BOOKS COME FROM AN UNEXPECTED PLACE. IN SIDE EVERY BOOK, A STORY ABOUT MILTON HERSHEY IS A WORLD THAT DOESN’T LIMIT ONE’S VISION. EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA WAS A DANGEROUS PLACE. THAT, OF COURSE, APPLIES TO THOSE AND NOW IT HAD COME. WHO CAN’T SEE THE PAGES? I ENJOY READING BIOGRAPHIES LIKE ABOUT A ABOUT LIKE PEOPLE. 15 YEAR OLD IAN ROMANO IS ONE OF 50 FULL TIME STUDENTS AT CALIFORNIA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND, JUST 40 MILES FROM GETTYSBURG, THE ONLY SUCH SCHOOL IN THE STATE. THE MORE BOOKS THE KIDS HAVE AVAILABLE IN BRAILLE, THE WIDER READING THEY CAN DO EVERY DAY. FOR THE LAST THREE DECADES, ELIZABETH HEART HAS SURROUNDED HERSELF BY A BOUNTY OF BINDINGS. ALMOST 30 YEARS AS THE SCHOOL’S LIBRARIAN. JUST ABOUT IT’LL BE 30 YEARS IN JULY. SHE KNOWS THIS LIBRARY LITERALLY INSIDE AND OUT, PRETTY MUCH. NOT TO MENTION THE IMPORTANCE OF BOOKS TRANSCRIBED IN BRAILLE. THERE’S ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF PRINT BOOKS THAT ARE PUT INTO AN ACCESSIBLE FORMAT LIKE BRAILLE, EVERY YEAR, AND THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO TAKE ON THE TASK OF TRANSCRIBING. SEE TRANSCRIPTION 2021 INTO UNIFIED ENGLISH BRAILLE, AND IT’S BY CALPIA DIGITAL SERVICES AND PRIZE FOLSOM CALIFORNIA. CALPIA ENTERPRISE HAS BEEN PRINTING IN FOLSOM SINCE 1989. I CLOSE MY EYES AND I SEE BUMPS CREATING MASTERPIECES. ONCE WE HAVE THE BOOK PUT TOGETHER AS SUCH, THEN THIS IS WHERE THE BINDING PROCESS COMES INTO INTO PLAY. SO. THESE BOOKS ARE MAINLY FOR BLIND CHILDREN. WE’RE WRAPPING UP A SPANISH BOOK AND WE’VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS. AND LIKE MOST OFFICES, EMPLOYEES COME FROM ALL DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE. GEORGE CHAVEZ IS A PITTSBURGH STEELERS FAN FROM SAN FERNANDO VALLEY. WE’RE RESPONSIBLE, WILL, TO TO AID SOMEBODY IN THEIR EDUCATION. HE STARTED WORKING HERE TWO YEARS AGO. WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN REASONS FOR BEING IN HERE. LYLE SCHULMAN’S BEEN IN THE OFFICE MUCH LONGER. THE TEXAS NATIVE JUST HIT 24 YEARS. I’VE DONE PROBABLY WELL OVER 1000 BOOKS. IT’S AN INTRICATE PROCESS. PROCESS AND CAN ONLY BE DONE WITH PROPER CERTIFICATION IN FROM THE US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. THIS IS THE COURSE LITERALLY BRAILLE. THE DIRECTIONS, EVERYTHING THAT COMES IN. IT COMES IN BRAILLE. THERE’S NO PRINT ASSOCIATE WITH IT. YOU GET EMBOSSED COPIES OF BRAILLE. ALL YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS AND THEN SUBMIT. I’M IN LESS THAN THREE OF SIX AND IT’S TAKEN ME FOUR MONTHS. IT’S ENOUGH TO DRIVE ANYONE CRAZY. IT’S A IT’S A TOUGH COURSE, BUT IN THIS OFFICE, WHAT EMPLOYEES DO HAVE IN COMMON IS THEY ALL HAVE TIME. I WAS FACING A DEATH PENALTY. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED. BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD, I WAS SPARED. AND THEN I GET THIS. SHULMAN WAS SENTENCED TO 45 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MURDER. THE LAST 26 SPENT AT FOLSOM STATE. HE COMMITTED OTHER CRIMES, TOO. HE GOT AWAY WITH. HE’S NOT PROUD OF THOSE EITHER. IN MY BIKER IDIOT METHAMPHETAMINE STUPIDITY I ONCE STOLE FROM A BLIND WOMAN. YOU FEED YOUR HABIT AND YOU DON’T CARE. AND I DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS BLIND UNTIL LATER. I CARRY THAT WITH ME. THAT’S. BUT THIS IS THE RESULT OF IT. SHULMAN HAS COMPLETED MORE HOURS THAN ONE COULD ADD UP, EARNING HIS CERTIFICATIONS. THERE’S ONLY 60 PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO ARE CERTIFIED TO TRANSCRIBE MUSIC INTO BRAILLE. YOU KNOW WHAT AN AMAZING THING. SO AMAZING THAT IN JANUARY, SHULMAN GOT THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF HIS LIFE. THE LOCAL LIONS CLUB AWARDED HIM THE MELVIN JONES FELLOWSHIP, AN HONOR HIGHLIGHTING A PERSON WHO MAKES A TREMENDOUS CONTRIBUTION TO HUMANITY. HE’S THE ONLY INCARCERATED PERSON TO EVER BE GIVEN THE AWARD AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY COME IN AND THEY TELL ME THAT I AM A. I’M A FELLOW. UH, THAT MEANS I, UH, I’M A LION WHO SERVES ALL OF THE WORLD FOR THE DISABLED, DISADVANTAGED, AND DISOWNED. THE LIONS CLUB PROVIDES HOPE. I GET TO BE. I GET TO BE PART OF THAT. SHULMAN IS NOW IN HIS 70S, AND HIS VISION IS TO SOMEDAY FIND A PATH TO FREEDOM. MOSTLY INMATES ARE HATE IT. WE DESERVED IT. WE EARNED THE RIGHT FOR PEOPLE TO HATE US. BUT THE BLIND COMMUNITY. THEY EMBRACED US. WE GET SO MUCH MORE. NOW, PART. AND NOW IT HAD COME TO. THE HERSHEY’S FOLSOM’S BRAILLE PROGRAM IS NOT GOING UNSEEN. TO ME, IT’S KIND OF LIKE FASCINATING BECAUSE LIKE, I HAD NO IDEA, LIKE, UM, LIKE INMATES DO, THAT THE INMATES HAVE MADE NEARLY 100 BOOKS FOR THE SCHOOL, FOR THE BLIND’S LIBRARY, A SMALL SHOVEL, AND BEGAN TO INCLUDING THIS ONE. THEY. YEAH, IT’S KIND OF COOL THAT WAY. DO YOU WANT TO HELP OUT AFTER, LIKE WHAT? THEY, UH, LIKE WHAT THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH THE MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL HAS HELPED. NOT JUST CREATING A NEW CHAPTER FOR EVERYONE. THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE FOR PHOTOJOURNALIST VICTOR NIETO, JASON MARKS KCRA 3 NEWS. JUST REALLY INCREDIBLE WORK THERE. AND YOU CAN TELL IT’S FULL OF HEART. MOST OF THE BOOKS THAT THE INMATES TRANSCRIBE ARE SENT TO THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. AND OF COURSE, STUDENTS ALL ACROSS OUR STATE. AND