The ONCE stand at the Madrid Book Fair — which will take place from May 30 to June 15 — will offer visitors a «blind» trip to New York with 3D models to touch the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Flatiron Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and part of Manhattan Island, just as blind people do.
There will also be materials in relief and a selection of texts dedicated to the city, including ‘Poet in New York’ by Federico García Lorca, and ‘New York’ by the recently awarded with the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature 2025, Eduardo Mendoza.
Visitors will also be able to discover the history of braille through their hands, touching and following a chronological line that will take them from the birth of sign language — which celebrates its 200th birthday in 2025 — through the invention of the ‘dot’ Perkins typewriter or the creation of the Digital Library with 85,000 books at the touch of a mobile phone, and everything that is yet to come.
Visitors who want to delve into the ONCE stand will find other materials used by blind and visually impaired people in their daily lives to access culture: books and publications in braille, ink, and sound; accessible relief maps; educational sheets; talking world spheres; and different adapted board games, such as the katamino puzzle, which has just been adapted to be accessible. They will also be able to learn about braille learning methods for children and adults.
Additionally, they will have the opportunity to learn some basic notions about braille with the activity ‘Touch your name and read with your fingers’, as visitors can take home a personalized bookmark with their name in braille written by themselves, a memento that brings them closer to the 300 million blind people on the planet who have braille as their meeting point with culture, education, and the world.
ONCE dedicates a space to braille labeling, where visitors can learn about the work and advice provided by the Spanish Braille Commission (the RAE of braille), as well as the importance of including this writing and reading system in daily life to ensure the autonomy and security of people with visual impairments.