STEUBENVILLE — Patrons who are color blind can now experience the world in a new way thanks to a donation to the Library of Things at the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.

These specialized glasses, designed to enhance color vision for people with red-green color blindness, are now available for patrons to borrow for free with a library card. The Friends of PLSJ and the Rotary Club of Steubenville collaborated to purchase two pairs of EnChroma color blind glasses that are now available to borrow from the Main Library and the Schiappa Branch.

“The Friends of PLSJ was delighted to partner with the Rotary Club to provide this important addition to the Library of Things housed at the Main and Schiappa branches,” said Robyn Hill, president of the library support group. “We hope to be able to fund more kinds of adaptive devices in the near future.”

EnChroma’s lens design delivers up to 35 percent improved color performance, renders whites and neutrals more accurately and has been shown in studies to stimulate the brain’s color vision processing. For those who have Deutan color blindness, the Outdoor Deutan Lens boosts greens and normalizes the red-to-green ratio. Deutan is the most common form of red-green color blindness and results in slightly more issues with greens than reds.

“This will give people who have the issue of color blindness the ability to see things clearly, maybe for the first time,” said Jim Baber, president of the Rotary Club. “We are a service-above-self entity, and this is a great opportunity to help members of the community.”

An outdoor pair is available at the Schiappa Branch, and an indoor pair is available at the Main Library and are suitable for teens and adults. They’re part of the Library of Things that offer non-traditional items such as musical items and museum passes that can be checked out for free from the library.

“Glasses can be borrowed for seven days,” explained Jenn Cesta, the library system’s public relations coordinator. “The library is proud to be a part of opening the doors to help those who are color blind and allowing them to see in a new way.”

To borrow a pair of the glasses, visit your library branch.