Libraries for the Blind Section

Reducing the Barriers: Annual Report 2001

The Standing Committee is working towards enabling the development of library services for the blind by creating a forum where issues can be addressed and expertise shared. Against this background, a majority of children who are blind do not attend school in many of the countries of the world and many countries have no substantive library services that support literacy or education for either adults or children. Although most countries are committed to free library services and see this as part of the education of their population access to information in a format blind people can read is expensive and the technologies that support them require infrastructures that are the exception in most developing countries. The Internet for example remains largely a phenomenon of the developed world.

Even in developed countries library services for those who are unable to read print remain substantially behind those provided to the general population. Less than 5% of material published are accessible. More blind and print disabled people in developed countries however have access to computers and the Internet and the libraries that serve them have unique challenges in creating the digital libraries of the future. Many are engaging digital library development in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. There are more electronic text books and collections delivered from webbased sources today than five years ago. Foremost among those issues are the conversion of talking book collections from analogue, cassette based services to digital, cdrom or other mechanisms for delivery. Over the past six years new talking book players are being developed for digital talking books. Copyright remains a huge challenge for developing and sharing collections across international, provincial or regional boundaries. Faced with maintaining a balance between developed and developing world the Section of Libraries for the Blind engaged a number of issues in the past twelve months.

1. Sustained Representation from Developing Countries

The Standing Committee has proactively and in cooperation with the FORCE Foundation set up a mechanism to ensure sustained representation from developing countries. This special fund will allow participating libraries to contribute an amount and have it matched by the Foundation. The next phase will require establishing criteria for selecting appropriate candidates. The Standing Committee’s ambition is to secure candidates who can initiate or enhance library service for the blind in the area of the world they are from.

2. Raising Awareness Among Consumers

2.1 The World Blind Union

Raising awareness, providing training are the areas of most common endeavour for the Section. In November’ 2000 the Chair of the Section appealed to members of the World Blind Union in Australia, the largest gathering of consumers, to support the development of library services as a sustained cooperative national venture and recognize its importance in literacy and the economic well being of the communities they represent.

2.2. The Panhellenic Association

In February 2001, combining its mid-winter meeting with a day long meeting of stakeholders, the Section in cooperation with the Panhellenic Association for the Blind in Athens, Greece, provided an opportunity for discussion and debate regarding directions for library service development in Greece. Cooperation was encouraged not only with various groups in Greece but outside of it to take advantage of digital library developments elsewhere.

2.3Association of Caribbean University and Institution Research Libraries (ACURIL) Latin America and the Caribbean

In May 2001 at the Association of Caribbean University and Institution Research Libraries (ACURIL) Cuba a special paper to the assembly reminded librarians that access to information is a fundamental human right and that service to print disabled and blind people should be part of library policies and strategy everywhere. The paper urged network solutions rather than working in isolation to serve small and diverse populations.

2.4 Russian Language Network

With assistance from the FORCE Foundation a Russian Language Network is being established concentrating initially on libraries for the blind in the Russian Federation. The major purpose is to share information and production planning and to build a central catalogue of all alternative format materials. Support for building this network was enthusiastic.

3. Copyright and Licensing Agreements

Copyright legislation presents a barrier to creating content and interlending material across boundaries both national and international. A project to explore special licensing arrangements has been initiated by the Section spearheaded by the CNIB Library for the Blind in Canada and the National Library for the Blind in the United Kingdom. Agreements for a special service to provide publishers files and commercial audio masters for libraries for the blind are being explored in both countries. These agreements will permit the sharing of masters and exchange of content to reduce costly duplication. In addition the Section has agreed to work with the World Blind Union and the IFLA Committee on Copyright and Legal Matters to ensure a consistent approach on copyright within those organizations and representations to WIPO or other Copyright bodies. At Boston the Section made Copyright and Digital Rights Management (DRMS) the focus of its workshop joint with the IFLA Committee on Copyright and Legal Matters. Hiroshi Kawamura of the Japanese Society for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons (JSRPD) warned of threats presented by DRMS systems for blind and visually impaired users. Graham Cornish, British Library, distinguished between the benefits of Copyright Legislation and License arrangements. David Mann, Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) outlined the Copyright issues and relations with WIPO.

4. Library Systems and Technologies

Libraries for the blind consume a wide variety of information and other technologies to track service, produce content and access books and information. Creating multi media archives or repositories is emerging as a new challenge as digital content is created for the new generation of talking books. Systems for digital rights management and schemes for organizing content such as digital object identifiers are only a few of the issues these libraries must face. All these systems must be integrated or interfaced. Last year the first systems and technologies workshop for libraries for the blind was held in Stockport, United Kingdom to raise awareness. An ambitious project to develop guidelines for libraries seeking to evolve integrated library systems and the architecture to support them is being engaged as a project beneficial to larger libraries but instructive for smaller libraries wishing to implement modules on a much smaller scale. The need to address the emerging technologies in these areas and keep libraries informed about technologies and systems for production, electronic publishing, Braille publishing digital audio conversion and the systems needed to track service and production activities remains a strong priority. Regrettably plans for a daylong joint workshop with the DAISY Consortium and the Section had to be set aside.

5. Development of Guidelines

Also being developed are a number of other guidelines or guides. The interlending resource guide is nearing completion and promises to be a comprehensive interlending tool which will be instructive for all libraries and for training their staff. Libraries for the Blind in the Information Age: Guidelines for Development is the working title for a new guide to the development of library services for the blind. It is still in its early stages but will be another tool governments or any organization developing or wishing to measure the condition of their library service to blind citizens can use for improving or initiating service. A set of tools to ensure consistent measurement of results, activities and performance is being developed and is also as yet in its early stages. When complete it will complement the guidelines and provide common data for comparative analysis of results.

6. Preconference Washington DC

Between August 13 –15^th 2001 over 140 people from 35 countries attended the Section of Libraries for the Blind preconference and exhibits in Washington DC. The conference was divided into four major sessions:

Session A: Children and Youth Are Libraries for the Blind meeting their Education needs? Librarians and youths from three diverse countries and situations, a university student, a university graduate and a youth still in secondary school described their experiences and the importance of libraries in their lives.

Session B: Digital Library Services and Education Promise or Reality?

Panelists and audience explored the emergence of digital libraries and their ability to transform the learning experience.

Session C: Creating Inclusive Models of Service

Differences between countries and within countries in the way library services for the blind are developed and organized were explored.

Session D: Building Small Digital Libraries for the Blind: Worldwide Solutions for Low Budget Situations.

Affordability of technology, successes and failures, for accessing information were explored as they impacted both developing and developed countries.

The Conference papers were distributed to participants and are available on request from the CNIB Library for the Blind. The first meeting of the Directors of Libraries for the Blind was held at the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress and the guest speaker was the National Librarian of Canada, Roch Carrier.

Attendees at the Preconference were asked to participate in working sessions to identify the ten top issues facing libraries for the blind. Their deliberations are to form the basis of the midwinter meeting for the Section in Morocco in 2002. The Best Practices Award was inaugurated at this conference and the Swedish Braille and Talking Book Library and the CNIB Library for the Blind shared the award for Braille services in Sweden and the newsletter for children, KidsWorthy in Canada.

7. Working Groups

Last year the Section initiated a number of working groups to link librarians and other staff working in libraries for the blind around the world on a variety of topics. Success has been somewhat mixed but the Preconference gave them an opportunity to meet each other and to address the issues of concern in a wide variety of areas from collection development, resource sharing, copyright, systems and technologies, management and advocacy and marketing in a special session for working groups. Two new working groups emerged as a result. These are the Children Services and French Service Working Groups. A list serve has been established to facilitate the work of this group again with the support of the FORCE Foundation. All participants in the Preconference were invited to join this list serve.

8. IFLA:SLB Newsletter

The Section won the IFLA Award for the best Newsletter for the second time this year. The newsletter is distributed in English, Russian, Spanish and in Braille, print and audio formats. It appears twice annually. Membership of the Section currently stands at 88 including both libraries for the blind and individuals.

9. Workshop on Libraries for the blind Latin America and The Caribbean

Plans are underway for a major workshop in Latin America and the Caribbean as a two day preconference to ACURIL in Jamaica in 2002. It will mark the first time that organizations representing consumers, stakeholders and librarians will come together to address the learning and library needs of people who are blind in the Caribbean and Latin America.. The Conference is to be delivered in the three languages of the Caribbean, French, English and Spanish.

10. Investigating Library Services for the Blind Morocco

By holding its midwinter meeting followed by a workshop in Morocco in 2002 the Section hopes to begin a dialogue with French Africa where this service is extremely limited.

11. Next SLB Preconference

The next preconference is to be held in Marburg, Germany in 2003. Also planned for that year in cooperation with the American Library Association, ASCLA is a joint workshop in Toronto Canada on library services for blind and visually impaired people.

12. Appreciation of Partners and Supporters

Finally, the Section owes a debt of gratitude to its many member organizations without whose contributions this year could not have been possible. Without the FORCE Foundation, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, it would not have been possible to pull off the Preconference in Washington. But the Section and indeed blind people around the world depend on the continued dedication of the members some on the Standing Committee who volunteer their time and resources to ensure that these initiatives can be coordinated.

Many challenges remain ahead of us but with dedication and determination to work together, Section members can share experiences and shape future workshops. In our vision is the will to ensure that blind people share in the world of information and through library service have the opportunity to develop their fullest potential and to realize their ambitions. We continue to encourage the development of more libraries for the blind and partnerships with other libraries and institutions. We urge the recognition that as taxpayers, blind people have a right to expect governments and their libraries to provide for them too and for their needs to be reflected in public policies and plans to provide library services.

January 22 2002