For the News-Tribune

CHARLESTON — West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin has pledged his support for new  initiatives to enable more blind West Virginians to read and write Braille.
Meeting recently at the Cultural Center with a group of blind consumers and service  providers, Manchin called for a cooperative effort to make West Virginia a  leader in the nationwide campaign to promote Braille literacy.
The year 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis  Braille, the inventor of the raised dot system of reading and writing that  bears his name. The meeting in Charleston was one of many bicentennial  events taking place throughout the nation to recognize Braille as the key to  literacy for blind persons.  
It was organized by the National Federation of  the Blind of West Virginia (NFBWV) as part of its Agency Partnership  Program.  On hand were representatives from several state and private  agencies that provide specialized services to the blind.  They included the  Division of Rehabilitation Services, the Department of Education, the West  Virginia School for the Blind, the Marshall University
training program for  teachers of blind children, and the West Virginia Library Commission.  The  gathering was hosted by the Library Commission which offers a variety of  informational services to blind West Virginians.
Gov. Manchin took part in the event by issuing a proclamation  recognizing the role of Braille in helping blind persons achieve  independence, productivity, and success.  The proclamation noted that  Braille is a tool for blind persons "to be productive and imaginative  contributors to society."
NFBWVFirst Vice-President Ed McDonald of Keyser chairs the organization's  Agency Partnership program.  
“Today we're here to celebrate Braille and to  remember the life and work of Louis Braille,” McDonald told the gathering.
“But we're also here to recognize a crisis in Braille literacy and to  consider what this partnership can do to change it,” he said.
The governor also recognized the Braille literacy crisis in his remarks.
“Despite its efficiency, versatility, and universal acceptance by the blind,” Manchin said, “the rate of Braille literacy in the United States has  declined to the point where only 10 percent of blind children are learning  to read and write Braille. Just as a literacy rate of 10 percent among this  nation's sighted children would be rightly viewed as a crisis and as cause  for national outrage, the decline in Braille literacy is a crisis and swift  action must be taken to reverse this dangerous trend,” he continued.
“I would like for all of us to accept that as a challenge for West Virginia  to be the top in the nation as far as leading and fighting for literacy in  Braille,” the Governor said. “That's an achievement we can all accomplish if we commit ourselves to it.”
NFBWV Secretary Karen McDonald of Keyser accepted the gubernatorial  proclamation on behalf of the Federation.
“As a pianist, I could not play  Chopin, Beethoven, or Scott Joplin if I could not read the Braille music score," McDonald said as she handed the Governor a copy of a comprehensive
report on the Braille literacy crisis in America.  
“I read everything from  cookbooks to novels in Braille, and without Braille I would be illiterate.”
On March 26, the United States Mint unveiled a commemorative coin that bears  the likeness of the young Frenchman whose invention has made it possible for  blind people around the world to read and write. The reverse side of the  Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar also contains the raised dot  characters BRL, the Braille symbol for the word “Braille."
After giving the Governor a chocolate reproduction of the coin, NFBWV Second  Vice-President Sheri Koch presented Manchin with the real thing — a Louis  Braille silver dollar in a protective case.  Koch, who works for the West  Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services as supervisor of statewide  programs for the blind, also shared her personal story of learning and using  Braille.
"I grew up blind but with enough residual vision to get myself in and out of  trouble," Koch said.  As a result, she said she learned to read Braille with  her eyes, rather than with her fingers.  She explained, however, that as an  adult, she has relied primarily upon the use of large print.  
“The more  vision I lost, the bigger the print got," she acknowledged, "and it became
evident that I needed to learn to read Braille with my fingers."  
Thus, in  honor of the Governor's appearance, she used Braille for the first time in  public to read the notes for her presentation.
"This is a very special coin," Koch said.  "It is more precious than the  silver it is made of.  It is special in that it honors every blind person  who has achieved the ability to read and become literate in Braille — to take  that gift that Louis Braille left us and become literate.
"We hope that every time you look at this coin, you will remember the power  behind it — the power that Braille gives to us, and the power that your  proclamation means to us - that if we all work together, we can make Braille  available to any blind person who wants it," Koch said.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Louis Braille silver dollar  will help fund the Federation's "Braille Readers are Leaders" campaign.  One  goal of this campaign is to double the literacy rate among the nation's  blind children by the year 2015.  The campaign also includes initiatives to  promote awareness of the importance of Braille and to increase the  availability of competent Braille instruction and Braille reading materials.
In conclusion, Gov. Manchin called upon "all public officials,  educators, and citizens throughout West Virginia and this nation to  recognize the importance of Braille to the lives of blind people and to  assist the National Federation of the Blind in its efforts to increase
instruction in and use of Braille in West Virginia and across the United  States."
The Federation's Agency Partnership meetings are held semiannually for the
purpose of offering positive consumer input concerning the quality and  delivery of vital services to blind West Virginians.
More information about Braille literacy, the National Federation of the  Blind, and the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar can be found on the  web at www.braille.org or www.nfbwv.org.