30 | MARCH 16 • 2023
I
n their late 80s, Earl Remer
and Janet Mazzara continue
a mission that both have
been working on for decades.
Each week, they spend hours
printing free braille books for
blind and low-vision children,
and even adults, in a small
room at Temple Beth El.
The Temple Beth El Braille
Bindery was first organized
in 1959 at the temple’s former
location on Gladstone and
Woodward in Detroit, and now
operates out of its current home
in Bloomfield Township on
Telegraph. However, few know
of its existence.
The Bindery, as its 10
volunteers who manage its
operation call it, is one of just
a few braille binderies located
in a temple or synagogue in
the United States. Throughout
the year, hundreds of books are
printed and distributed by this
small team of volunteers.
There are no staff, but rather
dedicated Metro Detroiters,
mostly in their 60s through
80s, who share the same goal:
to provide all children with the
opportunity to read.
“Blind children like to go to
bed with a book just like any
other child,
” Mazzara, 87, of
Rochester, explains. Mazzara is
a licensed Braillist through the
Library of Congress and has
volunteered with the Bindery
for nearly 30 years. As its group
lead, Mazzara is in charge of
keeping braille books error-free
and creating braille labels for
book covers.
She also oversees any
special requests for books
that aren’t available on the
Bindery’s online website, www.
freebraillebooks.org, which
has some 2,000 books for
order across all genres in its
inventory.
Remer, meanwhile, 89,
of West Bloomfield and a
retired lawyer, is one of three
printers who print the books
themselves. He also purchases
all the equipment for the
Bindery.
Other volunteers hold
tasks such as separating and
numbering bulk pages, binding
books, adding print labels to
book covers and preparing
books for shipment.
While Tuesday is the big day
at the Bindery — the day when
volunteers meet at the temple in
The Bindery
OUR COMMUNITY
At Temple Beth El, a small group prints
hundreds of free books for blind children.
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JERRY ZOLYNSKY
Jan Mazzara of
Rochester Hills
labels the cover
of some recently
bound books in
braille.
PHOTOS BY JERRY ZOLYNSKY