Connect the Dots

We are excited to announce our new family-based education series: Connect the Dots, powered by the PNC Foundation! Thanks to a generous $100,000 grant from the PNC Foundation, Connect the Dots will pop up monthly at Louisville Free Public Library branches through 2025. The series of family festivals turns the history and innovation of blindness and low vision into an exciting adventure for kids through the power of play. The Dot Experience is on a mission to make learning a blast and inspire a world of inclusivity. While our building is under renovation, the PNC Foundation is helping us bring our knowledge into the community.

To announce the series and donation, we hosted a press event at the Northeast Regional Library on January 4th. Speakers at the event included: Jo Haas (APH), Mike Moll (PNC), Louisville Metro Deputy Mayor George, Kathy Mullen (VIPS) and Bradley Wines (KSB student). “We are working to break down barriers and change perceptions of blindness, creating a world that is more welcoming for all,” said Craig Meador, EdD, APH President. “We are grateful to PNC Foundation’s commitment to family learning and literacy which creates a powerful platform for exposing children to an accessibility mindset and invites more people to think about how  they can make the world a more inclusive place.”

The first festival of the series, “Happy Birthday Louis Braille!” took place on January 6th at the Northeast Regional Library and more than 365 people attended. At this event, families were introduced to Louis Braille, kid inventor, and his tactile code of six-dot-cells which is still used worldwide by people who are blind to read and write. Taking history by the hand, children were able to participate in a variety of activities such as, Hop-a-Dot yoga, Braille Your Name with Perkins Braillers, Lots of Dots ABC’s with tennis balls and muffin tins, LEGO(R) Braille Bricks, Braille and print books for families to explore, cupcakes, and introductions to Polly and the Monarch.

Connect the Dots, powered by the PNC Foundation, will continue to cover a variety of subjects and narratives that will all be a part of the Dot Experience when it opens in 2025; bringing stories to life on the world stage with inclusion, accessibility, and innovation always at the forefront.

Don’t forget to check out the full list of Connect the Dots festivals!