On November 19th, Brownieland went the extra mile for literacy at the Atlanta Junior League’s (JLA) second annual Literacy Walk. Hosted at Sutton Middle School, JLA organized this spectacular event to raise awareness around several literacy initiatives with all proceeds directly benefiting their work with local organizations such as the Atlanta Speech School, Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (GLS), and Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS). The chill morning air combined with this slew of vendors created an exciting atmosphere for changemakers to learn about local efforts that promote accessibility and generate awareness for a variety of causes around literacy.
Brownieland was fortunate to connect with Gina Martin, GLS Outreach Manager, who shared the excellent publicly accessible resources available to all Georgians right now. Georgia Public Library Service provides free library services for anyone who experiences blindness or other physical disabilities that may require the use of books and magazines in audio format or in braille. Moreover, Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled offers their expansive collection of resources to individuals who experience reading disabilities such as dyslexia. GLS lends talking books and easy-to-use audio players free of charge, or users can even access talking books and magazines online through the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) Mobile app. Reader advisors are readily available to help patrons with any questions and can even help to select books via phone.
We seek to highlight this public service to boost literacy awareness for anyone who wishes to sign up, and we encourage you to share these resources with someone that may need it. The application can be filled out by hand or computer and assesses the qualifying condition and types of reading materials that interest the patron. After applying, the GLS will be in touch to provide the service delivery in a convenient and preferred method.
We want to give a special thanks to the JLA for creating a platform that connects the community. As noted by our conversation with Gina Martin, “As a Sustainer member of JLA, I knew the JLA Literacy Walk would be a great event to promote Georgia’s free audio book and braille library and expand our outreach efforts to league members to share with their placement agencies.” In this spirit, we also hope to encourage our patrons to partner with JLA through their ongoing community projects and advocacy. If you missed the event this year, we hope to catch you there next year; however, it is not too late to get involved today!
Brownieland Pictures 