reading, science, coding, anime, and soccer! It was super fun getting to set up interviews with people and experience their point of view on the topic.
Hello! My name’s Renee Breaux. I like embroidery, reading, podcasts, singing, playing bass, and ALSO hiking (Max!! You never told me you liked hiking!!). I have two siblings in the form of my lovely dog, Ponyo, and my middle-aged-crisis-personified demon of a cat, Desmond. I’m yet another full-time Austinite, and I’ve been involved in the book scene in this city since I was a kid. However, it was still great to take a deeper dive into how our lovely
Hi! My name is Maya Linville. I love science, mountain bike riding, history, and most importantly, reading. I have two sisters and the world’s best dog. I’ve lived in Austin my entire life, so learning more about the amazing literary world in Austin was so cool! (ALSO, I love Percy Jackson and Wings of fire as well and definitely recommend both series!!!!)
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W Austin Independent Buisnesses Struggle Against Amazon
By Renee Breaux
Smile!
ide, sunlit hallways. Bookshelves all around you like the walls of a home. The steady, rhythmic turning of pages. You can look at any section and know it was curated with care, with love. This is an independent bookstore, and it is at risk of being lost. Bookstores provide us with something beyond the immediate gratification that comes when a blue-and-grey smiling van pulls up with its cardboard package. Since the beginning of Amazon in 1994, the megacorporation run by Jeffrey Bezos has steadily grown to monumental proportions, creating the richest man in the world and putting thousands of small companies, especially bookstores, out of business in the process. No matter how small, independent businesses give us unique experiences we could never find packaged in a smiling box. Bookstores particularly are a vital part of every community they are located in. Charlie Rejesk, the owner of the local Austin bookstore BookPeople, knows this well. “[Bookstores] bring together the community,” Rejesk said. “They bring people together. So many times when we have inperson book signings, we hear it’s their first book signing, and it
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is amazing to think about going to your first book signing. You only get to do that once. There was someone who brought them there for the first time to do that. Then they get to see what it’s like, and hopefully come back again.” This relationship is not oneway. Local communities are the primary business revenue for bookstores, and Austin has kept many of them afloat over the years. “Our community is literally what keeps us going,” Rejesk said. “They choose with their dollars they want us to be there, all of us. I mean, think about how many indie bookstores we have between us, Malvern’s, BookWoman, South Congress books, Austin Books and Comics, and even the Barnes and Nobles we have around. The community supports so many bookstores.” And they support Austin in turn. During the pandemic, what more could you want than a good book and people to read it with? Our local bookstores provided just that, said Danny Caine, owner of the Raven Bookstore and author of “How to Resist Amazon and Why”. Aside from the many economic benefits, bookstores give their communities a little more; a sense of togetherness and belonging. “Bookstore(s), even in the hardest
of times, the most isolated, difficult, pandemic times were providing a space for the literary community to come together. That’s not a profit decision,” Caine said. “That’s not strictly a business decision. That’s something they’re doing to create a community, and that happens a million times every day. Yes, [the city is] going to lose jobs. [The city is] going to lose tax revenue every time a business closes. And that’s important. I think we
should make an economic case for independent bookstores. But beyond that, there’s so much community work a bookstore can do that’s gone if they can’t stay open.” A study done by the Austin Independent Businesses Alliance looked at those economic benefits. Kevin Lewis, a buyer for Whole Earth and a board member of the Austin Independent Businesses Alliance,
explained. “Multiple economists have come to the conclusion; when you spend your money on a local business, on average about $45$100 gets recirculated locally, which makes perfect sense,” Lewis said. “Only about $13 on average of money spent at a chain store goes out there.” As large corporations have grown in power and wealth, smaller
An Amazon Box surrounded by lavender, but instead of the customary smile there is a frown. Graphic by Renee Breaux
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businesses are at risk, not to mention all those benefits. “Nearly every independent retail business in America is
of BookPeople, a zon signs in the window ma ti-A an of of up gro A all stores like them In recent years, many sm local Austin bookstore. ar comapany. against the trillion-doll have struggled to comete x) (Photo by Renee Breau
facing some sort of threat from Amazon,” Caine said. Even so, since Amazon began as a bookselling website, bookstores were the first and hardest hit. While some have been able to keep afloat and adapt to these changes, many other valuable stores have been lost. “I think there are a lot of success stories, but I also don’t think we’re totally out of the woods. Bookstores
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still really need support and champions because Amazon is really, really big and really powerful, and it’s a threat to all kinds of small businesses,” Caine explained. A possible champion could be found in legislative action. There are anti-monopoly laws in the United States today which were previously used to break up Standard Oil and other large corporations. However, the interpretation and enforcement of these policies have changed over the years. Now, businesses that lower prices for the consumer are viewed as beneficial to the general economy, no matter how big the company gets. And, with a monopoly such as Amazon, those laws, called the Consumer Welfare Standard, do not come into effect. “Questions of communities and jobs and what is required to lower those prices don’t enter the picture. If a merger is going to end up lowering prices, [Amazon is] going to be given the green light,” Caine said. “There’s never been a company this big and this powerful, and they’re doing things in such a pioneering way that there are ways these laws aren’t prepared… It’s not good
for small business owners. It’s not good for the people who are working 13-hour shifts on these delivery vans without a bathroom break.” Amazon is not only detrimental to economies and local businesses. Employees suffer too. The workplace accident rate at Amazon warehouses is two times the national average, and demanding quotas have caused more than one worker to become seriously injured. “It’s a symptom of a system that’s inhumane, in my opinion, and aims to be onerous to workers, to be really problematic for people to have a good life because they know people need jobs. They know people are willing to suffer for a long time,” Lewis said. “People talk about [the workplace injuries] as if it’s an ‘accident’. But when you study industrial operations and warehouses and the like, what you realize is accidents are products of their circumstances and business practices.” Those business practices become more concerning the closer you look. For example, Amazon recently upped their starting wage to $15 an hour. Those jobs, however, do not last long. The megacorporation fires and rehires virtually all of its workforce approximately twice a year. “You’ve got a job that pays $15 an hour with benefits that are probably not going to last more
A selection of BookPeople merchandise along with several of their stock. (Courtesy of BookPeople)
than eight months. Are you going to be building retirement savings? You’re going to be off your health insurance in eight months and it’s because the jobs are rigorous,” Caine said. “Like any promise, like any grandiose gesture Amazon makes, it’s not exactly what it seems. The jobs start at $15 an hour, but they stop very soon after they start.” Still, it is not all hopeless. The individual consumer can make a real impact on their local economy. Spending money at your favorite independent bookstore instead of Amazon can be the difference between a good or poor payday for a small company. At the very least, you can give them a bit more attention, a bit more thought.
“The point isn’t to shop at local businesses only because they’re local. It’s to give them a chance to compete, to think about them first and hope you can experience them. You have to remember the local shops and restaurants are there to be able to spend money there,” Lewis said. Without Amazon, Caine said, “Independent bookstores could be thriving… A level playing field would create a bigger market share and make it easier for indie bookstores to pay their employees, to give their employees benefits, and to pay their rent. That does not even require the elimination of Amazon. We do not need to wipe them off the Earth. We need them to play by the same rules everybody else does.”
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by Euripedes Gods, magic and madness, oh my! A winding, tragic and bloody tale of a god with family issues Recommended Translator: Emma Pauly
The Bacchae
By Renee Breaux
Which Greek play should you read based on your favorite genres? The Frogs
by Aristophanes Singing frogs and a whole lot of pea soup. A hilarious political comedy. Recommended Translator: David Barrett
Garden of Genres
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by Euripedes Do you think Medea effectively utilized girlpower when she killed her children? Yes. Yes I do. A woman’s revenge on one who wronged her.Recommended Translator: Rachel Kitzinger
Medea
by Homer War! Politics! More war! A high-paced recording of the Trojan War. Recommended Translator: Samuel Butler
The Illiad
by Euripedes A fan of the mistaken identity trope? This one’s for you. A redemption arc for our favorite Helen of Troy, the face who launched a thousand ships. Recommended Translator: Samuel Butler
Helen
by Homer A classic seafaring adventure. Terrifying monsters, brave heros and a fun witch or two. Recommended Translator: Samuel Butler
The Odeyssey
The Austin Bat Cave
Providing kids with a safe space for writing and expressing their voice By Maya Linville
Just down 1210 Rosewood Ave lies a little yellow building with a bright green door: one of the many unique buildings in downtown Austin. Inside, there is a small but cozy classroom. A large center table with surrounding chairs takes up most of the space, and sunlight easily slips in through the windows that cover the multicolored walls, lighting up the area. In back of the room, a white bookshelf holds a wide variety of colorful anthologies containing written
work by past students. The Austin Bat Cave, a nonprofit organization in Austin, Texas, was forced to get creative during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The nonprofit’s mission is to give kids and students a safe space to cultivate their writing skills, express themselves, and help those kids find their unique voice through the writing camps and workshops the organization offers. Normally, their camps and workshops are held in their
classroom, but the pandemic made any in-person lessons too dangerous. “[The] Austin Bat Cave exists to serve the community, we’re a mission driven organization to serve the community, and one of the greatest parts of Austin Bat Cave is our commitment to change whenever we need to with the community’s needs,” Kate Angermeier, the former Executive Director and current Vice President of the board at the Austin Bat Cave, said. As a community based organization, the Austin Bat Cave is always working to help and adjust to the needs of its students. When COVID-19 hit, the non-profit was able to adapt to a virtual setting and still offer workshops to its students. “All of our programs have been virtual since March 2020,” Heather Jones, Program Director at the Austin Bat Cave, said. “When the pandemic first started, we had to cancel a few of our really big programs...
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Images on page one created by Maya Linville. The Austin Bat Cave Sign in front of the ABC classroom. Photo by Maya Linville.
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Before the pandemic, most of the ABC workshops took place in their classroom, but right now all classes are virtual. The ABC hopes to reopen the building for in person workshops as soon as it is safe. Photo by Maya Linville.
We had to immediately shift to learning how to operate on Zoom and offer workshops on Zoom. Much like all of the teachers and students [in Austin] we were also scrambling like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a whole new world,’ and ever since then we have been operating exclusively in the virtual setting in order... to keep everyone safe, [including] our volunteers, our students and our staff.” Modeled off of the national non-profit organization 826, the Austin Bat Cave, or ABC, offers a variety of completely free student writing camps and workshops taught by volunteers. “We have a lot of different types of programs,” Jones said. “The therapeutic journaling ones are more focused on mental health, Abibliophobia | 16
that’s just one program that we have, but the majority of our programs focus on different types of creative writing. Everything from poetry and fiction to comic book writing and screenwriting. And we also do college essay writing, scholarship essays, resumes and cover letters.” The Austin Bat Cave offers all kinds of student workshops, from classes that help improve writing skills to creative workshops to reflection writing, in the hopes there is a class for every kid. “So we do all these different types of writing, but our main goal... is to help youth find power and confidence in their voices, to understand the importance of the stories that they have to tell, to [help them] find power in telling those stories, and then also
publishing them in our annual anthology,” Jones said. At the end of the year, the Austin Bat Cave creates an anthology: a unique collection of the student’s work from the past year. “Any student who participates in any Austin Bat Cave workshop can publish writing in the Austin Bat Cave anthology,” Jones said. “It’s usually a 200-page book, which is pretty amazing, all written by kids and teens in Austin, Del Valle and Manor, which are the main areas that we serve. We publish the book once a year, it’s a professionally published book, and all the students and families get a free copy of the book.” After the book is published, the Austin Bat Cave holds an anthology release party where all
the students featured in the book can read their writing in front of an audience and be celebrated as authors. “I really love working on the anthology each year because it’s just so cool to see the results of all the workshops we’ve done, all the writing together in one space, and to just read the pieces by students,” Jones said. “Sometimes I’m just so amazed and so in awe of the power of the writing that’s created. It’s really fun to see it.” Emily Johnson, a student at Gorzycki middle school who attended camp at the ABC, not only appreciates the outcome of the workshops but enjoys the camps themselves. “I think it’s just a fun experience,” Johnson said. “[The Austin Bat Cave is] broadening my horizons, letting me see more of the literature world.” Johnson participated virtually in several of the camps at the ABC during the pandemic, including the dungeons and dragons, historical fiction, post apocalyptic, and screenwriting camps. Out of all of the camps she attended, DnD was her favorite. “I really like writing, and I really like traveling to another world and being able to just be creative and use [my] imagination,” Johnson said. Although these virtual camps were different from any in person camps she had previously attended,
Johnson felt like the Austin Bat Cave still worked very hard to give its students the best experience. “We did a lot of interactive activities, whether it was through the chat, or we’d share our stories and unmute ourselves, and then the counselors would give us feedback on it,” Johnson said. “And I liked Zoom. Using the chat and that type of stuff is a good way to get everybody’s voices heard because whenever you’re in person only so many people get to raise their hand and answer because you only have so much time. So even if the counselors aren’t seeing it, other kids are [and] you’re still spreading your ideas.” Even though the separation of the screen was a challenge because the volunteers couldn’t work with the students in person, the ABC was able to adapt and extend its outreach to even more students online. “One cool thing I think we’ve seen is that we’ve been able to reach students who are outside of Austin and also have people volunteer and teach workshops who don’t live
Every year, the ABC creates the Austin Bat Cave Anthology, a book of student writing and projects from workshops throughout the year. This bookshelf is home to many of the program’s past anthologies. Photo by Maya Linville.
in Austin,” Jones said. “It’s kind of expanded our reach whereas before we were just a local organization. Being virtual has allowed us to grow….[and] I think our hope, over time, is that we can continue to grow and add more staff members so that we have more capacity and are able to offer even more programs. We’d like to begin to offer programs in more languages than just English. I also think continuing to innovate and develop new types of programs [is another goal], and we’d like to do more journalism [and] more tutoring.” As the ABC continues to grow and help more students, Angermeier believes the Austin Bat Cave, and specifically writing, will give more young voices a chance to be heard. “I think my greatest hope is just to be able to hand megaphones to more and more and more kids and to follow their voices. I can’t think of a better future than that,” Angermeier said. Students and kids can sign up for the camps and workshops through the ABC website at AustinBatCave. org.
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Top Eight Reading Destinations in Austin Exploring the coolest, prettiest and most relaxing reading spots in the Austin Area, from beautiful parks, gardens, libraries, cafes and more
By Maya Linville
Barton Springs You can read in the sun and then cool off in the refreshingly cold water. 2201 William Barton Dr. Austin, Tx 78746.
Onceover Coffee With delicious lattes and a lovely patio, Onceover is a great place to relax and sip a warm beverage. 2009 S. 1st Street, Austin Texas 78704.
Mozart’s Cafe If you love reading by the water with hot cocoa or coffee in your hand, then Mozart’s cafe is the place for you. In the winter, the cafe puts on a dazzling light display. 3825 Lake Austin BLVD, Austin, Abibliophobia | 18
Capitol Hill This open field space is a great place to sprawl out with a picnic and read. You could also explore Austin’s history while you’re there. 1100 Congress Ave, Austin, Tx, 78701.
Zilker Park This vibrant parks contains lots of space for picnicing, frisbee throwing, dog chasing, and kite flying. Once your done with all that excercise, feel free to rest and read. 2207 Lou Neff Rd, Austin, Tx 78746.
The Wildflower Center You will find an abundance of of flowers, plant life, trails, arts and crafts, interesting architecture and benches and swings for reading. 4801 La Crosse Ave, Austin, Tex, 78739.
Austin Central Library This modern library contains books, games and a gift shop. There are many comfortable chairs as well as an outdoor roof garden for reading. 710 W Cesar Chavez St, Austin, Tx, 78701.
Mount Bonnell After hiking up the steps you can rest, read, and check out the gorgeous views of Austin and the Colorado River. 3800 Mount Bonnell Road, Austin, Tx. Abibliophobia | 19
The Effect of School Reading
How Aisd’s English curriculum affects teachers and studemts. By Maxwell Laake
In the middle is the Austin Independent School District logo and the top in the Liberal Arts and Science Academy logo. To the right is the James Bowie High School logo and bottom right is the Anderson High School. Finaly, the left logo is the Eastside Early College High School and the bottom left is the Juan Abibliophobia | 20 Navarro high school logo
You are sitting on your bed after a long day of school, engaged in a book. You are almost done with the book and you think about what you will have to do in class once you are done. While this happens your English teacherYou’re is hard at work coming up with a lesson the majority of students will enjoy. Teachers are responsible for getting students engaged in the topic they are learning.Scott Castro is a teacher in AISD, who has been teaching for five years, and Zack Disler is a senior in high school. Castro elaborated on how he had to change how he had to teach due to changes AISD has enforced. Disler gives the student perspective on how he feels about the English program and if it has been effective in
This is a photo of Castro during quarantine
his eyes. This article will dive into how teachers decide lessons and units while taking a look at how students feel about the lessons. “I did not always want to teach and I have not always taught,” Castro said. “Somewhere along the way, I just decided that I wanted more of the permanent change and I was reflecting on how things were before, I would say, the 2006 election, 2000 presidential election. There were a few things revealed that worried me about the state of not only the political, but intellectual health of this country.” At the time, Castro was concerned with the welfare of the country due to the renaissance of misinformation and news happening at the time. He claims a huge contributing factor is social media and fed into his concerns. He decided that he needed to take action to better prepare the future by becoming an English teacher.
“When it comes to teaching things in the classroom, the district certainly has its prescribed things that we follow in terms of skills to assess and talk about, but in terms of individual choices like what we read, et cetera, that’s largely left up to the teachers,” Castro said. Castro talked about how open teachers’ options are with the ability to do activities one year and change or drop them in favor of new activities. However, the pandemic had a great effect on how AISD and Texas as a whole required teachers to teach during lockdown. “I would say in terms of what’s changed is the obvious answer, the pandemic,” Castro said. “Things have been adjusted. The first time that I think the district intervened and mandated guidelines was during the pandemic, during existence and stuff where they really encouraged us to be lenient on late policies and even grading to an extent, and so that
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was really the only thing they made us do and it made a lot of sense.” Changes also expanded into exams and standardized testing with many tests that Castro had never given before being required. Castro goes on to talk about the process the teachers go through to choose books being read that year. “There are probably recommended books. Classic high school things, but once again, we really have a lot of freedom when it comes to what we choose,” Castro said. “We try to choose things that are going to be interesting to students. One of the novels that we read every year and that we’re starting now is [In the Time of the Butterflies and,] I think, a great study because it’s historical fiction, so we kind of have a little bit of stuff for people who like to read non-fiction, a little bit of stuff for people who like to write fiction and the way of literary writing qualities.” The author of the book In
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the Time of the Butterflies is still alive, so it helps teachers like Castro understand the meaning and intentions behind ideas and themes in the book because they can clarify with the author. This topic brought up the question on whether it’s important for students to enjoy what they are reading and assignments they’re working on. “I always said that the big difference is last year we were doing the part of what a student’s life is like, but none of the being was there,” Castro said. “We were doing the student, not being students and teachers in that way because of course, as we’ve learned, in person, that sort of presence of people adds so much.” Castro believes teaching in person is a vital aspect to learning. He also expressed that he does believe it is important for students to do what they want, but sometimes they have to do things they don’t like because it is the most effective way to convey what is being taught.
“I think coming out of that pandemic mentality for teachers and students alike can open up room for more interaction.” Castro said.
Zack Disler on the beach at sun set.
Disler described his relationship with books positively, saying it was a hobby. He finds the topics that are read in school to be intriguing and educational. He mentioned a book that he read in 10th grade that was over the Vietnam war. “It was really interesting to get a perspective on the Vietnam War for a person and then also explore literary ideas like an unreliable narrator or things like that. So I think
it’s really interesting when English teachers give you a book that has a lot going on in it and you can really dig into it and see what makes it tick.” Disler expressed an appreciation for the material being read in class, indicating that the curriculum being taught was effective in teaching him while still being an enjoyable read.
especially ideas about the horrors of war and things like that,” Disler said. “I definitely think those are very inspirational ideas, and while they might not have resonated with me, I do think it’s very possible for someone to discover interests and things they never knew about in those books.”
Disler continues to say that he believes there should be encouragement “I definitely think the from society to read books ideas that are presented in on social justice through a lot of English books are means that interest the very new to a lot of people, reader. He thinks if the
ideas are forced on the reader then it would do more harm than good and discourage interest. Castro is also working on electives at his high school along with a fellow teacher to talk more about African American and Latin American literature. They wanted to move away from the dead white authors we see in most classrooms and focus on the less heard voices and their wealth of culture and literature that is not at the forefront.
On the far left id the Austin high School logo, next to it Akins High School logo, then LBJ High School Logo ans finaly the Garza High School Logo Abibliophobia | 23
What Are You Reading, AISD? Learn about eight books students are reading in high school By Maxwell Laake
Pride and Prejudice is a satirical romance novel written by Jane Austen and Publishes in 1813. It tkes pace in 1812 and is about the protaganist learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness. Read by 12 graders.
The Holy Bible is a collection of religious texts, writings, or scriptures sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, Rastafari, and many other faiths. 11 graders are reading this
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In The Time of the Butterflies is a historical fiction novel written by Julia Alverez.It tells the ficionalized accounts of the Mariable sisters induring the rule of Rafael Trujillo. This is being read by 9 graders.
The Canterbury Tales are a collectin of 24 satirical stories. It was written by GeoffreyChaucher between 1387 and 1400. They are being read by 12 graders
The Iliad is among the oldest works of Western Literature. Considered to have been written down circa the 8th century and was written by Homer. This is being read by 10 graders
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is an attempt by Freire to help the oppressed fight back and regain there lost humanity. It was wriiten by Paulo Freire in 1968 in portugues then translated to english in 1970. This is being read by 12 graders
The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament and one of the three synoptic Gospels. 11 graders arereading this.
Things Fall Apart depicts pre-colonial life in the southeastern part of Nigeria and the invasion by Europeans during the late 19th century. It was written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. 12 graders are currently reading this book. Abibliophobia | 25
A is for Audiobooks A peek into literature for the blind and visually impaired By: Sonali Srikanth
Person holding phone, with “accessibility” searched up
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Photo by Sonali Srikanth
W
hen you picture a book
this case.” Lee said that the University of Texas Library also pairs with multiple other libraries, in a program where nearly 40% of their collection is available in a consortium agreement, and they have a lot of digitized materials. Lee also talked about the Google Books program. “Google worked with big libraries all over the world. But lots of U.S. libraries digitize materials from their collection, and UT Austin participated in that...We put them all together, we came together with libraries, and put all those files together,” Lee said. “And there’s an organization that manages them. And copyright is a concern there. But for impaired users, we can reach out and make an exception
for the blind, you probably see a book written in braille. Rows upon rows of shiny white dots, and deft fingers scanning over them to read. But the truth behind the matter is that most blind people don’t actually use braille to read at all - they use modern technology. Blind and visually impaired readers around the world have been slowly moving away from books written entirely in braille - —written language created by making textured dots on a sheet of paper — to using more modern technology to read books. The change has been seen in both casual reading settings and more formal, workplace settings. From one of the largest libraries in Austin, Librarian and Access Coordinator of the University of Texas, Jennifer Lee, explained the different measures put in place to help the blind access literature. “So for visually - Don Driscoll impaired users, we even if something isn’t copyright offer some adaptations,” Lee for them to get the file, which in said. “We offer a room and some most cases has been OCR.” workstations with some adaptive An optical character recognition, assistive technology. We also have a tool used to scan and recognize some assistive technology that individual letters on a page, Lee has some software that can do explained, is often used when a reading for someone who just trying to find certain parts of a isn’t able to process information text. digitally at all. Text materials, in
“Fortunately, most computers and smartphones have accessibility options”
The number of Braille books at the UT library varies according to Lee. “We have some Braille Materials, but I don’t have a number,” Lee said. “It’s not something we
actively collect. We really do rely on assistive technology to make all of our material available to the blind or visually impaired.” In addition to the large collection of leisurely reading, if there’s a textbook for a visually impaired student which doesn’t have an accessible version, there is a committee to take care of it. “So there’s the Services for Students with Disabilities,” Lee said. “It’s an office on campus, and students with any kind of disability who need an accommodation or assistance can reach out to this office and [they] will help them find the resources they need or work with a professor. They have written up some guidelines for people who are working with students Abibliophobia | 27
disabilities, and they have a page specifically for students with visual disabilities.
smartphone and computer accessibility options.
Jennifer Lee, Librarian at the University of Texas Library Photo Courtesy of the University of Texas
They offer some pointers on things like the format’s of materials that professors should be mindful of acquiring, but also some information for them to have some idea about the assistive technology and adaptations that visually impaired students might need. They offer 13 instructional tips for how to support those students and teach in a way where those students won’t be missing out or feeling excluded or or not able to access the material being presented.” Don Driscoll, a blind man currently living in Austin, is an avid reader and has been using Abibliophobia | 28
“Fortunately, most computers and smartphones have
accessibility options,” Driscoll said. They include a magnifying feature which utilizes the camera function on a smartphone to spot check printed material or pictures. Anything that you can hover over the item and enlarge, are handy tools for visually impaired people. I have an iPhone, so I can speak to the features there more which I utilize constantly. In fact, I couldn’t use an iPhone without it. It reads back whatever I touch on, and scroll to, and double click on.The talk to text and reading of text feature is fantastic with the iPhone. Many of my other visually impaired and blind friends use it exclusively,” Driscoll said. Already, regular electronic features are so hard for Driscoll to use, that he asked to set up our interview over the phone, rather than over Zoom. He mentioned that computers have come a long way. “As far as the computer, most of them have those features as well. I used to have to have a special software that you would have to upload on your computer, and then it would overlay magnifiers, and readers. And in contrast, a lot of those things are just built into PCs and Macs for everybody now,” Driscoll said. Through a program in the Texas Workforce Commission of Rehabilitative Services, Driscoll was also trying to get new technologies for himself.
“[The technology] is more like a closed circuit TV [where] you can lay a book or printed material, text pictures, whatever underneath,
Driscoll replied by saying that it is incredibly easy for people to access audiobooks now, rather than having tape cassettes sent
Photo of Alex Swain, IBM design and principal/Data and AI director. Photo Courtesy of Alex Swain
and the camera will enlarge it and can control the contrast. You can freeze the text, you can line items, and you can do different things. You can shade and shield some stuff for those with astigmatism and those who have certain other visual - Alex Swain difficulties. These are tools visually impaired people use to read,” through the mail. Driscoll said. “Now it’s great to just have my When asked about audiobooks, phone loaded up with 1000
books,” Driscoll said. And it’s not just for leisure. Alex Swain, a manager at IBM who works with accessibility concerns, said that they work to make the workspace as accessible as possible. “We do have some people at IBM that are disabled or blind and/or other disabilities in general, but overall, we look to provide solutions for them in terms of the workplace and/or within our products themselves that still allow them to do the job that they are tasked to do. So in the case of blindness, basically, we have things that we call JAWS. It’s basically a program that we utilize to test the ability for people that are visually impaired, and it asks the question, A ‘ re they able to utilize the software using screen readers?’” Swain said. Swain also reported that IBM has an accessibility group, who work actively to support and change accessibility standards and protocol around the office. “[The accessibility group] is very cognizant of the space and the culture,” Swain said “We always look to talk to them, if we have questions around accessibility or things that we may feel they would have better insights and/or proper guidance,” Swain said. Swain has noticed that sales went up as the push for accessibility got bigger, specifically in the government sector, as they are required to choose the most accessible product, rather than the most exciting product. Smartphones and accessibility options are making big changes in literature, and will continue to improve in the future.
“The accessibility group is very cognizant of the space and the culture”
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Classic-tastic! 8 classics to read in your lifetime! By Sonali Srikanth
Page count smallest to largest:
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5
2
To Kill a Mockingbird
4
The Secret History
I Capture the Castle
3. I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith Even though it’s a lesser known classic, I Capture the Castle follows the story of a 17-year-old living in near poverty during the 1930s.
3
Wuthering Heights
2. Wuthering Heights Emily Broente A beautiful romantic classic, Wuthering heights provides a n accurate description of life back in the mid-1800s.
1
Frankenstein
1. Frankenstein Mary Shelley Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is a well known classic whos influence you can see all throughout halloween. A story about a man and his creation, Frankenstein, is a large part of American culture.
The Catcher in the Rye: 277
I Capture the Castle: 116 The Great Gatsby: 152
4. The Secret History Donna Tartt Known widely as a popular “dark academia” book, The Secret History is a detective story, though told from the perspective of the dead person’s friend.
5. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird is an American high school classic, and well deserved. Its depiction of human nature and the main character’s morals are beautifully depicted in this book.
7
7. Pride & Predjudice Jane Austen Widely regarded as the original “enemies-to-lovers” trope, Pride & Predjudice is a stunning romance, with a likeable main character and a fun, snarky and handsome love interest.
8
The Great Gatsby
Pride & Predjudice
The Catcher in the Rye
6
8. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald Written from the perpective of “Nick Carraway,” The Great Gatsby shows the struggles and glory of life from the upperclass of society, written from someone who is not entirely an upperclassman.
Pride and Predjudice: 384
To Kill a Mockingbird: 281 Frankenstein: 280
6. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger Another American classic, The Catcher in the Rye is an easy read for modern day readers, and is often seen as an acuurate description of angst, feeling alone and a good critique of society.
The Secret History: 544
Wuthering Heights: 360 Information provided by Penguin Teen, Sparknotes, Google, and Barnes & Noble
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smorgasbord of Shenanigans We had so much fun making this magazine, and we hope you liked to read it! As a special treat, have fun looking at the evidence of our photography crimes!
Maya, Renee, Jason, and Max posing in front of a brick wall. They look like absolute nerds. Photo credit: Sonali Srikanth
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A scrapped attempt at a group photo. From left to right: Max, Sonali, Jason, Renee, and Maya. Photo credit: Isa Matamoros
A very scary (and very big) bug friend on Renee’s shirt. Photo credit: Sonali Srikanth
Renee showing off how cool their orange earrings are. Photo credit: Sonali Srikanth
Renee running as fast as his little legs will take him, while Maya bangs out tunes on the piano behind. Photo credit: Sonali Srikanth
Maya giving us a goddess look. Photo credit: Renee Breaux
Sonali’s magnificant boots. Photo credit: Maya Linville
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