On October 16 2012 the award “Deed of the Year 2012” was given by the Estonian Federation of the Blind. On February 28 2013 the Estonian Librarians Association’s award “Deed of the Year of Special Library” was received.

 

In September 2010 the Estonian Library for the Blind started to create a web-based system Veebiraamatukogu in cooperation with the Estonian information technology company Iceit Teenused (Iceit Services). It was financed by the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

 

The test version of the system was opened in December 2010. In 2011 the system was tested and improved. Inserting book data and uploading audio files started in December 2011. Veebiraamatukogu was launched on April 2 2012.

 

In March 2013 nearly 2200 audio books, newspapers and journals in different languages, e.g. Estonian, Russian, Finnish, English, German and Icelandic, are accessible via Veebiraamatukogu. It includes materials produced mostly by the Estonian Library for the Blind, but it also covers books by other producers who have given the library permission to add their titles to the system.

 

Everyone who visits Veebiraamatukogu can browse, search for books and view book data. But downloading and streaming are available only for the registered users of Veebiraamatukogu. To register for Veebiraamatukogu people have to be or become patrons of the Estonian Library for the Blind. The Estonian Library for the Blind has 650 print disabled customers in Estonia and abroad of whom 150 persons use Veebiraamatukogu. The number of users is growing every day.  

Veebiraamatukogu is available at: veebiraamat.like.ee

Website of the Estonian Library for the Blind: www.epr.ee