Contact E-mail Address: LIMC
Address: 1230 Government St., Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Phone: 225-219-1686 | Toll Free in La.: 1-888-891-3530 | FAX: 225-219-1684
Related Support Services
Assessment, Orientation and Mobility
Contents: Overview, Registry and Service, Materials and Ordering, Special Issues, Material Return and Mailing, Quality Materials and Braille Writers, Assessment, Links
The Louisiana Instructional Materials Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (LIMC) maintains a depository from which it provides eligible registered patrons with braille and large print texts and other educational materials in a cost-effective, timely manner. The LIMC administers Federal Quota Funds through the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind for materials available through the American Printing House for the Blind.
Funding
LIMC receives two sources of funding: Federal Quota funds, given for legally blind students on Louisiana’s Registry of Students with Visual Impairments, and state funding as included in the budget of the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired.
Where Are We Located?
The LIMC is located on the campus of the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired in Baton Rouge.
The LIMC maintains a registry of students with visual impairments throughout Louisiana. This registry is used to identify eligible borrowers and assist in planning efforts statewide for best utilization of resources.
Whom Does LIMC Serve?
LIMC serves school-age students in Louisiana with medically-documented visual impairments. Local school systems must submit medical eye reports for all students they wish to register for borrowing privileges with the LIMC. These reports are used to maintain the VI Registry.
We also serve as an information clearinghouse for teachers and administrators of local programs serving students who are blind or visually impaired. Please feel free to contact the LIMC staff with questions regarding products and services offered to or for this population group.
What Materials Does LIMC Provide?
The LIMC provides Braille and large print textbooks and ancillary materials. We also provide items available from the American Printing House for the Blind: specialized paper for Braille and large print users, educational kits and learning tools for the visually impaired, and professional publications and guides for VI Teachers. Perkins Braillewriters are available for use by Braille-using students.
Recorded books are not available from the LIMC. They are available from other vendors, such as Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (see our Links list for more information).
Ordering Materials
Two forms are used when ordering:
All materials requested from the LIMC must be ordered using one of these two forms. Order forms are available from local school VI administrators or from the LIMC upon request. Order forms come pre-printed with the parish shipping address and contact phone numbers.
Order your materials early. A purchase order for specialized textbooks takes a minimum of several weeks to process, purchase, and ship. Braille materials usually take longer due to the time-intensive printing process and the fact that each copy is custom-made on demand. Materials orders for the school year starting in August should be submitted to the LIMC no later than the preceding April (earlier for Braille). The earlier you order, the better chance you will have of receiving your materials on time for the beginning of the school year.
It is very important to provide as much specific information about the textbooks your students need as possible. Providing just a title is often not enough to ensure the correct textbook will be provided, as new editions appear often. For each textbook order, please provide the complete title, publisher, copyright date, and the ISBN of the student edition (teacher’s editions have a different ISBN and should not be used when making orders).
When orders are ready to be submitted, they can be mailed or faxed to the LIMC. Our address and fax number are printed on the bottom of both order forms.
It is important not to send more than one copy of an order form (such as faxing an order and mailing the original form). Such duplication often results in the purchase of two copies of materials for the same student, which wastes valuable time and money.
Large print and Braille textbooks and materials are
available for students who have been identified in a Functional Low Vision
Assessment as needing those media in their educational environment.
A student who may have a medical visual condition may not need or use
large print textbooks for school because he or she can use regular print or they
are using low vision aids (such as magnifiers or CCTVs) which replace the need
for large print. Use of such aids is preferable to large print because students
can access a much larger selection of materials than is available in a large
print version.
School systems need to correctly identify the need for large print versus Braille learning media. Students with severe visual impairments or degenerative visual conditions need to be evaluated to determine their need to learn and use Braille materials rather than large print. Such students can often function better with Braille or will need to use Braille when their vision decreases to levels where large print is no longer useful. See Selecting Appropriate Reading Media.
The LIMC can give you a status report of your ordered materials at any time upon request. Please have the name of the student and the title of the materials you need information about ready when you call.
Requests for “Inkprint” Copies of Textbooks and Other Materials
When an order is received for a textbook and we find the requested specialized version is not available, we will fax or mail a request for 2 copies of that text to be sent to us (we call these “Inkprint” copies). We will then provide those copies to a commercial vendor when available to produce the specialized version. Many vendors require two copies of a textbook in order to have both a copy master and an original for proofing purposes.
Sometimes the vendor selected will not need the second copy or will return the unused copy of a textbook.
Special Issues With Braille and Large Print Materials
When dealing with Braille and large print textbooks, there are some special issues to keep in mind when making orders and planning for storage and handling of these materials in the local school.
The most obvious issue with these specialized textbooks is that they are BIG. Most come in multiple volumes and they take up much more space than the ink print version. Students using these texts will need space to store volumes not being used that day and regular access to that storage area. For example, one Braille math textbook for high school may come in 63 volumes and requires several bookshelves.
Because these materials are in multiple volumes, special care should be exercised in keeping track of these volumes so that they do not become lost or misplaced. These texts are expensive to purchase, and it is the responsibility of the student and the school system to use the texts appropriately and return them complete and in good condition.
Educational materials from the American Printing House for the Blind often come as a kit. The individual components of these kits are also available for purchase and are listed (with separate catalog numbers enumerated below the number for the entire kit). Please read the item descriptions carefully when making your order to avoid ordering both the kit and the kit’s components. This will help us conserve funds.
Availability of large print workbooks, practice books, chapter tests, etc., varies greatly from that of textbooks. Large print ancillaries are often not available from commercial vendors. LIMC will often request inkprint copies for these materials for custom production; however, in many instances, local school systems will choose to produce these materials on their own photocopier.
Textbooks and materials for Grades K to 2 are most often printed in very large type (larger than normal “large print”). Students with low vision can usually use these regular textbooks with little difficulty. Therefore, for this reason, Materials for there grade levels are generally not available from commercial vendors.
Braille materials most often are transcribed in Grade 2 (contracted) Braille. However, Braille editions of kindergarten and first grade materials are sometimes transcribed in Grade 1 (un-contracted) Braille. LIMC will normally order contracted Braille edition of books. If a school system needs an un-contracted edition of texts of a text for a student in those early grades, please make note on the original book order.
Returning Materials to the LIMC
The LIMC operates as a lending library for the textbooks it sends to local schools. Most materials we send should be returned at the end of the school year. The only exceptions to this are consumable supplies (such as paper) and consumable large print workbooks, practice books, etc. which have been written in and are of no further use to future students.
Any books, materials, or equipment belonging to the LIMC which is no longer being used or which was ordered and not needed should be shipped back as soon as possible. This allows us to re-circulate materials to new students who may need them.
Near the end of the school year we will send a status report of materials currently checked out by the school system. At that time the school may request to renew an item for the next year. We ask that the school note the student the item will be used for and that paperwork be returned promptly so our database may be maintained correctly.
At the end of the school year, all items which have not been renewed for the next school year need to be collected, packaged, and shipped back to 1230 Government St. in Baton Rouge (you may use Free Matter for the Blind). Please do not wait until the start of the next school year (i. e. August) to return materials; this allows us to re-circulate items to other students and prevents us from having to purchase new copies to fill orders. Please make sure the books being returned have all their volumes, as incomplete books cannot be re-circulated to new students.
Mailing Items Using “Free matter for the Blind”
The LIMC mails most of its materials to local school systems using Free Matter for the Blind. School systems may also use Free Matter when returning large print and Braille materials to the LIMC; postage is free, and the words “Free Matter for the Blind” must be placed where postage would normally be. However, regular textbooks and correspondence must be mailed with appropriate postage; using Free Matter for these materials is a violation of postal regulations.
Quality of the Materials we Provide
The LIMC wishes to provide the best quality large print, Braille, and specialized educational materials possible for those we serve.
If you encounter a problem with a textbook or piece of equipment provided by the LIMC, we want to hear from you; in this way we can, hopefully, correct the problem and prevent similar difficulties in the future.
Repair of Perkins Braille Writers
The Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired offers free repair and service of Perkins Braillewriters owned by local school systems in Louisiana. This service is also available for the Braillewriters loaned to students through the LIMC.
Simply package the Braillewriter securely and ship it “Free Matter” to the LIMC with a written description of the problem you are experiencing and a self-addressed shipping label for return shipping after it has been repaired. There is no charge for the repair.
LEAP Tests and other Standardized Tests and Preparation Materials
The LIMC works in concert with the Louisiana Department of Education to facilitate the distribution of Braille and large print practice materials for the LEAP and GEE. District test coordinators or other authorized personnel may contact the LIMC to request copies of the Braille and/or large print practice test for grades four, eight, ten, and eleven. There is currently no practice test available for any level of the iLEAP. These tests are considered consumable. Therefore, a LEA need not return them to the LIMC.
NLS Catalog/ State Library Section for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
(http://www.rfbd.org/)
LDOE Textbook Office Page
(http://www.schoolbook-la.com)
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Last revision:
February 22, 2008