BANA logo BANA Update to AER May 2016 _____ BANA to Hold 2016 Spring Meeting in Baltimore, MD, May 19-21 Preceding 6th General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille The Braille Authority of North America (BANA), which meets face-to-face semiannually, will hold its 2016 spring meeting May 19-21 in Baltimore, MD. This meeting will be hosted by the Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB), which is a member organization of BANA. The BANA meeting will immediately precede the Sixth General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) to be held May 21-26 at the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in Baltimore. BANA Meetings will take place at the Maryland School for the Blind, located at 3501 Taylor Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21236. Items on the BANA Board's agenda include updates of BANA's numerous ongoing projects. The Board will review formal reports from all of BANA's technical committees such as braille formats, music, math, foreign language, and tactile graphics and will take action on recommendations when appropriate. As always, interested parties are invited to observe BANA board meetings. If you are interested in observing the BANA meeting, please contact BANA Chair Jennifer Dunnam at 612-767-5658 or by email at chair@brailleauthority.org. BANA Officers and Board Changes for 2016 At its November 2015 meeting, BANA elected the officers who will serve during the 2016 calendar year. The officers are Chair, Jennifer Dunnam (National Federation of the Blind); Vice Chair, Sandra Ruconich (American Council of the Blind); Secretary, Ruth Rozen (The Hadley School for the Blind); Treasurer, Jackie Sheridan (National Braille Press). The new year brought additional Board changes. Diane Wormsley, who has represented AER (Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired) on the BANA Board since 2004, retired from her professorship at North Carolina Central University and left the BANA Board to pursue other interests. Diane has co-chaired BANA's research committee, and her amazing memory of BANA actions as well as her thoughtful insights will be greatly missed. Diane's position of AER representative will be filled by Mary Nelle McLennan, who had been the representative from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) from 2007 through 2015 and just completed five years as BANA's Vice Chair. Mary Nelle will continue to serve on the Board, now representing AER. This allows BANA to continue benefitting from Mary Nelle's depth of knowledge and experience and her continued participation, especially as Chair of BANA's Publications Committee. Cathy Senft-Graves has been appointed as the new representative from APH, where she is the Braille Literacy and Technology Project Leader. The BANA Board looks forward to her service. 6th General Assembly of ICEB: On the evening of May 21, the International Council on English Braille (ICEB), which meets every four years, will begin its Sixth General Assembly. ICEB, of which BANA is a member, includes eight countries that use Unified English Braille (UEB) as their primary means of reading and writing braille. Approximately 50 delegates representing the eight member countries of ICEB-Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States-will convene at the NFB headquarters located at 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230. Papers on a variety of topics and demonstrations of new braille technologies will be presented at this meeting, which extends through May 26. _____ You can follow the work of BANA by signing up for BANA-Announce, a one-way email list that disseminates news and information. To join this list, send a blank email message to bana-announce-subscribe@brailleauthority.org and follow the directions in the confirmation email that will be sent in response. You can also follow BANA on Facebook and Twitter! The Board of BANA consists of appointed representatives from seventeen member organizations of braille producers, transcribers, teachers, and consumers. The mission of the Braille Authority of North America is to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics. The purpose of BANA is to promote and to facilitate the uses, teaching, and production of braille. Pursuant to this purpose, BANA will promulgate rules, make interpretations, and render opinions pertaining to braille codes and guidelines for the provisions of literary and technical materials and related forms and formats of embossed materials now in existence or to be developed in the future for the use of blind persons in North America. When appropriate, BANA shall accomplish these activities in international collaboration with countries using English braille. In exercising its function and authority, BANA shall consider the effects of its decisions on other existing braille codes and guidelines, forms and formats; ease of production by various methods; and acceptability to readers. BANA Contact: Contact: Jennifer Dunnam, Chair Braille Authority of North America 612-767-5658 chair@brailleauthority.org For more information about AER's participation in BANA, contact Mary Nelle McLennan by email: mary.nelle@earthlink.net