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
Grateful thanks to Ms Amutha Kannan, The Hindu, NLS (The Library of Congress), USA and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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
Grateful thanks to Ms Amutha Kannan, The Hindu, NLS (The Library of Congress), USA and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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