APH Celebrates National Library Week!

National Library Week is an annual celebration of the value and impact libraries across the country bring to their communities. This year’s theme of “Ready, Set, Library!” promotes how libraries give us the green light to do truly special things, like connect with others, learn new skills, access resources, and so much more!

This year, National Library Week is April 7-13, 2024, and each day of the week has a special theme highlighting various aspects of the work libraries do, including Right to Read Day, National Library Worker’s Day, National Library Outreach Day, and Take Action for Libraries Day.

APH’s Research, Evaluation, and Digital Information Services (READS) Librarians give our library users the green light to:

• The Louis Database of Accessible Materials, named in honor of Louis Braille, contains over 1 million accessible materials produced by over 50 organizations throughout the United States and Canada. These materials include educational materials in braille, large print, audio, and electronic file format. Through this database, the READS department provides maximum visibility for accessible educational materials for K-12 students across the United States.
• The APH Library houses approximately 25,000 print, audio, video, and other resources, including 9,600 digitized items. Materials housed in the APH Library support the research, business, and educational needs of APH staff while also supporting visiting researchers and those pursuing careers in the education of the blind. The M.C. Migel Memorial Collection, a collection housed within the APH Library, promotes research, education, as well as social and cultural awareness, by collecting and providing access to non-medical materials related to blindness and visual impairment and is the largest known collection of its kind and scope in the United States.
• The Tactile Graphics Image Library provides free access to tactile graphic templates to promote good tactile designs and to help facilitate communication between those involved with the design and execution of tactile graphics. The Tactile Graphics Image Library will be available for use on the new Monarch, a multipurpose device which can receive digital textbooks and graphics from APH and other providers.
• The Blind Musicians Collection, the only known collection of its kind, is dedicated to preserving the works of musicians who are blind or have a visual impairment regardless of genre, period, or notoriety. The collection has grown to include 130 artists and 350 albums.
• The Accessible Media Producers Database (AMP) is an APH created online directory of producers of accessible formats such as braille, tactile graphics, large print, e-files, and audio. This database provides contact information and expertise to accessible media producers in one central location to maximize visibility for the public.

Visit louis.aph.org to learn more about the APH READS services and what the READS Librarians can offer you! To learn more about National Library Week, visit the American Library Association’s website ala.org, and please visit and advocate for your local library!