Accessibility Services

June Is Deaf-Blind Awareness Month

 

Helen Keller, c. 1904. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62- 112513)

June is Deaf-Blind Awareness Month, designated to celebrate both the achievements of deaf-blind persons and the birth month of Helen Keller.

Helen Keller was born June 27th, 1880, and became both blind and deaf at the age of two due to an illness. With her teacher Annie Sullivan at her side, she accomplished in her life what to many seemed to be utterly impossible - including graduating with honours from Radcliffe College in 1900. Writer and humanitarian, Helen Keller has become an inspiration to many people throughout the world. She died in 1968.

The Library has many children's books about Helen Keller's extraordinary life. Here is just a sampling:

Annie and Helen	Helen Keller's Big World	Helen Keller: The World In Her Heart

The Library also has many books for adults about Helen Keller and her world.

The "Miracle Worker" and the Transcendentalist: Annie Sullivan, Franklin Sanborn and the Education of Helen Keller	The Story of My Life  (The Library also has this title as an eBook and an eAudiobook)	The Radical Lives of Helen Keller

Have a look.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller

 

Children with special needs at the library

I wonder how many parents are sitting at home right now with a child with extra support needs. They may know that the library offers programs for children, but think that their child, for whatever reason, would not fit in. To these parents I would like to say: please call or visit you local library and talk with the children's librarian to find out what the library has to offer. This conversation can be the beginning of a rewarding relationship with the library. Working together, parents and librarians can make that visit to the library a satisfying outing for everyone.

Over the last three years, many library staff have had training to help them better serve children with special needs. With the help of a grant from the South Ontario Library Service, Toronto Public Library was able to put together a Storytime Tips Guide for librarians, caregivers, and parents. A short video shows how library storytimes are easily adapted and gives a peek at a sample program.

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