February 2023 NNLM Reading Club: Eyes and Vision

Posted in: #CC/Academic List, #Health Interest List, #Health Sciences List, #Public/K-12 List, All Members

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February is Low Vision Month. “You’re either kind of a super blind person or you’re kind of on the other end of the spectrum, kind of a pitiable blind person, and a lot of what I try and do in the book is kind of looking at the middle, you know, the vast middle ground of most of us who are just living our lives, you know, as mothers and people who work and teach and all those sorts of things.” – M. Leona Godin, author of February featured book “There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural history of Blindness” from Blind Abilities podcast

This February, we turn our attention to the importance of learning more about Eyes and Vision. Our selections for this month highlight three books that each approach the subject in different but connected ways. Godin writes about the history of blindness in Western culture, as well as in her life. Haben Girma is a Deafblind woman and a human rights lawyer advancing disability justice. She gives us a memoir of her story of navigating blindness and her struggles, as well as achievements along the way in “Haben.” Zoe Thorogood delivers a graphic novel, “The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott” that depicts the protagonist’s experience of learning more about blindness and its impact on her art, as well as her life. Our curated this month highlight how the eye worlds, eye exams, eye conditions and diseases, as well as health observances through9ut the year that highlight eyes and vision health. We also included reliable health information resources available from the National Institutes of Health.

For information on each of our three featured books, free downloadable book club discussion guides, customizable promotional materials and more, visit https://nnlm.gov/nnlm-reading-club/eyes-vision.