Kim Charlson is the executive director of Perkins Library and is the North American/Caribbean regional president for the World Blind Union. She has a Bachelor's of Political Science and Government from Willamette University and a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas. As a globally-recognized accessibility advocate, she is dedicated to ensuring access to published works for print-disabled people, and she received the Francis Joseph Campbell Award in 2019.
The Marrakesh Treaty
As regional president of the World Blind Union, Kim was a powerful driving force behind the creation of the Marrakesh Treaty, which allows copyright exceptions to create accessible versions of published works. Before the treaty, over 90% of copyrighted works weren't available in accessible format and under one third of countries provided exceptions for sharing works with print-disabled people without the copyright holder's permission. Further, many countries who did provide these exceptions were limited in their scope, such as the United States, which only provided protections for non-dramatic works. As of June 1st, 2022, 89 contracting parties across 115 countries have ratified the treaty.
A voice for Braille
Blind herself, Kim has worked at Perkins Library for over 37 years. She is also the director of the Accessible Books Consortium, which aims to increase the number of accessible books around the globe, and she served as president of the American Council of the Blind between 2013 and 2019. In 2018, she was appointed to the Disability Rights Advisory Committee by the Massachusetts Attorney General.
Watch Kim describe how she uses Braille in her daily life:
You can also listen to her interview on the Know Your Narrator series by the Audio Description Narrators of America:
Trades Win Interview
This section is an excerpt from our book, Sailing Farther Than the Eye Can See.
Kim Charleson’s successful career as a library director and advocate is testament to the power of asking the right question at the right time. “What would I have to do to run a library?” she asked herself two decades ago. “At that time, there were no blind people anywhere in the country who were the heads of Braille and talking book libraries, and I thought, that needs to change.” That fruitful question has led Kim to become the executive director of the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library in Watertown, Massachusetts, a position that she has held for 21 years.
Kim oversees a staff of 26 staff members and jokes that “a lot of my job is kind of herding cats,” as they perform their mission of serving 25,000 people from all across Massachusetts. Kim defines her library as “the public library for people who can’t read print,” whether that be because of a disability or visual impairment. She first began working with the library in 1985 and became executive director in 2001.
Getting there involved a winding path of building skills and making friends. She held many positions over the years before coming to Perkins, including a stint during her undergraduate years at Oregon State University where she served as assistant to the coordinator of Disability Student Services. Through that job she learned a great deal about how to make textbooks accessible to college-age students. She also spent time as an assistant receptionist at the Legal Aid office and worked as a switchboard operator. She became a fast typist (noting with a laugh that at 120 words per minute, “I’m fast and accurate!”), and she learned telephone skills and how to talk with people. All of these jobs helped her gain confidence and build a repertoire of desirable skills, an approach she recommends for jobseekers now: “You have to make it really clear what it is that you bring to the table and what makes you the best candidate for the job.”
These interests and experiences led her to seek and earn a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Texas. The issue of accessibility became a cornerstone of her mission and her work. When she applied for a job at the Oregon State Library Braille and Talking Book Service, she won the position because her previous experience at Oregon State University had given her “some experience in making books accessible.”
When an opportunity to become Assistant Director of the Perkins Library came available, she leaped at the chance. Taking the job involved a major move clear across the country but she approached it as an adventure. She had to learn an entirely new map, a new system of public transportation, new shops and routines – and yet, she says, “Taking that leap can be such an important step to really be being able to get that job or follow your dream.” She is delighted that she did: “I took that risk and I moved 3000 miles to a job that I've never regretted taking for a moment.”
Kim wasn’t born blind. When she was six or seven years old, her parents noticed that she seemed to be bumping into things a lot and before long, she was diagnosed with juvenile glaucoma. She was fortunate to have many friends who were blind or visually impaired and teachers who instilled confidence and self-trust in her. “That I think, made a huge difference in my life, in my confidence, in my ability to think if there's something I want to do, I'm going to figure out how to do it.”
Another factor that shaped her career path was her great love for reading and books. Her town boasted two libraries: the public library which had “shelves of books I couldn’t read” and the Braille and Talking Book Library where she could “go in there and just walk up and down the aisles and browse the Braille books. I always thought that was really, really cool that I could do that.” That contrast fed her passion to make books accessible to blind people, and she set out to learn the technologies that would make that possible. Things have improved greatly since her youth, and she points out that at present there are many tools and services that make books accessible – the National Library Service and digital talking books, BARD, and Bookshare, but also Google Books, Apple Books, Kindle, iBooks, Hathi Trust, and Internet Archive. There are so many places now to find accessible materials that “it’s pretty mind boggling, actually,” she laughs.
In 2013, Kim became the first woman president of the American Council of the Blind, serving an eventful and productive six-year term. During that time, she and her team pursued an agenda that included advocating for the development of autonomous vehicles, making pedestrian signals and public transportation more accessible, and creating more durable and accessible medical equipment, including life-saving cardiac sensors. One key issue was the development of accessible currency or “tactile money” which would make it easier for blind and visually impaired people to do business and live independently. Kim was determined to pursue this goal and in 2013, she requested a meeting with leaders at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Facing a squadron of lawyers and a roomful of people, she told them she appreciated their help so far and then asked, “What are you going to do to make paper currency accessible to blind people today? I know you're telling me you can't put a tactile feature on the bills until 2020. So, what are you going to do today?” A few months later, the Bureau presented her with a money identifier. The issue is far from resolved, but Kim’s advocacy and determination brought the blind community one step further towards accessible currency.
Kim believes that all of us can and should become advocates on the issues that matter to us and to our communities. She says, “It doesn't matter what your level. You don't have to be president of the American Council of the Blind to make a difference when it comes to advocacy. Your own personal advocacy can make a difference. If you're got an issue or something and you fight for yourself, and you advocate for yourself, that's hugely important and it is going to make a difference to other people as well.”
When Kim reflects on her own successful career, she sees friendship and collaboration at the heart of it. She points out, “You don't affect change and get things to happen by saying, I want this, I want that, I did this, I did that, because most of the time, it's not you all by yourself. It's partnerships, and it's working together that gets you the kinds of support and the kind of success that you really want to see.” In a way, she says, building relationships, talking with people, and building connections is really the most important part of the job search. Kim’s vibrant career and many friendships testify to this good counsel. “You might not be an extrovert, or super outgoing person, but you can't wait for things to land in your lap,” she says. “You have to go out there and make things happen.” Kim Charleson has done just that and inspires us to do the same.