Coimbatore has just got a brand new Talking Book Library. Meant for
the visually-impaired, the Bharathi Lions Talking Book Library has
cassettes in place of books, to enable them to learn by themselves.
A joint attempt of Bharathiar University and Lions club International
district 324 B1, the library is housed at Nirmala College for Women.
Second of its kind in the State, after Madurai, the library at present
accommodates cassettes on 400 titles covering a range of general
topics. Nearly 600 cassettes covering all subjects based on the
university and State Board syllabus will be made available soon.
Cassettes were brought from the Rotary Helen Keller Talking (ROHTALK)
Book Library in Madurai, which also has a production studio. The
number of titles will eventually be increased to 5,000, according to
Vice-Chancellor G.Thiruvasagam.
ROHTALK director Nicholas Francis says: "The library here with a
studio was set up in 2003. It has 2600 members ranging from school
students to professors, utilizing 4,000 cassettes. It gives the
visually-impaired self-dignity. So, we are happy to help the library
in Coimbatore with the material we have and also by producing
cassettes for them. We have 200 voice volunteers with whose help we
record the content of the books."
Students, wishing to become members, should register with a fee of Rs.50.
They can visit the library to select the book they want to "read" from
a catalogue that is in Braille.
Once the cassette is selected, the student can borrow it or listen to
it at the library itself.
Cassette players are available for use.
Those outside Coimbatore too can borrow cassettes by post (free of
cost), use it and return it by post in 15 days. The cassettes are
sponsored by the Lions Club while the library will be maintained
jointly by the college and the university.
G.Merlin, a final-year student of BBM of Nirmala College for Women,
finds the library "very useful". "I cannot read Braille. I have been
listening to somebody reading it out to me so far. Now, I will be
listening to the cassette," she says. She plans to do MBA.
However, R.Srinivasan, a retired professor of English who is
visually-impaired and has been using Braille to read, write and teach,
feels he will be more comfortable with Braille. "II have used it for
more than 30 years. But, for those who do not know how to use Braille,
listening to cassettes will definitely be very useful."
Courtesy: 'Education Plus', a supplement to The Hindu, Madurai, August
4, 2008 ("Talking book library – an alternative to Braille?" by Amutha
Kannan")
Wikipedia articles on:
"Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkins_Braille_and_Talking_Book_Library
"National Library for the Blind, UK":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_for_the_Blind
"Books for the Blind" (Talking Books):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_for_the_Blind
>From NLS, a unit of Library of Congress:
"THAT ALL MAY READ . . .", National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically
Handicapped (NLS), The Library of Congress".(Through a national
network of cooperating libraries, NLS administers a free library
program of Braille and audio materials circulated to eligible
borrowers in the United States by
postage-free mail.)
http://www.loc.gov/nls/
"Digital Talking Books – FAQ"
http://www.loc.gov/nls/dtbfaq.html
regards,
prateek agarwal
cell: 09928341197
e-mails:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
---
you can visit my website for lots of stuff related to visually
impaired and others.
please go on to
www.prateekagarwal.webs.com
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