So here you are, reading your friendly local newspaper — a habit you may have cultivated since early adulthood, or have recently acquired to get away from the endless online squabbling or cable news blather-fests. But what if you suddenly couldn’t read it because your eyesight failed or you struggled to turn the pages? What would you do to get your weekly fix?
Since 1990, Indiana Reading & Information Services (IRIS) has served the disabled community by providing a reading service for anyone with a visual, physical, or learning disability. People living with visual disabilities, or unable to turn pages due to a variety of physical limitations, can sign up for the free service, provided by the local Public Broadcast Service, WFYI. Listeners subscribe to the service and receive a specially-tuned radio, or can stream online from a computer, cellphone, or tablet.
According to WFYI Operations Manager Mandy Bishop, IRIS is a vital way for people to remain connected to the world around them despite their disabilities. “We have 4,000 registered users, but probably more listen in every day,” she explained, as many nursing homes have the service and have set up special rooms for people to listen. “We have about 115 volunteers who read from over 150 publications, including reading the daily paper from 9-11 a.m. every day.” IRIS also reads local papers, including the Weekly View, to their audience. They also read the comics, grocery ads, food pantry announcements, library services, and other important information that serve a broad community. As a 24 hour service, listeners can tune in at all hours of the day or night. And they can even get the information on demand.
Volunteers record at the WFYI studios downtown, and kind of become celebrities in their own right. “We have readers from ages 9 to 90,” Bishop said. “Our 9 year old reads children’s books and articles. The 90 year old reads mysteries.” Readers bring in their materials for the studio sessions to record, and, in the case of daily or weekly publications, rotate with other presenters. She said that most volunteers have been with the program for many years, and connect with their unseen audiences, even those who listen far outside the 45 mile range of the studio. “People listen in from all over the country,” she said.
The service is absolutely free, paid for by WFYI memberships and sponsorships. Nina Mason Pulliam On Demand service offers audio recordings as part of the online streaming service for people with computer access.
Bishop came to the service four years ago and has been working diligently to promote IRIS and build its audience and its volunteer base. “We get feedback from listeners who love the service. We had one man who tunes in and listens all night until he drifts off to sleep,” she noted. They would like to expand to on-demand phone readings, and possibly Spanish services, in the future.
For more information about IRIS and to register for the service, visit the Web site www.wfyi.org/iris-reading-services. To volunteer, call Mandy Bishop at the office at 317-614-0404 or e-mail mbishop@wfyi.org
