June 26, 2002

Open house provides insight on library services, equipment

Library for the Blind keeps world of books open to those who can no longer read them

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       While the name may be a contradiction, the Library for the Blind provides a much-needed service for the region's blind and visually impaired people.
      With thousands of books on tape to lend, the library keeps the world of books open to those who can no longer read them.
      "I get the tape books and it is wonderful," said Maxine Pierce of Traverse City. "They have all kinds of books on tape. I can't read a book without it."
      Pierce has been using the services of the library for a few years. She was one of more than 50 people who came to a Library for the Blind Open House last Thursday afternoon.
      Librarian Kathy Kelto said her office serves 850 people in a 16-county region. She decided to hold the open house for two reasons: to get the word out about the Library for the Blind's services and to provide a clearinghouse of information on services and adaptive equipment for the blind and visually impaired.
      "It is really to give people a convenient location to see the kind of aids that are available," Kelto said. "We do often get people coming in to our library to ask questions about what equipment is out there and where they can buy the products."
      The Library for the Blind is one of a nationwide network of libraries that offer free books on tape and tape players for the visually impaired. A federal government program, the services, including all the equipment and mailing costs, are offered to patrons for free.
      Equipment demonstrated at the Library for the Blind open house included video magnifiers, flex-arm video magnifiers and manual magnifiers that can assist driving.
      "I have macular degeneration and am losing my forward vision slowly," said John Szczurek of Roscommon, who came to the open house to learn more about the library's services and to try some adaptive equipment. "My side vision is good still."
      A representative of the Michigan Commission for the Blind was also on hand during the open house. Rose Dunlap, the regional representative of the Michigan Commission for the Blind, had some adaptive equipment to demonstrate and passed out information about independent living programs and the Commission for the Blind Training Center in Kalamazoo.
      "We are a very visual society," she said. "My job is to help people figure out a way to adapt to visual impairment."
      Dunlap brought a variety of low-tech adaptive equipment, including measuring tapes with raised markers at the inch and half-inch marks, a talking calculator, templates for checkbooks and canes.
      "When we were little, there were a million ways to do things but as we get older there is usually only one way," she said. "My job is to go in with 100 ideas and together we try to find out which ones works."
      Dunlap said that her most typical client is someone who lost their sight later in life, often due to a degenerative disease such as macular degeneration or glaucoma. Diseases or traumas causing retinal or corneal damage are also a factor. Sometimes the vision loss is dramatic - literally overnight - other times it is a slow progressive process.
      Regardless of the speed of onset, Dunlap said many people losing vision later in life can have a hard time accepting their limitations. She makes sure to stress that losing vision does not mean giving up their way of life, just modifying it.
      "I tell people independence is about being in charge of your life, not necessarily doing it all yourself," Dunlap said. "That's bullheadedness."
      "We provide a combination of training and adaptive equipment to bring them to a level playing field as far as their quality of life," she noted.