March 13th - April 15th is Deaf Awareness Month/National Deaf History Month

Growing up, I always had an interest in learning sign language, perhaps because there was a boy who lived in my neighborhood named Kevin who was deaf. He would ride his bike around, and especially after it rained, he would ride his bike through the puddles on my street. Then one day, while waiting for the bus to pick us up, my teacher, Mrs. Bennett ….(I can’t remember if she taught 4th grade or 5th grade) … decided to teach us the alphabet in sign language. I loved it! It was so much fun! It was like communicating in a secret code. That’s when I decided to learn more sign language, so I borrowed a sign language book from the bookmobile whenever it came to my area. Naturally, learning such a visual language from illustrated pictures is definitely not the same as learning it from a teacher in person. When I got to college, I took both sign language classes offered, and then I later took evening classes at the RI School for the Deaf. American Sign Language is such a beautiful language. It is a language of pictures and concepts, not of sentences and words. I eventually worked at an independent living center with deaf adults who also had other disabilities. Later, I found that I loved working in a library and became a librarian. Even though I have worked with the Deaf before, I had the privilege of being the school librarian for the Rhode Island School for the Deaf for a few years, and I learned more about the Deaf by working there than ever before. The teachers and staff are the best, and the new director is a gem. Since I have moved on in my career, I would like to share with you my appreciation and understanding of Deafness, Deaf Culture, and American Sign Language.

Deaf Awareness Month or National Deaf History Month is from March 13th until April 15th. On April 8th, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a charter that authorized the Board of Directors of Columbia Institution (which is now Gallaudet University) to grant college degrees to deaf students. March 13th has special meaning because, in 1988, Gallaudet University had some serious protests known as the Deaf President Now campaign. This was because everyone felt it was time that the President of a Deaf College should also be Deaf. On April 15th, 1817, the first public school for the deaf in the Western Hemisphere was established in Hartford, Connecticut: The American School for the Deaf.

There is so much history that surrounds the Deaf Community and Deaf Culture. Here are a list of books to give you some perspective: Deaf Culture: Our Way by Roy Holcomb, Samuel Holcomb and Thomas Holcomb; For Hearing People Only: answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the deaf community by Matthew Moore; Deaf in America by Carol Padden; Inside Deaf Culture by Carol Padden; Deaf Like Me by Thomas Spradley; Train Go Sorry: inside a deaf world by Leah Hager Cohen; Through Deaf Eyes (book and DVD) by Douglas C. Baynton; When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf by Harlan Lane.

Naturally, the library also has books and DVDs on American Sign Language as well. Here are some to get you started, if you’re interested. The Gallaudet Dictionary of American Sign Language; The American Sign Language Handshape Dictionary and DVD; American Sign Language Dictionary by Martin L. A. Sternberg; American Sign Language Learning System (DVD); Sign Language 101 a beginner’s guide to American Sign Language (DVD); American Sign Language for Kids (DVDs).

I call myself the Library Detective because I can find the answers to any question you can think of, or at least I can point you in the right direction.  To find out more about American Sign Language or Deaf Culture and History, visit our local library; there are more Library Detectives there, too.