National Braille Press Inc.
88 Saint Stephen St., Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Tel: 617-266-6160   Fax: 617-437-0456

Dear Colleague,

We are delighted to continue the distribution of free braille materials to young potential braille readers and their families through the expansion of our ReadBooks! Because Braille Matters program.

National Braille Press and Seedlings Braille Books for Children have produced attractive Braille Book Bags for distribution to families of young blind children, at no cost to you or to the families. The contents of the book bags include: an age-appropriate print/braille book (in English or Spanish); a colorful print/braille placemat; braille-large print magnetic letters; two guides for parents, Because Books Matter and Just Enough to Know Better; and a coupon that parents can redeem for either another free print/braille children's book or a set of braille-print playing cards.

Our program goals are to:

• Foster a love of reading at an early age;
• Expose parents of preschool blind children to braille as an effective method of reading and writing;
• Encourage parents to learn just enough braille to help their child;
• Introduce visually impaired children to a means of reading independently;
• Prepare parents to advocate for braille instruction when their blind child enters school;
• Promote an early expectation of personal achievement through literacy.

We have successfully managed this program in selected states for the past three years. It's not hard, but it takes a passion for braille to make it happen. Since we do not have funds for the entire country, your participation will ensure that families in your area benefit from this free program.

In order to receive these free Braille Book Bags, we need you to:

1. Identify the numbers of blind children who are potential braille readers (birth through age seven - sorry, no exceptions!) and their families in your area. There are three age-appropriate book bags (0-3, 4-5, 6-7). We need to know how many you need in each age group (English vs. Spanish);
2. Check with potential recipients to ensure that they have not already received a book bag, as we distribute directly to parents and through multiple organizations and can provide only one bag per child;
3. Personally deliver the book bags or be willing to give us a mailing address for identified families;
4. Return the postage-paid tag on the bag that will indicate to us you have delivered the bag (NBP assumes all costs);
5. Encourage parents to fill out and return the coupon on the inside of the book bag;
6. Help to evaluate the program by sharing your reactions and observations after presenting these bags to families;
7. If you find this program valuable, write a letter of support that we can use to obtain additional funds to provide book bags to other families across the country;
8. Encourage parents to write to us about their experiences using the bag and its materials.

The success of this program depends on you. As a start-up program subsidized with foundation support, we need to assess whether these bags achieve our identified goals. As professionals in the field who work with these families every day and are aware of their needs and concerns, your experiences, comments, and suggestions are invaluable to us as we refine this project.

Please sign and return one copy of this letter as your agreement to participate. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me by phone at (888) 965-8965, ext. 34 or via email at aruell@nbp.org.

Sincerely, Amy Ruell, MSW, LICSW

______________________________ (your signature)