In Cy-Fair ISD, students who cannot read printed books due to blindness, low vision, dyslexia, cerebral palsy and other disabilities have access to a free program providing literacy catered to their needs.
Bookshare has been in CFISD since 2008, but the program has added new features, including cover images and booklists this past year.
Local coordinator Jeanie Bell said, with more than 575,000 titles, Bookshare is the world’s largest accessible library for print disabled students.
Members can listen to books, follow along with highlighted text, read in braille and customize their experiences based on font size and reading speed. The program works with the technology students are already using—tablets, smartphones, computers and hardware devices, including audio players and braille tools.
“To see them enjoy a book again or get something they didn’t get in the past—that’s the best day for me,” Bell said. “I have one student who is ahead in her grade level, and she could not do that until she had Bookshare.”
The U.S. Department of Education and its Office of Special Education Programs, along with the Texas Education Agency, fund the program so qualified public school students can benefit at no cost.
Bell works with students and teachers in regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 19 to showcase what Bookshare can offer, and she also coaches parents to show them how their children can use the technology at home.
“The number of students varies from district to district, but if you think about the students with dyslexia and the students who maybe have visual or physical impairments—that’s about 3 to 5 percent,” Bell said.
In addition to textbooks, the library includes children’s and young adult selections, best-sellers and college prep books—all available in 23 languages.
While qualified students can join Bookshare at no cost, nonstudents can participate for $50 annually plus a one-time $25 setup fee. Bell’s own 90-year-old father, who has macular degeneration, has also found the program to be helpful, she said.
“Bookshare’s just changed his life,” she said. “We were raised to be readers, and he got to the point where it just hurt his eyes to read. It’s unbelievable to see faces light up because they can hear it or they can see it.”
650-644-3449
www.bookshare.org
