Saturday, August 11, 2012

If you would like to read something very, very beautiful,

read this.

It is the story of a woman, who was once a girl, who listened to Hellen Keller speak in the Salt Lake Tabernacle about learning to read and type and speak. I did not even know that that Salt Lake Tabernacle circumstance happened, but it did, and it is moving.

(As a note: one of the best things that happened during my Boston Library Science days was getting to go on a class field trip to the school where Hellen Keller learned. It was just down the road from my house, so I passed it sometimes, without knowing quite how special it was. And then I knew. Just like that. I saw shelf after shelf and row after row of books and tapes filled with pretty dots, in pretty patterns, that mean something important to the people who use them. I saw the recording rooms where volunteers come and read books out loud, as clearly as they can, so still more words may be accessed. I learned that Boston's main library, the BPL, is one of the best libraries in the world for people who cannot see, in large part because of Hellen Keller's presence in the city, and I felt deep feelings, of admiration and gratitude for her legacy that she paid forward in very real ways. End note.)

2 comments:

Katie said...

One of my best friends growing up, her mom is blind. I remember she had a talking book player. She listened to so many talking books, her auditory processing was tremendous. She could play it quite fast, sounded like chipmunks squeaking to my ears, but she could understand.

Unknown said...

Katie-Newt, I love that!

I still remember my field trip I got to take in Brighton living to Hellen Keller's school. There were little booths set up where people read books out loud for the blind. I always wanted to be one of those people.