Helping others ‘see’

Imagine reading a book without having the ability to see.

Denise Bean, youth services librarian with the Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled, visited the Greenfield Public Library Tuesday, June 28, and gave a presentation intended to help those who can see understand what it is like to read when you cannot see.

“Braille is essential. We all read. We all read books. One thing that is important is showing them how everyone can read. Braille is so important to our children who are blind, or anyone, for that matter,” Bean said. “It’s kind of nice to incorporate it into [a seeing child’s] world. We all read in different ways, but we all read. It’s a tactile way of reading rather than reading with your eyes.”

Bean used children in attendance to help tell the story of Louie Braille, the creator of braille, which is a special code for the visually impaired that uses dots.

For instance, Braille was 3 years old when he poked his eye out in an accident in a wood shop, making him become blind. Bean then paused and pointed out a 3-year-old in the room, making the story even more real.

There was a 7-year-old in the room, and Bean told how Braille was accepted into a school for the blind at that age, where he began tracing letters in the air to learn them, despite the fact that he could not see.

At nine years old, Braille had a soldier come speak at his school, and he explained Morse Code, a method used in telecommunications to encode text on signal durations known as dots and dashes. Several 9-year-olds sat in the room.

Bean went on to explain to participants the six-dot system Braille uses, helping them to understand at least their first initial in Braille. She let them use a Perkins Brailler to create a few special words of their choice. They also could explore tactical books with raised pictures.

Library director Tracy Wing asked Bean how books can be transcribed into Braille. Bean said software and programs are available that help with that process.

“But like any language, it’s not all correct. You need a transcriber to go through it. Transcribers are used quite a bit [in the library] because sometimes we get these big textbooks in and you have to turn it into Braille, like an actual math book,” Bean said. “It’s so important to have Braille. It directly ties to Braille literacy. Being Braille literate allows these people to have success in life.”

The Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled provides services to the entire state of Iowa. Its thousands of volumes are available in all formats, such as Braille, audio and large print. The library may be found online on iowalibrary.blog. There is an online process to gain access the library’s contents.

Bean said that there is also a Books for Kids program that directly provides accessible books for those who need them throughout the school year.

“It’s an incredible agency,” Bean said. “We enjoy working with others.”