Children's Braille Books

Having come to work at Lillian H Smith Branch from various other branches, I wasn't aware of the nearly 100 children's braille books that Lillian has in its collection.  Prior to working here, there were two things I had heard about the branch; it was named after Lillian H Smith who was the first librarian dedicated to children's services in the British Commonwealth and that it had an excellent children's collection.  I wasn't aware that it also had braille books for children.   The braille books fill up two shelves on the first floor and can be found in the South-East corner.  "Braille has been an effective means of communication for people who are blind since 1829 when it was invented in Paris, France by Louis Braille".  For more information, the CNIB does a great job of explaining braille and its history on their website.  Our collection has two kinds of braille books; ones that are strictly braille and others that have clear plastic with braille language overlapping the pictures and text.  This is so that both readers with or without vision loss can enjoy them together.  Going through the collection it is easy to see that it is filled with classics.  Don't live close by or prefer to order some to other locations?  You can search Toronto Public Library's website by using the keyword "braille book" and narrow your results on the left hand side.  If you need further assistance you can also call us at 416-393-7746 or the Answerline at 416-393-7131