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<font size=5><b>Press Release<br>
September 2011<br>
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<div align="center"><font size=4><b>For Immediate Release<br>
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CONTACT: Judy Dixon, Chair<br><br>
Braille Authority of North America<br><br>
Phone: 202-707-0722, Email: jdix@loc.gov<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font size=4><b>BANA Invites Guests to Fall Board
Meeting in Baltimore<br>
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<font size=2>The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) will hold its
second semiannual meeting on November 3–6, 2011, in Baltimore, MD.
This meeting is hosted by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), a
BANA member organization. Meetings on November 4 and 5 will take place at
the NFB headquarters on Friday and Saturday. The NFB headquarters is
located at 200 East Wells Street. BANA’s final session will be held
Sunday morning, ending at noon, at the Baltimore - Inner Harbor Holiday
Inn. The hotel is located at 301 W. Lombard Street. <br>
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<font size=2>BANA will host an Open Forum on Thursday, November 3, at
6:00 P.M. at the NFB headquarters. This forum provides an opportunity for
participants to learn more about the workings of BANA and to provide
feedback to the Board about braille. BANA Board members want to hear
participants’ views about issues surrounding braille and its future.
Braille readers, teachers, and producers of braille are encouraged to
take advantage of this opportunity to participate in a round-table
discussion and to engage in a dialogue with the members of the BANA
Board. To reserve your space at the Open Forum and to help ensure
accurate counts for handouts, contact Judy Dixon at 202-707-0722 or
jdix@loc.gov. <br>
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<font size=2>Guests are invited to attend the BANA Board meetings and to
observe the deliberations. Items on the Board’s agenda include reports
from all of BANA's committees as well as from September’s <i>World
Congress Braille21</i> conference in Leipzig, Germany. Discussions will
include the revision of the formats guidelines publication and the
guidelines for knit and crochet, which have been submitted for approval.
Space is limited. To reserve a seat, please contact BANA Chair Judy
Dixon.<br>
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<font size=2>For additional resource information, visit
<a href="http://www.brailleauthority.org/">www.brailleauthority.org</a>
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<font size=2><i> <br>
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<font size=2><i>The mission and purpose of the Braille Authority of North
America are to assure literacy for tactile readers through the
standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics. BANA promotes and
facilitates the use, teaching, and production of braille. It publishes
rules, interprets, and renders opinions pertaining to braille in all
existing codes. It deals with codes now in existence or to be developed
in the future, in collaboration with other countries using English
braille. In exercising its function and authority, BANA considers the
effects of its decisions on other existing braille codes and formats; the
ease of production by various methods; and acceptability to readers.
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