Siouxland Libraries Hosts Event in Support of Braille

When considering there are over 25 million people in America who are legally blind, the importance of learning Braille continues to grow. There’s a program which will bring the issue to the forefront.

Siouxland Libraries will host an event on Saturday, January 26 at the Downtown Branch with the sole purpose of learning Braille. Librarian Stephanie Bents says the experience will help introduce the reading method to children.

“We invited visually impaired people to come in and do a story time for the kids. They will be reading a book from Braille and do some Braille with the kids and help the kids write their name in Braille, too.

Koni Sims of the South Dakota Association of the Blind believes there still is a place for Braille to be used as a communication tool.

“Braille is not as popular as it used to be because of all the technology nowadays. That’s a good thing that we’re having this with the library to show that it’s still a needed, independent way for the blind to read and correspond with people.”

Sims has been legally blind since birth because of aniridia which is a condition caused by a lack of an iris though it does allow her to read large print.

The event will take place at the Downtown Library at 200 North Dakota Avenue from 2:00-3:00 PM on Saturday.