McConnell Library Offers Pre-loaded Digital Audio Books

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE LIBRARY WRITES NEW CHAPTER IN CONVENIENCE, OFFERS PRE-LOADED PLAYAWAY® DIGITAL AUDIO BOOKS TO PATRONS


Each Palm-Sized Unit is Permanently Loaded with an Audio Book to Make Listening as Simple as Pressing Play; Bestselling Titles Available

McConnell AFB, KS – July 27, 2010 – McConnell AFB Library has begun to offer Playaway – the first self-playing digital audio book, adding the innovative HD Audio digital format to their existing audiobook collection.

Half the size of a deck of cards, Playaway is the simplest and best way to listen to a book on the go and – with no tapes or CDs - can hold up to eighty hours of HD Audio content on each unit. With every title recorded in HD Audio, Playaway’s audio quality is unsurpassed. Using clearly marked buttons, Playaway gives listeners the ability to move back and forth within or between chapters and alter the speed of a narrator’s voice. It even has an automatic bookmark feature that remembers where you left off. Additionally, Playaway has a universal headphone jack that works with almost any type of headphone or mobility accessory.

“Playaway’s simple functionality and immediate usability separate it from other audio book formats,” said Darla Cooper, Library Director. “With Playaway, our patrons can enjoy best-selling content with first-rate digital audio.”


We have numerous titles on Playaway, including many selections for children, language learning programs, bestselling adult fiction, and classics. And because the Playaway format is friendly for listeners of all ages, every patron can enjoy the new format.

“With Playaway, we set out to create a product that was portable, technologically simple and easy to use, and it’s been a perfect fit for libraries,” said Caroline Barni, Director of Marketing + PR, Findaway World. “In fact, 99% of our current library customers would recommend Playaway to another library. We are excited to have provided such a welcome audio format for this important channel.”

For more information about Playaway at the McConnell AFB Library, please call 759-4207 or visit the library.

About the Playaway Format

Playaway is the simplest way to listen to digital content on the go. It comes with the HD Audio content already pre-loaded on it and a battery to make it play. Simply plug in earbuds and enjoy. Each Playaway weighs only two ounces and has a universal jack.

Playaway is Made Possible by Findaway World

Findaway World, a privately held company based in Cleveland, Ohio, is dedicated to delivering simple and immediate access to content consumers want or need. Their latest product, Playaway, is the first digital audio player of its kind, coming pre-loaded with premier content from leading publishers, authors, record labels, and artists. Learn more about the company and the product at www.playaway.com.

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Friends From Sesame Street to Visit McConnell on Saturday, July 24

The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families is a FREE, 25-minute show created just for military families! Shows are at 10am and 1pm in the Dole Community Center Ballroom. Doors open 30 minutes prior to show.


The show is designed to address the concerns of military families dealing with deployments and the associated hardships. It features Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster, Rosita and Zoe singing and dancing and touches on how to cope when a parent or other relative is far from home.

The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families is the latest project in the “Talk, Listen, Connect” initiative, which Sesame Workshop launched in 2006. The initiative provides support and resources for military families with young children who are experiencing the effects of deployment, multiple deployments or when a parent comes home injured.

“What we bring military children is an opportunity to take a break from their daily challenges,” says Lynn Chwatsky, Sesame Workshop’s Senior Director for Outreach Initiatives and Partners. “We know how hard it is to be in a military family. We know they’re constantly facing transitions, such as getting ready for deployment and homecomings. Some of their moms or dads are on their third or fourth deployment. Some parents are coming home changed. We want to get children singing and dancing.”

To date, the tour is the longest-running entertainment tour in USO history and the first-ever traveling USO tour designed specifically for military families. The tour has been traveling around the world for more than two consecutive years and bringing smiles to more than 150,000 service members and military families.

FREE Resouce for Families: Military OneSource

Take advantage of a free resource designed to help military families have all the information they need to make informed decisions and handle any issues that arise before they become a problem.

 

Military OneSource provides the following list of some issues they can help you with: 

• Counseling services for personal and relationship issues
•  face-to-face with a trained counselor in your area
• via telephone with a Military OneSource consultant 
• online in a secure real-time "chat" format with a Military OneSource consultant 
• Child care and parenting issues
• Deployment and reunion issues
• Education. 
• K-12 
• College 
• Special needs
• Spouse training, education, and career 
• Elder care issues
• Money matters
• Legal issues
• Violence and trauma
• Relocation
• Transition to civilian life
• Healthy habits 
• Consumer issues and travel
• Translation assistance
• Language interpretation

Military OneSource is a FREE service provided by the Department of Defense to active duty, Guard and Reserve service members and their families (Retiring and separating service members are eligible for six months following their separation.). Master’s-level consultants provide assistance and resources for numerous issues. Help and information are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If the consultants, most of whom have military experience and all of whom have been trained on military culture, don’t know the answer to your question, they’ll find it.

 

Services are available online and by phone. Free counseling services (up to 12 sessions per person, per issue), can be accessed face-to-face in the local community, by telephone, and online. Consultants answer the phone “live” and respond to e-mailed questions. They will also follow up with you to make sure you received the answers you need.

 

To talk to a consultant dial 1-800-342-9647. He or she will listen to concerns, discuss them with you, and then help assess the situation. The consultant will go over a privacy statement with you to let you know about confidentiality. In most cases, your interactions will be kept private and confidential. Some of the actions your consultant can take include:
• helping you make a plan to resolve your issues or concerns
• providing customized research
• referring you to resources in your community
• referring you to a specialist or counselor online or in your area for short-term counseling, and
• sending you helpful materials.

 

You can also visit the website, www.MilitaryOneSource.com . There you will find numerous resources which you can view online, order to be mailed, or download - all free of charge. Online resources include: articles, CDs, booklets, videos, search tools, calculators, quizzes and assessments, discussion boards and webinars.

AMC and McConnell Looking for Air Force Marathon Participants

The 14th annual United States Air Force Marathon will be held September 18, 2010 at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. Air Mobility Command is sponsoring an active duty team comprised of both male and female runners representing various age groups to compete in the full marathon. Team members will be selected based upon a submitted AF Form 303. The completed forms should be submitted through the base Fitness Center by July 23. Those selected will be notified by HQ AMC/A1S and placed on Permissive TDY for the marathon.

In addition to the official AMC competitive team, all others interested in competing in the Air Force Marathon are encouraged to do so at their own expense.  If McConnell has enough registered runners, they will be able to provide a KC-135 to get you there and back. Send confirmation of your registration to MSgt Chris Phillips (chris.phillips-02@mcconnell.af.mil), and feel free to e-mail him with any questions.

Events include a wheelchair division of the marathon (consisting of hand-cranked and push-rim divisions), half marathon, individual 10K, and 5K. The USAF Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10K are held on 18 September and the 5K race is held on 17 September at Wright State University.

Please visit the USAF Marathon website at www.usafmarathon.com to register or the Fitness Center for additional information.

Lyle Lovett Concert - FREE for DePLAYment Tag Holders

ITT has organized a tour to see Lyle Lovett at the Opheum Theatre in downtown Wichita on July 31 at 8pm. It is FREE for DePLAYment tag holders and $57 for everyone else. Register at ITT with your DePLAYment tags by July 22. Hurry! There are limited tickets available.


The bus will depart 6:30 pm from the Dole Community Center for the Orpheum. It should return to the Dole Center around 11pm.

Lyle Lovett is a great American singer/songwriter. He is currently on tour supporting his most recent album, Natural Forces. For 30 years, he has entertained fusing blues, country, folk, gospel and jazz. He is a four-time Grammy winner in a career that spans 14 albums and more than 4 million records sold and has created his own style of Americana. Lyle’s LARGE BANK is a formidable musical collective. It’s a swinging Texas big band one minute; and R&B unit the next; and uptown jazz orchestra the one after that; and then a righteous gospel outfit. Lyle possesses one of the most distinctive voices in music.

For more information, contact ITT at (316) 759-6007.

Mark Your Calendars for July Events

July Events

Sail-a-bration 2011 Cruise Specials from ITT

Book now for next year's cruise vacation to lock in great deals. Visit ITT in the Dole Community Center for more information on the following cruise specials.

February 28, 2011: Century, 5-night Western Caribbean
Miami, Key West, Cozumel, Miami
Inside: $472.80 per person
Oceanview: $588.40 per person
Balcony: $728.40 per person
Receive a $75 onboard ship credit per cabin!

March 27, 2011: Freedom of the Seas, 7-night Eastern Caribbean
Port Canaveral, St Thomas, St. Maarten, Port Canaveral
Inside: $805.85 per person
Oceanview: $919.85 per person
Balcony: $1135.85 per person
Receive a $100 onboard ship credit per cabin!

April 9, 2011: Norwegian Sun, 7-night Eastern Caribbean
Port Canaveral, Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Port Canaveral
Inside: $649.91 per person
Oceanview: $919.85 per person
Balcony: $939.91 per person
Receive a $75 onboard ship credit per cabin!

May 28, 2011: Liberty of the Seas, 7-night Western Mediterranean
Barcelona, Spain; Toulon, France; Villefranche (Nice), France; Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; Naples, Italy; Capri, Italy; Barcelona, Spain
Inside: $1027.56 per person
Oceanview: $1357.56 per person
Balcony: $1457.56 per person
Receive a $75 onboard ship credit per cabin!

June 10, 2011: Rhapsody of the Seas, 7-night Sawyer Glacier, Alaska
Seattle; Alaska Inside Passage; Juneau; Skagway; Tracy Arm Fjord; Victoria, British Columbia; Seattle
Inside: $939.17 per person
Oceanview: $1069 per person
Balcony: $1879 per person
Receive a $50 onboard ship credit per cabin!

August 27, 2011: Norwegian Star, 7-night Alaska
Seattle; Ketchikan; Juneau; Skagway; Prince Rupert, British Columbia; Seattle
Inside: $881.64 per person
Oceanview: $1121.64 per person
Balcony: $1501.64 per person

November 20, 2011: Mariner of the Seas, 7-night Western Caribbean
Galveston; Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Cozumel, Mexico; Galveston
Inside: $747.95 per person
Oceanview: $917.95 per person
Balcony: $1027.95 per person
Receive a $100 onboard ship credit per cabin!

November 26, 2011: Eclipse, 7-night Eastern Caribbean
Miami, San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Miami
Inside: $688.72 per person
Oceanview: $888.72 per person
Balcony: $958.72 per person
Receive a $75 onboard ship credit per cabin!

Prices include port charges and taxes. All prices are in US Dollars. Prices are per person based on double occupancy and are cruise only. Certain restrictions may apply. Rates may be subject to change and availability. The comapnies may reinstate the fuel supplement for guests should the price of light sweet crude oil rise.