Kids delight in learning about Braille

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Braille

Librarians from the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a division of the Iowa Department for the Blind, gave Des Moines school children some education in Braille and other alternative ways to read printed materials during the Hands-On Bookfest for Kids at the Des Moines Central Library May 4.

The Bookfest attracted 4th- through 6th-grade students from Des Moines public schools throughout the day, who came to the downtown location to celebrate and learn about books and to promote reading and literacy.

The ILBPH serves Iowa's school children with vision loss through its Instructional Materials Center. The IMC provides textbooks and other printed school materials in alternative formats, such as Braille and audio. IMC librarians staffed a booth during Bookfest, where they gave out cards with the Braille alphabet, showed the kids Braille books, digital talking books that the library distributes, and tactile drawings and mazes. Students also got a chance to learn to write some Braille, by using a slate and stylus to write their names.

The Bookfest was sponsored by by the Rotary Club of Des Moines Centennial Celebration, with support from the Des Moines Public Library, the Iowa Center for the Book, and Beaverdale Books.