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Bring Your Own Book and Get It Brailled
Bring Your Own Book and Get It Brailled is a statewide initiative from the Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled for Iowa libraries designed to expand access to braille materials by transforming books already in local collections. Participating libraries can submit their own picture books to be brailled, increasing the availability of braille literacy resources and raising awareness of braille.
By empowering libraries to enhance their own collections, this project supports inclusive library service, promotes early literacy for all children, and strengthens statewide understanding of accessible formats.
Ordering windows will be up from January – February and June – July of 2027. We will link an online form here during those times. This program will be caped at 100 book requests or until the order window ends. Each library has a limit of up to 5 books they can request to be brailled during each ordering window.
Steps and Requirements
- Libraries must be in Iowa (Public and School Libraries in Iowa)
- Libraries may request up to 5 picture books per order window (total, not per title).
- Requests are submitted through a online order form.
- Eligible books must be picture books (books can be no more than 50 pages)
- Turnaround time is 6–8 weeks.
- Each returned book will include:
- A print and braille label crediting the braille work
- A small set of braille awareness swag (e.g., braille alphabet cards, stickers)
- Books are returned directly to the requesting library.