Nationwide Accessible Library Service to Print Disabled Persons
Issue:
Availability of library services in alternate formats for those who are print disabled
Statement:
CNIB believes that Canadians who are print disabled should have the same level of library service as their sighted peers.
Regarding
A government (federal, provincial,
municipal), private sector partnership in funding (through an
inter-jurisdictional agreement) a program that ensures Canadian
residents who are print disabled* receive library service that is
equivalent to that received by Canadians using regular print materials.
Such a service is to be delivered through a national network of public
libraries and private sector partners.
General Principles
Canadians who are print disabled should have the same level of library service as their sighted peers.
- Standards for services to those who are print disabled
should be adopted, based on the International Federation of Library
Associations (IFLA) Guidelines.
- Primary responsibility for the provision of an integrated
alternate format library service to those who are print disabled should
shift from CNIB, a private charity, to government, and be provided
through the public library systems in conjunction with private
service-provider partners such as CNIB.
Comment
In Canada, while there is public library legislation in place to
provide library services to all Canadians, services in alternate format
for those who are print disabled are 'disconnected,' and are provided in
public libraries on a discretionary, non-standard and therefore
inconsistent basis.
CNIB provides a nationwide library service, which meets all
international standards of service, directly to CNIB clients and through
voluntary participation by individual public libraries to those who are
print disabled, but not blind or living with vision loss. CNIB
established the Visunet Canada Partners Program to enable the evolution
of a nationwide library network for all print disabled persons including
people who are blind and living with vision loss now receiving library
services directly from CNIB. However, participation in the Partners
Program is voluntary and limited by lack of resources both in local
libraries and CNIB.
A private charity cannot, nor should it be expected to, sustain the
service through charitable financing at international standards to meet
the anticipated growth in demand due to unprecedented incidence of
vision loss of the aging baby boomer population. From research in
industrialized countries, CNIB estimates that over the next 15 years the
population of Canadians who are print disabled will double. The demand
for accessible information will increase. Additionally, CNIB faces the
challenge of keeping its technologies up to date. CNIB has created the
infrastructure for production, storage and retrieval of the
electronically produced master files used to provide the alternate
formats required by print disabled persons and is presently converting
its collections from obsolete technologies to digital technology in
order to preserve and ensure their ongoing availability. Unless
governments, through the public library system, and the library
community are prepared for this increased demand, there will be a crisis
in serving the information needs of Canadians who have a print
disability. The cost of providing an integrated equitable alternate
format library service is incremental to the present collective funding
of public libraries, but a Federal/Provincial/Municipal/private sector
supported system would not be a significant additional burden on any one
entity or region.
A nationwide network, supported by public and academic libraries and
private sector partners such as the CNIB Library, is needed to
effectively deliver library services to those who have a print
disability. This coordination is essential as print-disabled
populations, estimated to total three million persons in Canada, are
relatively small compared to the general public and often isolated.
Existing specialized collections are presently small and inadequate.
Content in alternative format is less than 5% of all printed material.
The best library services to print-disabled populations around the
world operate as a network of services in each country. In the United
States, for example, the Library of Congress, through its National
Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, develops
national strategy, provides the alternative format content, playback
devices and cataloguing services, and creates the standards for the
state-funded regional delivery systems. At present, CNIB provides both
components of this service to its clients and the delivery portion on a
voluntary basis by public libraries through the CNIB Visunet Canada
Partners Program.
Action
- Secure government alignment with the Goal, defined herein.
- Establish a federal government-funded task force with
representation from all levels of government, public Libraries, CNIB
Library, and other partners to design the most efficient national
network to produce and deliver alternate format materials to
print-disabled Canadians, in a manner equivalent to public library
service available to Canadians who can use conventional printed
materials.
*Print disability is defined as severe vision loss, a learning
disability such as dyslexia or a disability that prevents the physical
holding of a book and as defined as “Perceptual Disability” under the
Canadian Copyright Act.
'Alternate format' refers to print material that has undergone a
translation process resulting in an audio, Braille or electronic text
version of the print material.
Approved: CNIB Board of Directors
Date: January 29, 2004