Visually-impaired students in the Vicksburg Warren School District will have added help in their reading, as a second low-vision reader was donated to the district.

Instructor Lina Jones can use the equipment to help seven students she assists see smaller print in their textbooks.

“It can work for any size print that they wouldn’t be able to read,” Jones said.

The machine, an Aladdin Ultra manufactured by California-based Telesensory, came courtesy of the Vicksburg Lions Club, to which the equipment was donated by a local resident who no longer needed it. In turn, it was donated from the club to the district.

Books, newspapers and other reading materials are placed on a platform, then projected onto a monitor for easier reading. Control knobs adjust the font size and brightness of the image.

Jones instructs sessions for visually impaired students at four schools, Vicksburg Intermediate, Beechwood Elementary, South Park Elementary and Dana Road Elementary. A machine already in use at Vicksburg Intermediate will remain, while the newly donated reader will be used at Beechwood.

The new reader is a stationary desktop machine. Recently produced models retail for about $2,000. Others are portable, with flat-screen monitors and auto-focus imaging, and sell for about $3,000.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.