BackTalk: I Love Libraries, and I'm Blind

I'm a retired clinical psychologist, blind from birth. I'm also a proud patron of the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and of several public libraries for over 50 years.

When I was growing up in the 1950s in Kalamazoo, MI, the librarian at the Michigan Library for the Blind was my hero. He sent me books in Braille and records from the Library of Congress (LC) through the mail. I can remember one of my early Braille favorites was Brighty of the Grand Canyon, and I can still recall listening to Little Women on record. When those big boxes of Braille books arrived on the front porch, my anticipation was about as great as it was before Christmas.

With technology, much has changed when it comes to serving the blind and visually impaired, and I'd like to offer a snapshot of access to the printed word and some thoughts on how this relates to your library. Certainly, things have come a long way.

When I was young, there just weren't many books about blind people other than Helen Keller and Louis Braille. Today, the American Library Association gives three awards per year to authors or illustrators of children's books about the disability experience. When children visit their libraries these days, whether they are a child with a learning disability who can read My Thirteenth Winter or a blind child with a sighted parent who can read Looking Out for Sarah, that child now knows he or she is not alone.

In the past, I received Newsweek on record, usually about two months late. Now, it comes on tape the same week it appears on newsstands. Movies and television shows now even have descriptions on the SAP channel, so blind people can know who was just shot in that mystery they're watching.

When I was in college, graduate school, and throughout my 30-year career, I was lucky to find some of the professional books and texts I needed available from the Library of Recordings for the Blind. Over the years, the time between publication in print and publication on tape or in Braille shortened to where I might be reading last fall's best seller the following spring instead of a couple of years later.

Now, I have a computer that talks, and I can go online to scroll through lists of new books at the public library and pick what I'd like delivered by the home delivery service. Every three weeks, a volunteer brings two bags of CDs, audiobooks, and print books to my house. We chat, and she leaves with bags full of items I'm returning to the library.

I can also call a toll-free number and read the last two days' worth of over 200 newspapers through a cooperative venture of the National Federation of the Blind and the NLS called Newsline. I also can use my talking computer to read the portions of my local newspaper posted to its web site.

Often, librarians are the ones who make these magical connections for the blind or visually impaired. In addition to receiving books from branches of LC, I also regularly receive books from Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic, Xavier Society for the Blind (a Catholic lending library), and Bookshare, which offers downloadable versions of books for print-challenged people. For those blind or visually impaired who have computers, downloadable books are particularly useful for reference.

Getting the information I need goes deeper than just using several libraries and several delivery methods. It involves librarians who know good sources of information and can make recommendations of good books.

When I helped to start an ecumenical book discussion group at my church this year, I knew that librarians and libraries would make it possible for me to access the books we chose, so I wouldn't just sit on the sidelines and listen to others discussing books. Technology has helped to make so much possible. But it is libraries and librarians who enable my full participation in the world.

As much as things have developed, public libraries can do more to improve their services to the visually impaired. For example, your library can increase the number and variety of books in large print and/or on CD; download digital talking books for patrons with an NLS player; start a home delivery service; ensure that your library web pages and online resources are screen reader-friendly; and sponsor readings and book discussions at senior living facilities

Friends groups can sometimes help with the volunteer power and funds for these projects, but it is the library board and staff who need to take the lead in providing access. If we all continue to work together, “Have you read any good books lately?” can be a question all of us, both sighted and blind, can answer with a resounding, “Yes!”