| Type | 501(c)(3) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1919 |
| Location | Los Angeles, California |
| Key people | James H. Jackson, Chairman |
| Area served | Southern California |
| Motto | Empowering visually impaired people to live fulfilling lives |
| Website | brailleinstitute.org |
The Braille Institute of America (BIA) is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles providing services and coordinating events for the visually impaired. The organization produces over 5 million pages of Braille texts per year. BIA also organizes programs for youth academics, mobility training, and Braille literacy.
The institute has five regional centers in Southern California and 140 community outreach programs. The Braille Institute publishes the magazines The Braille Mirror, Braille Institute Light, the anthology Expectations, and the newsletter Braille Institute Scene.
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After losing his sight in 1912, J. Robert Atkinson, a cowboy from Montana, learned to read Braille and transcribed 250 books dictated to him by his family.[1] Impressed by his efforts, philanthropists Mary and John Longyear donated $25,000 to help Atkinson found the Universal Braille Press in 1919 in Los Angeles. By 1924, Atkinson finished printing the 21 volumes of the Braille King James Version of the Bible. The Braille Mirror, a Braille magazine, was first published in 1926 by the Universal Braille Press.
Atkinson lobbied lawmakers and influenced the passage of the Pratt-Smoot Act in 1931. The legislation provided $100,000 for the printing and distribution of raised-print media through the Library of Congress Services for the Blind. The Universal Braille Press incorporated as the Braille Institute of America. In 1934, Braille Institute joined the National Library System. BIA printed the first Braille Webster's dictionary in 1938. In 1971, Braille Institute opened its first regional center in Anaheim, California. The following year saw the first Track and Field Olympics at the Braille Institute's Youth Center. In 2000, the first Braille Challenge was held, an annual competition for visually impaired youth in Braille literacy. The Braille Press changed its name to Braille Publishing and then later to Universal Media Services, once it started supporting recording services and digital formats.
Library Services is the southern California branch of the National Library Service of the Library of Congress. The library freely provides over 1.2 million Braille texts, periodicals, and audio recordings for the public. In 2009, Library Services received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Braille Challenge is the Braille Institute's annual Braille literacy competition for youth.[2]
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