To promote access to information, the South African Library for the Blind (SALB), in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture in the Eastern Cape, has launched an audio book studio at the Mdantsane Library.
SALB has agreements with most publishers to reproduce their materials in braille and audio formats. The facility will allow narrators to record books for the visually impaired using high-tech equipment.
Most public libraries are not designed to accommodate the needs of blind or partially-sighted people. In most cases, they are forced to rely on other people to read and write for them.
Mustafa Lisithi from Mdantsane is one of the blind people expected to benefit from the project.
He says he is excited about the new facility at the library.
“Blindness makes us feel excluded from accessing service such as accessing information. There are no computer systems that are programmed for blind people so this is an obstacles that we encounter as blind people,” says Lisithi.
Eastern Cape Sports, rRcreation, Arts and Culture MEC, Fezeka Nkomonye, says this initiative will help promote literacy.
“A library is a very quiet space, it’s a space where you can get private information so their right to access to information has been prejudiced for the longest of time. We wanted to ensure that we give them access to information during this human rights month” says Nkomonye.
The visually impaired are also exposed to other challenges in the community and are vulnerable to criminals.
SALB CEO, Mandla Ntobela, says they try to assist them with life skills as well.
“In a way, the government is trying to ensure that rights for blind people are accommodated. They’re in a way violated because when they walk in the streets they’re vulnerable to being robbed of their belongings. We also provide them with skills on how to deal with challenges in relation to what could happen in their private spaces.”
The province needs to build 487 libraries in order for all communities to have access to books and information.
