The Tri-Village Lions Club’s various literacy programs have earned international recognition.
Due to the group’s outreach projects – including book drives and an iPad donation program – the chapter was a runner up for “Best Long-Term Reading Action Program.” It was one of three out of 45,000 Lions Club International chapters to be nominated for the award.
“Just to be one of the top three in the world is pretty exciting,” says Jane Jarrow, a Tri-Village Lion and past president of the 63-year-old, 85-member club.
The iPad campaign began as part of the Lions Club International reading program, which was started last year by International President Wayne Madden as a way to increase literacy throughout the world. The program became a 10-year initiative at the November 2012 Lions Club International board meeting.
When the Tri-Village club began its “Leap into Literacy” campaign in September 2012, members focused their efforts on a group of people they have historically championed: the visually impaired.
Partnering with libraries and other Lions Clubs in the central Ohio district, the club has assisted with donations of 17 blind-accessible iPads to the libraries, with more in the works.
“This is going to be a continuous focus for the Lions Club,” Jarrow says.
As the club was exploring ways to promote assistive technology for its campaign, Jarrow saw a need for blind-accessible e-readers. Both the Upper Arlington and Grandview Heights public libraries offered the Nook from Barnes & Noble for loan to patrons, but the Nook does not have the same built-in features for blind readers as the iPad. An iPad app, Voiceover, uses distinctive sounds to allow those who are blind to navigate the screen.
Jarrow and the club began by providing the UA and Grandview libraries a tablet at each library for blind patrons.
“This is something blind people need to be functional in today’s society,” Jarrow says. “We can make a difference.”
The initiative grew from there as the local club gained the support of the Ohio Lions Club, which oversees District 13, comprising 40 Lions chapters in central Ohio. Now, every time a club in the district donates an iPad to a central Ohio library, the district will reimburse up to $250 of the cost. This allows smaller groups, which may not have as much money, to participate, Jarrow says.
The Tri-Village Lions have also been training librarians to use the iPads so they in turn can train their patrons.
Nolan Crabb, director of assistive technology at The Ohio State University and member of the Tri-Village Lions, has led the two training sessions.
“Our goal is to try to get those librarians thinking a little bit like someone who would use these iPads without sight,” Crabb says. “I’ve been impressed with the time they’ve taken and their enthusiasm.”
For Crabb, the project is personal; he is one of six blind members of the Tri-Village Lions.
“It’s such a life changer,” Crabb says of the project. “Today these librarians have the capacity to turn a key and unlock the gates of literature and enable a blind patron to read.”
The Tri-Village Lions plans to present the program to the Ohio Library Council and the American Council of the Blind, in hopes of making it a statewide effort.
“There’s no reason why it should stop here,” Jarrow says. “Our libraries are different because of what we’ve been doing.”
The literacy campaign has other components as well, including book collection and distribution.
“We know there are people who would like to have access to books who don’t have them,” Jarrow says.
Club members have looked to churches, neighbors and even their own shelves for books to donate to various organizations.
The Tri-Village Lions recruited the help of central Ohio clubs during a district-wide book collection in March. Since September, the club has collected 7,000 books, including 3,200 from other District 13 clubs.
“It’s absolutely taken on a life of its own,” Jarrow says.
In the next nine years of the “Leap into Literacy” campaign, the club looks to expand its focus to other areas of literacy, all while improving the efforts it has begun in the first year.
“We’re looking for all sorts of opportunities to be out in the community and encouraging literacy in all its forms,” Jarrow says. “It’s an idea that everyone can get behind, it’s something everyone can understand, and it’s nice to see it in action.”
Eric Lagatta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
