This spring Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle will become the 10,000th numbered braille book to be published by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS).
BR 10000 represents a significant step in NLS's continuing work toward providing blind and physically handicapped readers a wide-ranging collection of recreational reading materials in braille. Books in the braille collection are selected to provide readers access to the same type of information available to the general public through public libraries.
The print/braille format being used for Brother Eagle, Sister Sky combines braille overlays with print text and is a popular part of the NLS children's collection. Using print/braille, blind parents and grandparents can read to sighted children, and blind children can share books with sighted friends and family members.
The book is drawn from a powerful speech attributed to Chief Seattle, leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes of the Pacific Northwest in the 1850s. During a treaty signing with the U.S. government, Chief Seattle is said to have beseeched new Americans to love and respect the land as the Native Americans had and warned of consequences of abuse.
Although considered a children's book, Brother Eagle, Sister Sky has appeal for readers of all ages for its environmental message. The book was illustrated by Susan Jeffers of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. The milestone braille book is particularly appropriate because of the continuing emphasis on the provision of library service to blind and physically handicapped Native Americans.
Braille has been an essential part of the NLS program since the inception of the Library of Congress project, Books for the Adult Blind, in 1931. That first year, 157 books were selected to be embossed in raised type (braille or Moon type). The first book ordered was George Washington by Woodrow Wilson, selected in 1932 in honor of the bicentennial anniversary of Washington's birth.
During the past year, braille-lending libraries throughout the country circulated nearly 650,000 braille books and magazines to a braille readership of more than 28,000 blind persons. Five firms are under contract to produce braille books and magazines for NLS: Associated Services for the Blind in Philadelphia; American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Ky.; Braille International Inc. in Stuart, Fla.; Clovernook Center Opportunities for the Blind in Cincinnati; and National Braille Press in Boston.
The 10,000 books in the BR collection are only a part of the worldwide collection of braille available to readers. By accessing the NLS Union Catalog , readers can learn about more than 62,000 books in press braille or handcopied braille, braille music scores, foreign-language braille books, braille books produced by network libraries and other agencies, and books available through international interlibrary loan from other countries. Increased access to the Union Catalog through the Internet and the upcoming CD-ROM catalog widens the scope of materials circulated to readers.
