As I was scrolling through Twitter, I saw a tweet from RNIB about #WorldBookDay. According to worldbookday.com, World Book Day is a campaign with the goal of making sure every child and teen has a book of their own. Many schools, libraries and book shops will have a variety of activities for children and teens to enjoy.
I personally feel that this day is important because growing up with a visual impairment, my access to books was very limited. It was hard for me to find books in large print for me to read for pleasure. Once I was registered as a student with a visual impairment my wealth of knowledge was only expanded to my school books. As a teenager I still found myself looking at books in large print for younger children when I went to the bookshops. This was because the price of audio books was too pricy for my mother to pay.
I believe that every child, no matter if they are fully sighted or if they have a visual impairment, should have a chance to read. To help achieve this goal you can go and volunteer at your local library. Reading to a child can help them fall in love with reading, help strengthen their vocabulary, spelling and with reading comprehension. Depending on where you live some libraries and bookshops can take donated books and either sell them at half price or give them away for free.
If you live in England and your child or teenager has a visual impairment be sure to stop by RNIB’s World Book Day 2019 page to see the 14 new titles that are available in an audio Daisy CD or in Braille which can be ordered for free. You can also get these books in large print.
If you live in the United States and have a child that has a qualified reading disability remember that www.bookshare.org, offers free memberships for students from pre-school all the way through college. Volunteers can donate their time in several ways, and in return they can earn credits that can be used to purchase a years’ worth of membership for members of Bookshare.
Together we can make books accessible. 😊
