When paper and apps bring clear vision
- Samarthan Trust open six more Braille libraries in South India in
collaboration with Amway, a multinational corporation
CHENNAI:
Since ancient times, the mark of a good civilisation has been the presence of a
flourishing library culture. There are many libraries in Chennai that cater to
all, but only a handful has books for the visually-challenged. To add to this
small number, Samarthan Trust for the Disabled opened a library recently in the
city.
Started
20 years ago by Mahantesh GK, the trust aims to open six more Braille libraries
in South India in collaboration with Amway, a multinational corporation.
“When
I was in school, it used to be very difficult to take notes. My hands used to
ache writing those notes,” says Mahantesh.
Even
getting an admission in school and colleges was difficult, as there were no
means for him to learn. “While studying MA, I had a full van with 32 volumes of
Iliad and Odyssey delivered in my hostel,” he recalls.
He
started Samarthanam in 1997 after finishing MA and MPhil to make education
easier for the visually-challenged people. This library has over 200 Braille
books and 15,000 audio books with a focus on academics, but also other
biographies, books and magazines.
Open
to everyone and the membership free, you can also borrow books via email.
Braille postage is free across the world. This will be useful for many senior
citizens. Through Samarthanam’s production centre is in Bangalore, they are
focusing on making Braille and audio books in regional languages as well.
The
ground floor at Anna Centenary library has a dedicated Braille section with
academic books for schools and colleges, English and Tamil literature books and
Braille magazines. Apart from having 1,000 digital and Braille books, they also
assist the visually-challenged users in college, competitive exam or bank
applications. Anna library also downloads book on request, when a new semester
begins students approach them for their required books..
Suganya,
a visually-challenged MA graduate, has been using these services since Class
12. “I come here at least once a month to read. Shankar helped me get all the
material for my education,” says Suganya, who is an assistant professor in a
private college.
Braille
books, however, are expensive to print and are bulky. Shankar explains that
Braille books are slowly being replaced by digital and audio books.
“One
page in a normal book equates to three pages in a Braille book! Characters per
page will be more in order to reduce pages, so it will be bigger and harder to
carry,” says Shankar Subbiah, a consultant in assistive technology and
accessibility.
Braille
is also not universally accessible to all, especially for those who have lost
their sight because of genetic disorders or other conditions, as it takes a
long time for them to get accustomed to delicate sensory perception. This is
where audiobooks play a crucial role.
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming Event | MANLIBNET 17th
Annual International Conference on 15-16 September 2017 at Jaipuria, Noida,
India
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