As a kid who struggled in school, Shawn Lemieux used to think she wasn't smart. The visually impaired director of New York State’s Talking Book and Braille Library says everything changed in graduate school at Syracuse University.
That's when she was introduced to the state’s Talking Book and Braille Library.
“If I did not have these books, I would not have been able to get through grad school,” said Lemieux. “And grad school got me to be the director of the director of the New York State Talking Book and Braille library.”
The Talking Book and Braille Library, TBBL, helps visually impaired New Yorkers living outside New York City and Long Island get more accessible reading materials. The New York State Library-run facility has everything from physical braille books to braille e-readers to talking books.
From its headquarters based inside the state museum in Albany, TBBL mails books and other materials to people across upstate New York — New York City and Long Island have separate library services for visually impaired users.
State Librarian Lauren Moore says it’s important to have a wide variety of resources.
“We create an experience where people have access to the books for as long as they want, for as many books as they want, to make sure that they have the same kind of experience I have at home, which is a pile of a to be read that I will never be able to tackle in this year, but it's there for me to choose from,” said Moore. “And our talking book and braille library team is doing that that same work every day for people.”
Quinn Burch is a deaf blind employee at TBBL. She uses a Mantis, a portable keyboard and braille display that can pair with screen readers or smartphones, to connect with the world. She runs her fingers through the e-reader, reading a line before pressing a button on the side to change the raised dots to the next line.
TBBL lends out similar braille e-readers to its patrons, a standard e-reader can cost from anywhere between $800 to $3000.
Burch communicated with WAMC through a tactile sign language interpreter about the importance of creating reading equity for all. She emphasized that having devices and services, like TBBL, that provide access to braille is crucial to making sure everyone is on the same playing field.
“Whether it’s a mantis or any of the other braille displays that I’ve worked with or have backups at home, because it’s just that critical to access life,” said Burch.“…is truly that to understand the value of what braille and this equipment does for people who use it, it just truly cannot be underscored enough.”
Coinciding with the Jan. 4 birthday of Louis Braille — the 19th century French educator who invented the reading system that bears his name — Braille Literacy Month is meant to raise awareness about the significance of braille for literacy and empowerment for people who are blind or have low vision.
Lemieux says access to the right materials can change lives.
“If you're me, when you walk into a regular bookstore, there's a lot you can't access because it's regular print, and our patrons who are print disabled can't, or blind or have low vision, don't access those books,” said Lemieux. “So being able to call this library and say, ‘I would like this, this, this and this,’ and it gets mailed to you, or we can push it to their player, or they can use the Braille and Audio Reading Download at 3 a.m. It's also important.”
