Reader shares the news with the visually impaired

Dorothy Craig will always remember how to pronounce the word “vicissitude.” It stuck out like a sore thumb on a test she took in 1997 to become a volunteer reader with the Northeast Indiana Radio Reading Service (NEIRRS).

Fortunately, Craig doesn’t have to read that word on-air regularly, but she does read obituaries, local news, features, TV listings and other information to the approximately 2,000 NEIRRS listeners in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio who tune in daily.

“I have great compassion for those who are unable to read for themselves,” Craig said. “When you have a visual loss it really isolates you.”

At least once every two weeks, Craig sidles up to a microphone in the NEIRRS office on DiSalle Boulevard with a second reader. For two hours, both volunteers relay items of the day in either The News-Sentinel or The Journal Gazette. The free service is offered seven days a week by the Allen County Public Library, and largely caters to the sight impaired. Live and taped recordings are broadcast.

Craig is a substitute reader, which means she is called upon when a full-time reader volunteer is unavailable. Craig said she likes the flexibility of not being on a set schedule, and her substitute status allows her to read with a variety of partners.

“I have read with former pastors, educators, a truck driver, you name it,” she said.

Becoming a volunteer reader was on Craig’s “what I will do when I retire” list and she finally got around to it after retiring from 35 years in the nursing field.

On visits to her native Detroit, Craig would read to her now-deceased father Leo Milchner, who lost his sight due to macular degeneration. Craig has diabetes and is aware that vision loss can result from this disease, which makes her glad a service like NEIRRS exists.

Despite the organization’s 26-year history, Bordner said many listeners in Fort Wayne are still unaware of the service.

It moved from Cook Road to its DiSalle Boulevard location in 2002. In 2004, after operating for years as an independent entity, NEIRRS became a part of the library system, which provided more financial stability for the organization.

Through increased marketing efforts, Bordner hopes to double the NEIRRS listening audience.
In January, Bordner said the organization will discard its antiquated equipment for new digital technology that will decrease the time it takes to broadcast taped recordings. A $45,000 grant from the Lutheran Foundation helped pay for the equipment.

More volunteers are always welcome and NEIRRS works to accommodate their schedules, Bordner said .

Generally, Craig is easily able to speak in measured tones when reading, but admits when reading about child abuse cases or other articles she disagrees with, she takes greater pains to sound unbiased.

“I think that’s why I like the live reading, because it’s a challenge,” she said. “I have to be very conscious of the level of my voice so I don’t put in my own feelings.”