Centre County libraries receive donation to help those with low vision

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WJAC) — The pandemic forced nearly all the public libraries in the country to shut down, at least temporarily.

Many have of course reopened, and in Centre County, libraries are receiving a boost in helping some patrons better see the reading materials.

Even before COVID, in recent years, libraries have become more than just a collection of books and journals, they're also community centers. The pandemic impact is hard hitting.

“We depend on things that are digital, less paper copies,” explained Denise Sticha. “The pandemic really brought it home for us because we weren’t able to reach out to our community of users as much as we like to.”

“Imagine if you had less than perfect sight,” said Brandon DeArment with North Central Sight Services. “Maybe your vision is completely gone. How would you access a library?”

The North Central Sight Services organization is donating desktop and handheld video magnifiers -- $10,000-worth of equipment to the Centre County Library System.

Think of them as high-tech magnifying glasses.

“This is a CCTV, a desktop magnifier,” DeArment explained. “It magnifies whatever text you have on the platter down here. You can have a book, magazine”

Plans are to distribute magnifiers with libraries throughout Centre County and elsewhere.

Helping libraries, like many aspects of our society, re-establish their roles and operations.

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