Text Recognition in Python

[DKDisco]

For my Intro CS class I've been asked to write two programs, described as the following.
def glyph(image):
"""Given a grayscale image, returns the corresponding glyph."""
and
def text(image, glyphs, threshold):
"""Given a grayscale image, a list of 26 glyphs corresponding to the 26 uppercase English
letters (in order), and a threshold value, returns the string of text that is pictured
in the image."""
We've been given all 26 glyphs, the alphabet in uppercase, each letter in its own .gif. For the first function, I have to find some way to load in one of the letters and return a glyph, a 7x9 grid of integers from 0-255. The second explains itself. I really have no idea how to start.