Library staff can assist with transferring audiobooks to the device. Borrowers must register for CELA and NNELs to get access to books from those services.

• Reserve through the online catalogue or by phoning 902-562-3161.
  • Introduction to Victor Reader Stream (handout included when borrowing device)
  • Quick Tips for the Victor Reader Stream (handout included when borrowing device)
  • Transferring Books to the Victor Reader Stream
  • Audio/Video Lessons on using the Victor Stream Reader

The Optelec Traveller HD is a unique reading magnifier designed for an ideal reading experience.

• Easy to use and easy to carry
• Great image quality
• Magnification up to 30x

Let’s Chat Conversation cards are a great resource for sparking meaningful conversations in group settings, workshops, or one-on-one interactions.

The cards are divided into 6 topics for easy separation and can be used with individuals or groups. There are 112 double-sided cards, that’s 224 unique questions! The box includes guidance on how to use these prompts. These cards are ideal for those seeking activities for the elderly with dementia, offering engaging conversation prompts to stimulate meaningful discussions and brain activity through reminiscing and decision-making. Designed in conjunction with Dementia Specialist Gail Elliot of Enhanceability.

The Pocketalker Ultra Personal Amplifier amplifies sounds closest to the listener while reducing background noise. It is ideal for one-on-one conversation, small-group and television listening, or conversing in the car. It can be used with or without hearing aids.

The Pocketalker is a versatile assistive listening device designed to amplify the sounds and voices most important to the user. It delivers clear, distinct sound, and its large, manageable controls allow for easy operation.

Simply plug in your earpiece, position the microphone near the preferred sound, adjust the volume to your comfort, and start listening.

Kits can be borrowed for three weeks.

• Each kit includes:
• 1 personal amplifier
• 1 set of headphones
• 2 AAA batteries
• 2 disposable sanitary earpiece covers
• 1 lanyard
• 1 instruction manual and user guide.

Ready to Borrow?

Memory Kits can be borrowed for 3 weeks. Place a hold on a kit to have it delivered to your local library for pick-up. Kits must be returned directly to staff at a CBRL location.

What is a Memory Kit?

Memory kits are tools designed to stimulate recollections to facilitate positive interactions and meaningful engagement, particularly for people with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other forms of memory loss.

Each kit contains a number of objects focused on a specific theme designed to stimulate meaningful engagement and interaction. Resources like photographs, puzzles, music, and household objects can help elicit memories and foster connections between those with memory loss and their caregivers and/or loved ones.

Why are Memory Kits useful?

Memory is more than just a collection of past experiences—it is the essence of who we are. Memory shapes our thoughts, decisions, feelings, and beliefs, creating the foundation of an individual’s identity. Memory loss can be confusing
and frustrating for the individuals experiencing it first-hand. It can also pose a challenge for caregivers and family members.

Reminiscence Therapy (RT) involves the discussion of memories and past experiences with other people using tangible prompts to evoke recollections and stimulate conversation. Reminiscence Therapy incorporates the senses to help
individuals remember events, people, and places from their lives. RT is based on the idea that looking back at our lives and recalling, discussing, and interacting with someone in the present is therapeutic. For many people with dementia,
memories from the past – such as their childhood or young adulthood – are often easier to recall than more recent events.

Research demonstrates sharing memories reconnects people living with memory loss to their own identity and to their loved ones. However, their loved ones may not know what to talk about or what activities they can do together. CBRL’s
memory kits provide the tools for people to connect and engage with their loved ones and allow them to access useful materials in a convenient and effective way.

What is inside a Memory Kit?

Cape Breton Regional Library’s memory kits are available in thirteen different themes. The kits include a variety of items that are intended to help evoke memories, spark conversations, and create opportunities for sensory exploration and meaningful engagement. Memory kits contain an assortment of items that can be adapted as abilities change.

The kits include a variety of items and resources, including:

• Household items
• Figurines
• Jigsaw puzzles
• Paint-with-water books
• Photographs
• Playaway audiobooks and music

The thirteen themes include:

• Art
• Babies
• Baking
• Birthdays
• Cats
• Christmas
• Dogs
• Farms
• Fishing
• Gardening
• Music
• Trains
• Weddings

Benefits of Memory Kits

Person-centered: Memory Kits feature different themes, items, and resources to take into account individual preferences, interests, and abilities.

Cognitively stimulating: Kits provide cognitive stimulation to encourage the mental processes involved in understanding, processing, and using information, including attention, perception, memory, and language.

Socially interactive: Memory kits encourage communication, collaboration, and social engagement.

Adaptable: As memory loss progresses, the abilities and needs of the individual may change. The kits are adaptable to accommodate these changes and ensure continued engagement.

Multi-sensory: Engaging multiple senses can help stimulate the brain and create a more immersive experience. Memory kits involve multiple sensory modalities.

Enjoyable: Memory kits facilitate an experience that is enjoyable and fun, promoting positive emotions and overall well-being.

Variety: Kits incorporate a variety of different themes, objects and items, to provide a diverse and comprehensive experience.

Acknowledgements

Cape Breton Regional Library recognizes the support of the Province of Nova Scotia through the Department of Seniors and Long-term Care. The Age-Friendly Communities Grant program funds community efforts to create age-friendly
environments, promote healthy aging, and support initiatives that lead to positive impacts in the lives of older adults in Nova Scotia. CBRL is pleased to work in partnership with the Seniors and Long-term Care Division to develop and
promote resources that support the wellbeing of older adults.

Additional Resources

• Alzheimer Society Nova Scotia    
• Caregivers Nova Scotia   
• Aging Well Nova Scotia   https://www.nscommunitylinks.ca/

Introducing new mini fidget kits from the library! Now you can fidget on the go, wherever you go, thanks to our portable fidget kits that provide a variety of sensory and tactile experiences in a convenient zippered pouch.

Fidgeting with toys can help us sharpen our focus, reduce stress and anxiety, increase muscle development and enhance fine motor skills. Fidget toys can be especially helpful for people who have sensory processing differences, autism, or developmental disabilities.

Pop a sensory fidget kit in your bag or car and take it along any time you or your family could benefit from increased concentration, relaxation, stimulation, or just plain fun!

Each kit includes a variety of 10 assorted sensory items in a clear zippered bag.

The Envoy Connect is an easy to use audiobook player, compatible with books from CELA and NNELS libraries.

How does it work?

This video guide demonstrates how to use the Envoy Connect:

The player also has a audio user guide on the device and further instructions can be found on the CELA website.

Requirement

Adults or children who have a disability preventing them from reading regular print books can borrow the Envoy Connect Player. Please see our Accessibility page to learn more about qualifying print disabilities.

What books are available for this player?

Any audio format book in the CELA or NNELs libraries can be loaded onto this player. Registered CELA or NNELS patrons can choose to browse the CELA and NNELS websites themselves or ask library staff to help them find books. Staff will also load the books onto the player.

Request a player

If you would like to try using an Envoy Connect player please phone your local library and speak with staff. Staff can also be reached via email.

Loan period

The envoy connect player will be loaned for 3 weeks. It can be renewed 3 times if no one else is waiting for it.

How to borrow

The Hippocampe is available from the McConnell Library in Sydney. To reserve, phone 902-562-3161 during library open hours. First time Hippocampe borrowers must review Hippocampe set-up and use instructions with staff at the McConnell Library in Sydney, this could take 15-20 minutes.

Equipment available

Hippocampe with all-terrain wheels.

Optional Accessories:

• Balloon tires (for beach or snow).
• Snow skis
• umbrella
• blanket

Requirement

The Hippocampe can only be borrowed by Adults (18 years old and older.) The borrower must read the Hippocampe Loan Procedures and must sign the CBRL Equipment Loan Form each time they borrow the Hippocampe.

Loan period

 The equipment can be borrowed for 1 week.

Size

Currently the library has Hippocampes in three sizes:

• Large Hippocampe for anyone between 5’5″ and 6′. Maximum weight 286 lbs.
• Medium Hippocampe for youth and adults 4’7″ to 5’5″.
• Small Hippocampe for youth or adults under 4’7″

You will need a vehicle that can accommodate a large hockey-style bag, approximately 2 x 6 feet. If you borrow the balloon tires you will need space for another 2×3 feet bag. The Hippocampe weighs approximately 50 lbs.

Instructions

This video demonstrates how to unpack and set-up the Hippocampe. Library staff will also demonstrate when you reserve the Hippocampe for the first time. Written instructions for set-up are also included in the Hippocampe Loan Procedures document.

What can the Hippocampe be used for?

This video demonstrates using the Hippocampe at the beach with both the regular wheels and the balloon wheels.

Funding Partners

The Hippocampe loan program has been made made possible with funding support from:

Nova Scotia department of Communities Culture Tourism and Heritage,

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Community Development.

United Way Cape Breton and the Government of Canada through the Enabling Accessibility Fund – Youth Innovation Component

• People with a learning disability such as dyslexia,
• People with low vision,
• Language learners. 

Key features of the C-Pen ReaderPen:

• Recognizes English, French, and Spanish
• Reads out loud in a human-like speaking voice
• Looks up and reads out definitions of words
• Stores scanned text and records voice memos up to 3GB
• Can use built-in speakers or headphones for private listening
• Everything is built-in and there is no need or requirement for an internet connection

How to Use the ReaderPen

A quick start user guide is included when you borrow a ReaderPen.

This YouTube video also demonstrates how to use the ReaderPen.

Where to Find the ReaderPen

A C-Pen is currently available for a one-hour loan period for in-library use at the McConnell Library in Sydney and the Glace Bay Library.

Please ask at the desk to access a scanning pen.

https://samepagecbrl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S195C525115

CBRL has partnered with Victoria County Home Support Services to create age-friendly reading kits to introduce readers to new ways to keeping reading books. This product was funded through Nova Scotia’s Age-Friendly Communities Grant.

Some people find that reading full length regular print books is too challenging as they age. Perhaps the print is too small or the story is too complex to follow. Physical or mental impairments can make it hard to enjoy what once might have been a beloved past time.

In each of our Your Way to Keep Reading Bags you will find:

• Audiobooks with Headphones. Each bag contains a Playaway Audiobook and over the ear headphones. Playaways are small handheld devices that operate with batteries. Each Playaway contains a professional recording of a book, so the reader can use their ears rather than their eyes to read.
• A variety of Large Print Books and Quick Reads books.
  • Large Print books are great for readers who want to keep reading their favourite authors and genres but need larger text sizes to read with ease.
  • Quick Reads books are short novels and short stories, many of them also have large text sizes. These books are great for people who struggle to read and enjoy longer novels.

There are 20 different Your Way to Keep Reading Kits

List of Kits:

Kit 1: Domestic Fiction

• Playway: Identity by Nora Roberts.
• Large Print: Earth’s the Right Place by Elizabeth Berg
• Quick Reads: Cape Breton’s Christmas Book 5 edited by Ronald Caplan, The Sandy Shoreline by Emma Rose Sparrow

Kit 2: British Mysteries

• Playaway: Death in Focus by Anne Perry
• Large Print: A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie and Double or Nothing by Kim Sherwood
• Quick Read: The Double Clue and other Hercule Poirot Stories by Agatha Christie

Kit 3: Small Town Mysteries

• Playaway: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
• Large Print: Death of a Traitor by M.C. Beaton
• Quick Reads: Murder among the Pines by John Lawrence Reynolds, Wish you were Dead by Peter James.

Kit 4: Heartwarming Reads

• Playaway: Dewey the Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron (nonfiction)
• Large Print: The Best is Yet to Come by Debbie Macomber
• Quick Reads: A Summer Walk by Jamie Stonebridge, Saving the Day by Katie Fforde

Kit #5: Village and Farm Life

• Playaway: All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (nonfiction)
• Large Print: The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George
• Quick Reads: A Visit to the Farm by Jamie Stonebridge, From Scratch by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Kit #6: Love Stories

• Playaway: The Wish by Nicholas Sparks
• Large Print: The Wedding Planner by Danielle Steel
• Quick Reads: The Italian Cure by Melodie Campbell and A Day at the Park by Jamie Stonebridge

Kit # 7: Domestic Fiction

• Playaway: Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks
• Large Print: My Magnolia Summer by Victoria Benton Frank
• Quick Reads: A Fresh Start edited by Fanny Blake, What the Wind Showed Me by Emma Rose Sparrow

Kit # 8: Love and Family

• Playaway: Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
• Large Print: Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks
• Quick Reads: Blood Ties by Barbara Fradkin, Autumn’s Display by Emma Rose Sparrow

Kit # 9: Love Stories

• Playaway: The Orchard by Beverly Lewis
• Large Print: Happiness by Danielle Steel
• Quick Reads: No Return Address by Gail Anderson-Dargatz, A Dusting of Snow by Emma Rose Sparrow

Kit # 10: Mysteries & Thrillers

• Playaway: Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• Large Print: Obsessed by James Patterson
• Quick Reads: Darkness Rising by A.A. Dhand, Blood and Belonging by Vicki Delaney

Kit #11: Mysteries & Thrillers

• Playaway: The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry
• Large Print: 23rd Midnight by James Patterson and The Last Ranger by Peter Heller
• Quick Reads: Blue Water Hues by Vicki Delaney

Kit # 12: Historical Fiction

• Playaway: The Watchman’s Daughter by Larry Loftis
• Large Print: The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear
• Quick Reads: Three Things by Emma Rose Sparrow, Cape Breton’s Christmas Edited by Ronald Caplan

Kit # 13: Historical Fiction

• Playaway: The House of Eve by Saseqa Johnson
• Large Print: Starring Adele Astaire by Eliza Knight
• Quick Reads: A Day at the Beach by Jamie Stonebridge, Cape Breton’s Chistmas Book 5 Edited by Ronald Caplan

Kit #14: Mystery and Intrigue

• Playaway: The House of Unexpected Sisters by Alexander McCall Smith
• Large Print: The Beach at Summerly by Beatriz Williams, Sinner of Starlight City by Anika Scott
• Quick Reads: A Murder for Max by John Lawrence Reynolds

Kit # 15: Historical Fiction

• Playaway: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
• Large Print: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes, The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
• Quick Reads: The Black Mountain by Kate Mosse

Kit # 16: Thrillers

• Playaway: Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield
• Large Print: Lion & Lamb by James Patterson
• Quick Reads: Coral Reef Views by Vicki Delaney, Dead Man Talking by Roddy Doyle

Kit # 17: Forensic/Archaeological Thrillers

• Playaway: Tides of Fire by James Rollins
• Large Print: The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths
• Quick Reads: Beethoven’s Tenth by Brian Harvey, Cape Bretoners in the First World War edited by Ronald Caplan (nonfiction)

Kit # 18: Biography & Memoirs

All books in this kit are nonfiction

• Playaway: One Native Life by Richard Wagamese
• Large Print: The Wager: a tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann, Road to Surrender by Evan Thomas
• Quick Read: Views from the Steel Plant edited by Ronald Caplan

Kit # 19: History

• Playaway: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
• Large Print: Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson
• Quick Reads: Magnificent Obesessions: They Wrote About Cape Breton edited by Ronald Caplan (nonfiction), The Best Christmas by Jamie Stonebridge

Kit #20 Miscellaneous

• Playaway: The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
• Large Print: The Midnight News by Jo Baker
• Quick Reads: The Middle Ground by Zoe Whittall, White Sand Blues by Vicky Delaney

To borrow a Kit, place a hold in our online catalogue or phone your local library branch.