GREENFIELD — Northfield senior Jinx Hastings wants to read again.

Hastings is among the Franklin County residents whose declining vision hinders her from enjoying books and newspapers like she used to: she can only read a few enlarged words at a time on her smartphone and tablet. While Perkins Library offers audiobooks, Braille and large-print for people with vision impairments, she’s had trouble signing up and accessing the material over the phone.

So when Perkins Library representatives visit the Greenfield Senior Center to offer one-on-one assistance to sign up for the library’s catalog of alternative reading materials, Hastings and her husband Howard made the trip there. For two hours, Hastings discussed her reading goals with the representatives and all the new technology available to expand access for those with disabilities.

“On an iPad, she can enlarge the print, so she can actually see it, and she’s coming to a place where she’ll be wanting to have things read to her,” Howard said of his wife. “We’re trying to just make it so that she can still feel [involved] in the things around her.”

The Watertown-based Perkins Library is a collection of more than 75,000 books, newspapers, magazines and other reading materials for people with visual, motor or reading impairments. Located at the Perkins School for the Blind, the free program provides access to reading visually-impaired people of all age groups across the state.

Rick Ely and Lisa Harvey represent the Western Massachusetts Outreach Program for Perkins Library. They began visiting the Greenfield Senior Center six weeks ago to help seniors apply for the service, answer any questions and offer hands-on tutorials for the equipment. Harvey said the outreach program started in Greenfield due to its central location, but will expand to the North Adams Library and Northfield Senior Center.

“We barely sat in the chairs and we were surrounded by people right away,” Harvey said. “What [people] want is what Rick and I are really good at, which is interaction. They want to know about it, they want to know that they’re being heard, that their needs are being [met],”

According to Harvey, the Perkins Library is no longer limited to the legally blind. Those with motoric issues, reading disabilities and even tired eyes all qualify for the service. Harvey works with people of all ages, from children to senior citizens. Any professional who works with visual or reading disabilities can sign up new members, including Perkins staff, ophthalmologists or social workers.

Upon signing up as a patron, Perkins Library sends digital players along with any cartridges, Braille or large-print books ordered on the application. Patrons return the material in the same container and the only step is to flip the address card on the front. The simplified shipping process eliminates travel that’s difficult for those with visual and motor impairments.

“There’s a certain isolation that exists, and if you have someone that will drive you places, that’s wonderful,” Jinx said. “But being low-vision or blind is isolating.”

The cartridge players resemble a cassette tape player, only the player gives verbal instructions on each button and cartridges can hold multiple audiobooks at a time are digital cards that hold multiple audiobooks on one device. The interface of cartridge players resembles a cassette tape player, but gives verbal instructions on each button. The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled of the Library of Congress pays for shipping, equipment, and licensing of new reading material.

“The biggest thing about all of this is free access because there’s plenty of audio books out there if you wanna pay for Audible, but to have this service be completely free, and if anything happens to the player you send it back and they send you a new one, and if things get lost or demanded or stolen it’s not a big deal. There’s no penalty or anything like that,” Harvey said.

The Library of Congress also offers a digital version of the cartridge player on a tablet or smartphone called Braille and Audio Reading Download application, or BARD. The application increases access and stores more books than a tangible cartridge. Ely, who has borrowed books from Perkins Library since he was 15 years old, said he carries between 20 and 30 books on his phone.

In addition to reading, the Perkins Library also loans 1900 audio description DVDs, which verbally describe the visuals in a movie, and connects to 500 papers, including 14 Massachusetts papers, with same-day news read by a computerized voice.

Harvey and Ely will table at the Greenfield Senior Center every first and third Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“What accessibility is about, whether you’re 20 and you’ve lost your vision or your 70 and you’ve lost your vision or some other challenges there, that the whole point is finding a new way to do it,” Harvey said. “It’s ok that it’s not the same as the way you used to do it or the way other people do it.”

]]>