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Weekly Reflection: How do those who are blind or who have low vision access literature?

Album Description

Hi everyone! As I move forward in my internship, I will be posting weekly to share some thoughts and resources in connection with my experiences onsite at the Library.

This Saturday, as I worked in the Library’s Young Readers Center and Programs Lab (YRCPL), I noticed many children showing a keen interest in the resources on display that relate to the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS). The YRCPL has a table that displays Talking Books, books in Braille, and information about how people who are blind or have low vision access literature. The NLS is also part of a collaborative effort to help plan for future youth spaces in the Library. 

I wanted to learn more about the history of the NLS and look at primary sources related to the creation of the NLS and accessible literature. The Library of Congress first developed a concept for a national library for the blind in 1897, when Librarian of Congress John Russell Young established a reading room for the blind containing about 500 books and music items in raised characters. The Pratt-Smoot Act of 1931 authorized the Library of Congress to establish a program to distribute books for blind adults, which would develop over time to become the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. (For more information on the history of NLS, visit https://www.loc.gov/nls/about/organization/history/). In 2009, the Library created an exhibition in honor of Louis Braille’s 200th Birthday, which is still available online and contains various images related to braille and print accessibility. The images and articles that I found through the Library might be a good way to introduce learners to how literature was made accessible to people who are blind or people with low vision in the past. The Observe, Reflect, Question method would be a great start in analyzing these sources. You might ask your students if they notice anything about how braille is read and how it was created. This could also spark conversation with students about accessibility aids for people with disabilities, and where they see accessibility aids like braille in their daily life (public restrooms, signs, etc.)

Do you know of any other sources related to the NLS? How do you discuss accessibility in your schools/organizations and with your students? How could you envision using these sources to start a conversation with your learners?

If this topic interests you, check out the posts from former Junior Fellow  Ellie Kaplan , who compiled resources on teaching disability history.

Further Resources:

  Social Studies/History    Disability History   National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled   Library 

YRCPL NLS Table.jpg

Teaching Notes

Here is a photograph of the table at the Young Readers Center and Programs Lab that I referenced above. Notice the copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" as a Print-and-Braille Picture book, as well as a copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution written in Braille. The table also has examples of talking books, a description of the NLS, and hands-on activities for children to learn more about how braille is created and read. 

 

Library of Congress: Division for the Blind. Reading Room

Teaching Notes

Here is a photograph of the Reading Room for the Blind at the Library of Congress, taken around 1920. What might be different about this reading room compared to other reading rooms in the library at the time? What pieces of technology do you notice in the photograph? 

Reference link: https://www.loc.gov/item/2005694707/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • ca. 1920.

Notes

  • -  This record contains unverified, old data from caption card.
  • -  Caption card tracings: Copyright; Physically handicapped; DC, Wash. LC Interiors Div.; Libraries; Blind; Shelf.

Repository

  • Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA h ttp://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Digital Id

  • cph 3b07020 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b07020

BLIND, THE. BRAILLE ALPHABET AT LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND. INSTITUTE OF THE BLIND

Teaching Notes

Here is an example of the Braille Alphabet. The YRCPL has a similar card that we give away to children who visit the space. What is the pattern used for the braille alphabet? How was this created? Who do you think is the intended audience for this image?

Reference link: https://www.loc.gov/item/2016864181/

Reference note

Contributor Names

  • Harris & Ewing, photographer

Created / Published

  • 1912.

Genre

  • Glass negatives

Notes

  • -  Title from unverified caption data received with the Harris & Ewing Collection.
  • -  Gift; Harris & Ewing, Inc. 1955.
  • -  General information about the Harris & Ewing Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.hec
  • -  Temp. note: Batch one.

Repository

Digital Id

  • hec 01837 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.01837

[Woman reading braille]

Teaching Notes

This would be a great image to try Observe, Reflect, Question: 

- What is this woman doing?

- What is the time period? How do you know?

- Why was this image produced?

Reference link: https://www.loc.gov/item/2016889835/

Reference note

Contributor Names

  • Harris & Ewing, photographer

Created / Published

  • [1931 or 1932]

Subject Headings

  • -  United States

Genre

  • Glass negatives

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Date based on date of negatives in same range.
  • -  Gift; Harris & Ewing, Inc. 1955.
  • -  General information about the Harris & Ewing Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.hec
  • -  Temp. note: Batch seven.

Repository

Digital Id

  • hec 36683 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.36683

New York, New York. Charlotte Rohr operating the Braille press at the Lighthouse, an institution for the blind, at 111 East Fifty-ninth Street

Teaching Notes

This woman is using a Braille Press to create pages of braille text. How might braille be created today? How has the technology for accessibility aids, like braille, changed over time?

Reference link: https://www.loc.gov/item/2017864845/

Reference note

Contributor Names

  • Boyer, Richard, photographer

Created / Published

  • 1944 Mar.

Subject Headings

  • -  United States--New York (State)--New York

Genre

  • Safety film negatives

Notes

  • -  Title and other information from print in lot.
  • -  Transfer; United States. Office of War Information. Overseas Picture Division. Washington Division; 1944.
  • -  More information about the FSA/OWI Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsaowi
  • -  Temp. note: owibatch5
  • -  Film copy on SIS roll 19, frame 1983.

Repository

Digital Id

  • fsa 8d42045 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d42045

New York, New York. Miss Louise Kintner, head of the Public Relations Department (left) dictating to Ruth Askenas, who is taking it down on a Braille machine at the Lighthouse, an institution for the blind, at 111 East Fifty-ninth Street

Teaching Notes

This is another way that braille was created--using a "braille machine." What other piece of technology from this period does this machine look like? (Perhaps a typewriter) Knowing that braille is made from a pattern of six dots, why might this machine have six keys? This image would be good to pair with the "Braille Alphabet" image from this album. 

Reference link: https://www.loc.gov/item/2017864847/

Reference note

Contributor Names

  • Boyer, Richard, photographer

Created / Published

  • 1944 Mar.

Subject Headings

  • -  United States--New York (State)--New York

Genre

  • Safety film negatives

Notes

  • -  Title and other information from caption card.
  • -  Title and other information from print in microfilmed lot.
  • -  Transfer; United States. Office of War Information. Overseas Picture Division. Washington Division; 1944.
  • -  More information about the FSA/OWI Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsaowi
  • -  Temp. note: owibatch5
  • -  Film copy on SIS roll 16, frame 924.

Repository

Digital Id

  • fsa 8d34719 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d34719