[Nfbv-announce] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] Kernel Books Available to All

[Chris Walker]

*Dear Fellow Federationists: *In 1991 the National Federation of the Blind
began publishing a series of small volumes called Kernel Books. The books
contained stories written by blind people about our lives, designed to show
that they are not much different from the lives of our sighted friends,
family members, and peers. We called them Kernel Books because each story
contained a "kernel," such as an incident or a challenge that revealed a
truth about blindness and blind people. We encouraged the sharing of these
volumes with the public to increase understanding and combat low
expectations and misconceptions about blindness.

The Kernel Books are a valuable part of our organizational literature and
heritage. As an organization, we deeply value and treasure the real-life
stories of hope and inspiration contained in our Kernel Book series. But
the way that the public acquires information has changed, with more and
more people reading and consuming information in a digital form. While the
stories in the Kernel Books are timeless, the paperback volumes that
contain them are not. Consequently, we are planning to re-purpose these
stories to make them more widely available in digital formats. At the same
time, we would like to get many of the existing paperback Kernel Books in
our storage facility out into the world and into the hands of those who
would benefit from reading them. To that end, we are offering free cases (a
case contains fifty books) on a first-come, first-served basis of the
following Kernel Books published after 2000:

•              Oh, Wow
•              Safari
•              Reaching for the Top in the Land Down Under
•              Not Much of a Muchness
•              The Lessons of the Earth
•              Imagine
•              Celebrate
•              To Reach for the Stars


We are making these cases of books available so that chapters, affiliates,
and divisions can distribute them within their local communities or to new
members and supporters. You might donate some books to your local library,
distribute copies to senior centers, take some books to church or to
meetings of community organizations with which you are involved, give the
books out as free literature at community festivals and events, and more.
If you are interested in receiving a free case of any of these titles,
please contact the Independence Market at (410) 659-9314, extension 2216
<(410)%20659-9314>, or at independencemarket at nfb.org.

We hope that many individuals, chapters, and affiliates will take advantage
of this opportunity to spread our message of hope, love, and determination
far and wide. The Kernel Books show how blind people live the lives we want
and invite others to understand and support our work for the full and equal
integration of the blind into society. Let's make sure that all of the
copies of these books we can get into circulation are distributed before we
transition these stories to new platforms and formats oriented towards
reaching a new generation of readers.



Christopher S. Danielsen, J.D.
Director of Public Relations
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, Ext. 2330 <(410)%20659-9314> | cdanielsen at nfb.org
Twitter: @rlawyer


The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we
work together to help blind people live the lives they want.