About Braille House
In 1954, the Queensland Braille Writing Association (QBWA) was fortunate to be able to move into its present home at 507 Ipswich Road, Annerley. Until that time, the Association had had a number of places of residence, including rented rooms in the Telegraph Building and the basement of 247 Vulture Street.
It was Mr R F Tunley (Grandfather Tunley as he was known to blind and vision impaired children of the time), who voiced the thought that the QBWA needed a permanent place in which to house its ever-growing library of Braille books, and where meetings, classes, and the many other activities of this totally voluntary organisation could be carried out. In 1952 the fund-raising began with the South Brisbane Rotary Club making it their project for the year, and an entertainment committee being formed within the Association to organise concerts, bridge parties and even a fete.
It was a Rotarian who suggested that a certain property in Ipswich Road, Annerley might be suitable. It was a good house with enough land to allow for expansion. Oddly enough, it had originally belonged to the family of a transcriber, Mrs Brennan, whose daughters also became valued volunteers. This house was purchased for six thousand pounds (the real estate agent waiving his fee) and on the 9th of June 1954, once again with the help of the South Brisbane Rotary Club and some local Boy Scouts, the big move was made. The official opening of Braille House took place on the 17th of June, with Lady Lavarack, the wife of the Governor of Queensland, performing the ceremony, and the 57-year-old organisation, which had already done so much for the Braille readers of Queensland, finally had a home of its own.
The Braille House of that time was a much smaller structure than the one we know today. By the end of the '50s, plans were being made for the first of three expansions. The north wall was pushed out to make the front room much larger, and the area under the house was excavated to make workrooms and a fireproof library. Once again Mr Tunley had been instrumental in raising the necessary funds.
On 29th August 1970, the Marjorie Taylor Wing, where the Education and Special Requests section now resides, and where thousands of volumes of Braille and Moon are stored, was opened. The Madeline Bird Wing, which now houses the Library dispatch office, craft room, magazine room and caretakers flat required the acquisition of a neighbouring property. It was officially opened on 24th February 1986.
Braille House is often mistakenly thought of as being synonymous with the Queensland Braille Writing Association, but the name simply refers to the physical structure. However, like the QBWA, Braille House continues to be a growing concern, adapting to the needs of our changing times. Even so, as you walk through the big front doors and stand in the wide entrance hall of the original building, there is a reassuring sense of a solid, strong old structure at the centre of it all.