[This column was first published in the Sopris Sun on November 20, 2024.]
Once I volunteered at a radio station. I read the daily newspaper for the blind.
I wasn’t particularly good at it. I recorded at 6am and quickly learned that I need to be on the other side of at least two cups of coffee before I can talk. One time, I ended my two-hour session with the discovery that I forgot to hit the record button. The radio station had a lot of followers, but they were gently amused by my flub. (And now … Yesterday’s news?)
Years later I moved to Colorado and wound up taking a tour of the Colorado Talking Book Library (CTBL) in Denver. A department of the Colorado State Library, part of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (a program of the even larger Library of Congress), the Talking Book Library can be found in every state. Its history traces back almost 100 years. It is a magnificent institution.
Who do they serve? Millions.
It’s easy enough to understand the meaning of “blind” — you can’t see. It’s physical. But even that has gradations. You were born that way. You have cataracts or macular degeneration. Some insult or condition stole your sight.
“Print disabled” is surprisingly broad. It could be physical, maybe just temporary. Because of an injury you can’t hold a book. You have brain trauma. You can see the words, but they don’t track.
It might be longer-term. You’re dyslexic. You have arthritis, neuropathy, paralysis, one of many auto-immune diseases.
Many people never learn to read at all. Literacy should be a birthright. It can be a blindness. Illiteracy is certainly a disability.
There are so many resources (braille, audiobooks, magazines, large print) that I can’t begin to list them. Today’s network of library resources is one of the crowning achievements of civilization. The Talking Book Library connects you.
Here’s their offer: we will deliver to your door exactly the books you can use.
Did I mention that it is absolutely free? The CTBL will also provide a machine that lets you take advantage of some content even faster, recorded right here in Colorado. The machine is dead simple to use. It’s free, too. Even better are the librarians to help you find what you’re looking for. Give them a call.
If you’re feeling isolated from the world and want a fresh infusion of fun things to think about — if you just want to explore some wonderful voices and topics — the CTBL might be just your ticket.
Wanna sign up? Start here: myctbl.cde.state.co.us/getting-started
My advice, though: Not before 6am. Two cups of coffee. Hit Record.
Once I volunteered at a radio station. I read the daily newspaper for the blind.
I wasn’t particularly good at it. I recorded at 6am and quickly learned that I need to be on the other side of at least two cups of coffee before I can talk. One time, I ended my two-hour session with the discovery that I forgot to hit the record button. The radio station had a lot of followers, but they were gently amused by my flub. (And now … Yesterday’s news?)
Years later I moved to Colorado and wound up taking a tour of the Colorado Talking Book Library (CTBL) in Denver. A department of the Colorado State Library, part of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (a program of the even larger Library of Congress), the Talking Book Library can be found in every state. Its history traces back almost 100 years. It is a magnificent institution.
Who do they serve? Millions.
It’s easy enough to understand the meaning of “blind” — you can’t see. It’s physical. But even that has gradations. You were born that way. You have cataracts or macular degeneration. Some insult or condition stole your sight.
“Print disabled” is surprisingly broad. It could be physical, maybe just temporary. Because of an injury you can’t hold a book. You have brain trauma. You can see the words, but they don’t track.
It might be longer-term. You’re dyslexic. You have arthritis, neuropathy, paralysis, one of many auto-immune diseases.
Many people never learn to read at all. Literacy should be a birthright. It can be a blindness. Illiteracy is certainly a disability.
There are so many resources (braille, audiobooks, magazines, large print) that I can’t begin to list them. Today’s network of library resources is one of the crowning achievements of civilization. The Talking Book Library connects you.
Here’s their offer: we will deliver to your door exactly the books you can use.
Did I mention that it is absolutely free? The CTBL will also provide a machine that lets you take advantage of some content even faster, recorded right here in Colorado. The machine is dead simple to use. It’s free, too. Even better are the librarians to help you find what you’re looking for. Give them a call.
If you’re feeling isolated from the world and want a fresh infusion of fun things to think about — if you just want to explore some wonderful voices and topics — the CTBL might be just your ticket.
Wanna sign up? Start here: myctbl.cde.state.co.us/getting-started
My advice, though: Not before 6am. Two cups of coffee. Hit Record.
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