National Library Service publication on the importance of Braille

The book discussed here will be available from the NLS this month.
Should make for some interesting reading.

Steve

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For Immediate Release

November 17, 2000

Braille: Into the Next Millennium, a 600-page anthology of articles by
more than two dozen international experts in the field of braille, has
been published jointly by the Library of Congress's National Library
Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS/BPH) and the
Friends of Libraries for Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in
North America. Braille literacy is currently a vital concern of advocacy
groups of blind individuals and service providers.

In his foreword NLS director Frank Kurt Cylke notes, "With a tactile
medium such as braille comes literacy spelling, writing, and broad
communication possibilities are open and available. With literacy comes
the possibility of freedom. With freedom comes the possibility of
endless achievement from pleasant living to significant social
contributions. Personal and institutional commitments to braille by
enthusiasts in the United States have helped advance literacy for blind
individuals in North America and have therefore advanced the possibility
of freedom for thousands."

The book is divided into three parts. Part I, "Braille in the Past,"
includes three authors who discuss the origins of braille, embossed
printing in the United States, and the homeplace of Louis Braille in
France. Part II, "Braille in the Present," includes eighteen articles on
such diverse subjects as the basic literary, mathematics (Nemeth), and
music codes to modern refreshable braille displays and tactile graphics.
Part III, "Braille in the Future," contains three authors who write
about braille as a predictor of success, electronic distribution of
braille, and future braille codes and fonts. In addition, there is an
appendix of ASCII braille characters, a list of contributors, and an
extensive bibliography.

According to the book's editor, Judith Dixon, consumer relations officer
for NLS/BPH and originator of the concept for the book, "We trace
braille from its beginnings through the myriad of current uses and also
take a peek at the future. Each author is an expert in his or her field
and has brought to this work a perspective that can be acquired only
through experience and a profound closeness to the subject."

Kenneth Jernigan, who served for many years as president and then
president emeritus of the National Federation of the Blind, states in
his preface, "It is in this atmosphere of renewed opportunity and hope
that the current book is produced. It will make a valuable contribution
to the new emphasis on braille, and it will give historical background
and perspective. It will also synthesize and draw together present
thinking and point the way to the future."

The book will be available in braille and recorded formats for NLS/BPH
readers by January 2001.

Print copies have been supplied to the world's major library
institutions, as well as the significant university library collections
in the United States and Canada through the Friends of Libraries for
Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals in North America.

Single print copies are available at no cost from the Reference Section,
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, The
Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20542.

For additional information, contact:
Robert E. Fistick
Head, Publications and Media Section
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
The Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20542
Telephone: (202) 707-9279
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
NLS web site: www.loc.gov/nls


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