Hayley here with a contributing article from Rho, all while January is wrapping up! Below is a great piece by “Tapping Thoughts” which explores braille literacy.
January is Braille Literacy Month, which honors the birthday of Louis Braille, who was born on January 4, 1809.. To celebrate and raise awareness about the importance of braille literacy, please read the newest edition of “Tapping Thoughts.” You’ll also meet Quinn Birch, learn what a Reader Advisor is and what the NYS Talking Book and Braille Library is. Enjoy and share!
Tapping Thoughts: Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL)
by Rhonda Voight-Campbell & Quinn Burch
12th Edition – January 2024
I have been a patron of New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) for over a year. The TBBL is a free library service for eligible individuals who cannot read standard printed materials due to a visual, physical or reading disability. Their collection includes embossed braille books, braille and audio digital books, as well as subscriptions to popular magazines. I subscribe to a paper magazine in braille that is mailed to my home nine times a year. Reading the magazine of short stories in contracted braille is an excellent way to sharpen my braille literacy skills!
What is Braille literacy?
“Braille literacy is reading, comprehending, and writing in braille.” (brailleworks.com) Just as with sighted children, becoming literate “affects a person’s health, lifespan, wellness, and socio-economic status. All of which are strong predictors of future life outcomes.” Benefits to early childhood literacy include having a richer vocabulary, proficient communication, and strong writing and reading skills. Braille is a tactile reading/writing system that can be felt with the fingertips and is used by blind and DeafBlind children to access information about the world. Because braille literacy is an essential tool to leading an autonomous and meaningful life, parents and educators are encouraged to integrate braille literacy in their DeafBlind children’s general education curriculum.
Another service available at TBBL is that they have a great team of Reader Advisors. These advisors work closely with library patrons to assist them in finding interesting books, reference sources, provide technical support for downloading books and more. I interviewed a Reader Advisor named Quinn Michaela Burch, who is DeafBlind. Quinn has been employed at TBBL in Albany since September 2022. Quinn is a longtime friend and advisor to NYDBC and has acted as a contributing author to this e-newsletter. She shared her personal experience with early literacy and the benefits of TBBL.
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***The interview was conducted via email and edited for clarity.***
RHONDA: What led you to work as a Reader Advisor at TBBL?
QUINN: I grew up wanting to work at TBBL. It was not until last summer that, with my mother’s help, I was able to actually get an application in, an interview secured, and was fortunate enough to receive an offer. I consider this my dream job. I always wanted to work with braille books and help others enjoy books like I do.
RHONDA: What are your job responsibilities as a Reader Advisor?
QUINN: I do many different things. They include projects such as maintaining our library database of books as well as writing and editing letters, social media posts, and other materials. I research books that patrons have asked for and add them to their request lists. There are other responsibilities that we are still trying to figure out, such as my taking phone messages from patrons. While I am able to return their calls via relay, we are trying to figure out how I can receive the messages they leave on the voicemail system.
I mostly work on my own, but the three other Reader Advisors are always in touch with me via email. They forward patron requests to me such as entering book titles in the NLS book recommendation form. I also constantly communicate with my supervisors via email and chat in Microsoft Teams.
RHONDA: You had always wanted to work with braille books and help others enjoy books like you do. How were you introduced to braille? At what age did you start reading books in braille?
QUINN: I was introduced to braille at a very young age; in kindergarten, maybe. Although I do not remember this event, here is a story from Pam, who was my interpreter and aide from elementary school.
At first, I disliked braille and did not want to read braille. I wanted to be like other children in school. In my Deaf and Hard of Hearing class, all the students were reading aloud from their books. Once it was my turn, I had a standard print book in front of me. It was what I wanted, what I thought I needed. Yet, I just sat there, staring at the words on the printed page. . . like ants crawling across the page in lines. . . I could not read with my eyes like the other children. So Pam asked me, “What do you need?” Meekly I said, “I need my braille book.” I guess it was from that moment onward when I got hooked on braille.
RHONDA: As a DeafBlind bookworm, how would you explain why braille literacy is important for DeafBlind children?
QUINN: There are more digital books than braille books, even on Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD). For instance, I did some research for a patron looking for books about submarine rescue missions. That was a tough topic to find, and I managed to find a few interesting digital books on the topic. They were actually fascinating true stories about submarine rescues, and I wanted to read them too. All these stories were found in digital audio books, but a very few titles were available in braille.
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled is aware of this lack of braille. In fact, this was the reason they launched the Braille-on-Demand project in June 2022. Through this project, NLS patrons now can request, receive, and retain up to five hard-copy braille books a month. These books which can be requested for personal use are limited to books that are available in braille on the Braille and Audio Reading Download service at this time. For example, one of the six digital books about submarine rescue missions I was interested in reading was “A Time To Die: The Untold Story of the Kursk Tragedy,”
This book is available in braille on BARD, which means I can order a hard-copy braille book to read.
DeafBlind children who cannot access audio technology would benefit from knowing braille. With more braille users, there would be a higher demand to produce more braille books for loan. TBBL patrons can also access hundreds of thousands of digital books downloaded through BARD, an online service from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS). They would need a refreshable braille display to read the BARD materials in braille.
RHONDA: Which book genres do you enjoy the most and why? What books are you reading now?
QUINN: Romance, I guess. But a healthy mix is nice, too. I like having a little bit of this and that. Romance, suspense, adventure, supernatural, and fantasy. Sometimes, I like memoir, nonfiction, or true stories, if the topic intrigues and fascinates me.
Like many DeafBlind folks, I have always preferred books over movies, because we cannot read closed captions or hear the dialogue. Books are always better, thanks to image descriptions and written dialogues.
I am currently reading two books. The first is a hard-copy braille book from TBBL. It is one of the only mystery series I enjoy reading. Admittedly, I’m a little bit bored because the main characters are spending too much time ruminating about solutions to the mystery. The reason why I like the Joe Grey series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy is because the main characters are a hidden, secret society of cats who speak and think like men. And, since I am a crazy cat lady, this mystery series is one of my favorites. The titles all begin with the word, Cat. The book I am reading is titled “Cat Playing Cupid.”
The second book is on my Mantis braille display. It is a book downloaded from BookShare, another ebook library for the print disabled. I am reading the first book in Colleen Hoover’s trilogy. Slammed, Point of Retreat, and This Girl. It is a wonderful trilogy in which the hero performs slam poetry.
RHONDA: Are TBBL braille books and magazines required to be returned?
QUINN: Braille magazines do not need to be returned, but braille books do. The nice thing is that there is no deadline or due date on braille books. Patrons can keep them as long as it takes to read them.
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Quinn’s journey in braille literacy has taught us the valuable way TBBL can support DeafBlind children to grow into functioning adults. It is critical that students have ample access to reading resources that are suited to their needs. Doing so will create essential building blocks that will ultimately lead to achieving future life goals. Becoming a patron at TBBL is a good stepping stone.
To get more information on TBBL Eligibility & Application:
- For residents in upstate New York, CLICK HERE.
- For residents in New York City and Long Island, CLICK HERE.
- Residents outside New York State can visit the National Library Service webpage to Find A Library.
References:
BARD – Braille and Audio Reading Download by the National Library Service.
Bookshare and the New York Public Library
Edited by Susanne Morgan Morrow