Blind and visually impaired children who attend public or private school in Kentucky receive braille and large print books and educational aids from the Kentucky Instructional Materials Resource Center, called the KIMRC for short.

The KIMRC is housed at the Kentucky School for the Blind in Louisville. A small staff obtains and distributes thousands of volumes of braille and large print books to hundreds of blind and visually impaired students every year. Educational aids and supplies, such as braillewriters, braille and bold-line paper, mathematics aids, preschool materials and adaptive technology are also available to students who need them.

All books, technology and equipment is on loan to the local school district for use by the student. Equipment and materials are not loaned to teachers for their use, or to parents for use at home.

Books and other items should be ordered in the spring for the next school year. Advanced ordering allows the Materials Resource Center to set aside books from its inventory. If the requested title is not currently owned by KIMRC, the staff tries to locate a copy elsewhere through Louis, a nationwide computer database maintained by the American Printing House for the Blind.

If the book is located, the Resource Center may need to purchase it from another state or from the American Printing House for the Blind. If the book has not been brailled, it may need to be brailled by a volunteer transcriber. It can take months to receive some titles, so early ordering is very important.

Sometimes it is impossible to obtain a book. Braille math books, for example, are difficult to obtain because there are fewer than a hundred people in the United States who can transcribe braille math.

Braille and large print books are very expensive. One copy of a braille algebra book for a high school student may cost between $2000 and $3000. Large print books generally cost several hundred dollars per copy. For this reason, all books must be returned to KIMRC when they are no longer needed so that they can be redistributed to other students.

According to the Kentucky School for the Blind, the KIMRC receives its funding in two ways.

(1) The State Textbook Program for children with impaired vision who are attending public school (grades K-12) provides funding for textbooks.

(2) The Federal Quota Program provides supplies, textbooks and other materials for students (preschool through less than college level) who are legally blind and who attend a public, private nonprofit, or home school.

Blind infants are eligible for services if they are enrolled in an early intervention program.

For more information, contact:

Kentucky Instructional Materials Resource Center
c/o Director of Outreach Services
Kentucky School for the Blind
1867 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, KY 40206

Telephone: (502)897-1583 ext. 2322

Visit the KSB Website