Huntley Area Public Library receives donation from the Huntley Area Lions Club in honor of Helen Keller
HUNTLEY — The Huntley Area Public Library (HAPL) was honored to have been the recipient of a donation made to them by the Huntley Area Lions club for $1,000.
According to the HAPL, the donation was presented to the library by Lions Club members Jim Saletta and Jim Graves in honor of American disability rights advocate Helen Keller.
Saletta explained in a previous interview with My Huntley News, that Keller attended the 1925 Lions Club International Convention, where she challenged Lions Club members to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
Since that time, the Lions have accepted Keller’s challenge, leading the club’s Board of Directors to declare June 1 as Helen Keller Day in 1971.
The Huntley Area Lions Club’s donation will be used to purchase new Dell 27-inch computer monitors.
The larger monitors are scheduled to soon be available for all HAPL patrons to use with the library’s public computers.
As an important side note, the larger monitors will make it easier for visually impaired patrons to perform their computer-based tasks, stated the HAPL.
“We are thrilled that the Lions Club selected our library to be a part of their ongoing mission to aid and support those with vision, hunger, environmental, and diabetes issues,” said Frank Novak, director for the HAPL. “These new monitors will allow our patrons to increase the screen size to 2560 x 1440 pixels compared to the 1920 x 1080 currently available on our 22-inch screens, that’s over 170%, and that will greatly benefit our visually impaired users.”
Last year, the Huntley Area Lions Club celebrated its first-ever Helen Keller Day celebration and is excited to bring it back for the second year in a row on Saturday, June 25.
This year’s celebration will take place at the Huntley Farmer’s Market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Similar to last year’s celebration, the second annual Helen Keller Day in the Town Square will feature vision and hearing tests for adults and children, demonstrations of Braille machines and technology, a visit with a guide dog named Kiwana, a learning experience with the guide dog’s owner, Sun City resident Mary Kozy, and sign-language demonstrations.
Additionally, attendees of the celebration will also get to try their hand at practicing writing and decoding Braille and enjoy a free scoop of Culver’s custard from 10:30 a.m. while supplies last.
“We want to make sure that people are aware of people who have vision problems and services can be provided for them. I think we want to be involved in a preventative aspect of it too. Make sure people get regular vision checks and that they do everything they can to preserve their vision,” Saletta had previously told My Huntley News.
