Audio-Reader grant will fund security system

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Audio-Reader Network, a reading and information service for the blind and print-disabled, has received a $12,000 grant from the Ethel and Raymond Rice Foundation. The grant will help fund the costs associated with producing the Audio-Reader Braille program guide and the installation of a video surveillance security system for the Baehr Audio-Reader Center.

The funding will aid Audio-Reader’s blind listeners who rely on the Braille guide to select which programs to listen to. The security system will provide 24-hour video surveillance, which will help ensure the safety of Audio-Reader’s property, staff and volunteers.

The need for a better security system became apparent in 2011, when $6,000 worth of new computer equipment, still in the boxes, was stolen from the Audio-Reader building.

"It is Audio-Reader’s duty to protect the hundreds of volunteer listeners who frequent our building, as well as the state-of-the-art equipment that is so generously funded by private donations and grants," said Janet Campbell, Audio-Reader's executive director. "Now we will be able to provide a safe and secure environment within our building. We are grateful to the Rice Foundation for funding this crucial project.”

Broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the Lawrence campus, the Kansas Audio-Reader Network provides free readings of newspapers, books and magazines to thousands of listeners in Kansas, Missouri and beyond.