Arizona Instructional Resource Center

The Foundation for Blind Children contracts with the Arizona Department of Education to provide statewide media services for students between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade who have a visual impairment or are blind and need their instructional materials in a specialized medium such as braille, large print, or electronic files as well as adaptive equipment. This service is provided by the Arizona Instructional Resource Center (AIRC), the Foundation's Braille and Large Print Library and Media Center. Click here for information about the Media Service and Registration and Order Forms. Under that contract, the AIRC is the state registrar for all students as well as for the Federal Quota Census for students birth to adulthood who have documentation of legal blindness. Except for Textbook Service, the AIRC's media service is provided at no cost to the student or school district.

The AIRC also offers specialized Media Service for Postsecondary Students and Adults in Higher Education, Training,or Employment. In addition, the AIRC offers Custom Text Conversion Service to the community. Both these services are usually provided for a per page fee.

The AIRC serves ...

• as the state braille, large print, and electronic school book repository;
• is a resource for inquiries regarding access to special media;
• administers its own Perkins Braille Writer Repair Service;
• holds an annual Summer Reading Contest for students who are large print, braille, or pre- or non-readers;
• maintains the state's largest braille recreational reading library and a large print reading library;
• maintains a Tactile Museum;
• relies heavily on the assistance of volunteers including certified braille transcribers, many of whom are members of our prison braille programs;
• recruits new braille transcribers and sponsors those organized in the Desert Volunteer Braille Guild.

  To place an order for instructional materials,
                contact the media center at 602.678.5810 or
  To order braille, call 602.678.5810.
  To order large print, call 602.337.8220.
  To order custom text conversion, call 602.678.5816.
  To order Postsecondary Media Service, call 602.678.6816.

  For all inquiries, please contact

  Inge Durre
  Director, Arizona Instructional Resource Center
  Foundation for Blind Children
  1235 E. Harmont Drive
  Phoenix, AZ 85020
  602.678.5816 direct line
  602.678.5811 fax
  idurre@SeeItOurWay.org