By TARYN BROWN

Southwest Georgia Regional Library System

Like many 10-year-olds, Brandon Pickrel loves reading books about dinosaurs, the weather, and science experiments. Brandon is blind. He has been blind since birth, but he reads every day. When he was younger, it was the Junie B. Jones stories. Now, he enjoys James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl and the Chronicles of Narnia series.

Children like Brandon have plenty of books to choose from. The Southwest Georgia Library for Accessible Services has thousands of children’s book titles, both fiction and non-fiction, in audio formats. There are Newberry Medal winners such as Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me, about a 12-year-old who gets notes from the future, and Coretta Scott King Award winners such as We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson, a history of baseball’s old Negro Leagues.

The collection at the Southwest Georgia Library for Accessible Services also includes books about children who are blind or have other disabilities, such as The Outside of a Horse by Ginny Rorby and bestsellers from the past, such as the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries, and the present, including the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series. Also available are many non-fiction titles, especially biographies and books about animals that can supplement what children are learning at school. Popular magazines are available, too, including Sports Illustrated for Kids, National Geographic Kids and more.

This free library service is available to residents of all ages, throughout 22 south Georgia counties, whose low vision, blindness, or physical handicap makes reading regular print difficult. For more information, please call the Southwest Georgia Library for Accessible Services at (229) 248-2680 or 1-800-795-2680. Or, visit our website at www.swgrl.org/handicap.php to learn more about how the Southwest Georgia Library for Accessible Services can keep blind and physically handicapped children reading.

‘Scary Reads’ for Halloween

Halloween will be here soon, and what better way to get in the Halloween spirit by picking up some spooky novels at your library. For adults, try Anne Rice’s new thriller, The Wolf Gift or Home Improvement: Undead Edition by Charlaine Harris. Children can get their hands on some terrifying tales by checking out It’s the First Day of School — Forever! by R.L. Stine or Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. Teens can even find ghoulish adventures such as Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore or The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith.

Not in the mood for scary reads? Make tonight a movie night and get in the Halloween spirit by checking out movies, including Scared Shrekless and Max and Ruby’s Halloween. Please call the Decatur County-Gilbert H. Gragg Library at (229) 248-2665 for more information about these or other titles to get you in the Halloween spirit!