AJHS is pleased to announce that soon it will bring on-site select archives of JBI International (formerly the Jewish Braille Institute). JBI’s mission, since its founding in 1931, is to enable individuals of all ages and backgrounds who are blind, have low vision, or are print disabled to participate fully in Jewish cultural, literary, educational, religious, and communal life.
The JBI Library creates, publishes, indexes, and distributes personalized books, magazines, curricula, ritual texts, and other publications in a variety of languages—including English, Russian, Hungarian, and Spanish—in Braille, large-print, and audio formats for individual and organizational patrons. In 2001, JBI was named an affiliate library of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS).
Among JBI’s institutional records which will be arriving at AJHS this spring are phonograph and cassette recordings of “Talking Books”; Board of Trustees meeting minutes; and issues of Jewish Braille Review, among other primary sources. We are excited to steward these impactful archives, and to preserve and make these records accessible so that they may enrich researchers’ understanding of the diversity of lived experiences of Jews in America. Connect with us on Facebook or Instagram @ajhsnyc or keep an eye out for more articles on our blog to stay updated about this illuminating collection.
Below Deputy Director and Chair of Collections and Engagement Melanie Meyers speaks about a 1970’s Passover Haggadah in Revised Hebrew Braille Code, that was published by The Jewish Braille Institute.
