At our recent national convention in Orlando, we announced that an ebook honoring our seventy-fifth anniversary, Building the Lives We Want, would soon be available. At convention, we released the book's table of contents, as well as its foreword by Mary Ellen Jernigan. I am pleased to announce that the full book is now available in ePub3, zipped HTML, and Kindle file formats for download from our website. The book’s webpage also includes instructions on how to download and read each file type. The ebook will soon be available to read online, as well as on NFB-NEWSLINE®. Once it is available, callers to NFB-NEWSLINE® will hear an announcement during the greeting that the book is available.

Here’s a brief blurb about the book from its editor, Deborah Kent Stein:

From its beginning in 1940, the National Federation of the Blind has been the driving force behind a powerful people's movement. It has raised expectations, shattered assumptions, and broken down barriers to secure the full participation of blind people in every aspect of society. Building the Lives We Want traces the history of the blindness movement from its dawn in the nineteenth century to the founding of the Federation in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The story continues with the first efforts at grassroots organizing and the emergence of the Federation as an instrument of change. The book portrays Federationists working tirelessly for access to education, employment, and equal rights.

The work of the Federation has been carried forward through the dedicated efforts of thousands of men and women fighting for equality, security, and opportunity for all blind people. This ebook brings the story of the movement to life through the voices of its leaders and rank-and-file members. In addition to the extensive material in the text itself, the book amplifies the story through dozens of photographs and hundreds of links to articles, speeches, and songs. It demonstrates how, through seventy-five years of collective action, working together with love, hope, and determination, blind people are finding the freedom to build the lives they want.

I hope you will join me in revisiting and celebrating our history through this exciting new ebook. To download it, visit www.nfb.org/buildingthelives. Happy reading!