Communication Center - Annual Program Summary
Purpose
The Communication Center serves as a public library for Minnesotans who are blind or have visual or physical impairments. Through transcription and reading services, customers have access to the same print media as sighted Minnesotans.
Customers and Services
Primary customers are persons who are blind, have visual impairments, or have difficulty reading printed materials; and those people who request material on their behalf.
The Communication Center provides audio, print, and digital communication through state staff and a network of 650+ volunteers. It lends transcribed textbooks and leisure-reading books; lends and repairs special radio receivers, phonographs, and cassette players (the latter two items through the Library of Congress Talking Book Program); and transcribes educational materials for students, and vocational and informational materials for individuals, businesses, and organizations. The Center broadcasts a 24-hour radio reading service through a closed-circuit radio network that includes broadcast of local news for Duluth, Fergus Falls, Grand Rapids, Mankato, Rochester, and St. Cloud. It also provides two 24-hour audio newspaper-reading services accessed via phone and partly funded by the Department of Commerce’s Telecommunication Access Minnesota fund: Dial-In News and the National Federation of the Blind-Newsline for the Blind®.
Measures - Reporting period is federal fiscal year (FFY), October 1 - September 30
FFY 2005 |
FFY 2006 |
FFY 2007 |
|
| Braille pages produced |
756,904 |
765,313 |
899,795 |
| Radio Talking Book receivers in use | 6,611 |
6,459 |
6,311 |
| Number of customers accessing audio services | 14,190 |
13,965 |
14,219 |
Funding Source and Allocation
Total funding for FFY 2007 was $2,840,000, with state non-match funds of $1,550,000, federal- and state-match funds of $750,000, and nonpublic funds of $540,000.
Statutory Authority
Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 248;
Minnesota Rules, Chapter 3325;
U.S. Code, Title 29, Chapter 16
Contact Information
Richard Strong, Director
Phone: 651.649.5475 or toll-free: 800.652.9000; Fax: 651.649.5927;
TTY: 888.665.3276
E-mail:
Richard.Strong@state.mn.us
Website:
www.mnssb.org/allages/commcenter/
This information current as of January 2008. For more information on DEED programs, see the State of Minnesota budget pages.