Public Funding for Accessible
Library Services is Needed Now
Everyone has the right to read, and should have access to books and information in formats they can read. For the 836,000 Canadians who are blind or partially sighted, this means formats such as braille, audio CDs with built-in accessibility features, and digital formats that can be read using special computer technology.
Most Canadians can access information through a taxpayer-funded public library service. Blind and partially sighted Canadians, on the other hand, must rely on the charitably-funded CNIB Library. With a collection of more than 80,000 titles, the CNIB Library is Canada’s largest producer of accessible reading materials. We circulate approximately two million items every year to Canadians who count on our library for entertainment, employment, education and enlightenment. Our collection includes everything from accessible newspapers and magazines, to non-fiction and instructional titles, to books ranging from Little Red Riding Hood and Hamlet to Harry Potter and the latest Canada Reads novels.
Public funding for this lifeline to literacy? Missing.
The CNIB Library is a one-of-a-kind national treasure, and for 90 years, CNIB has fully subsidized it as part of our charitable work. But producing books in accessible formats and operating a library with sophisticated infrastructure and expert staff is costly. In many industrialized countries, including the United States, Sweden and Denmark, these costs are covered by government. They should be in Canada, too.
For the past year, CNIB has been asking Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments to partner with us in sharing the costs of delivering accessible library services – in much the same way they fund local public libraries. But progress has been slow, and now, time is of the essence.
As a charity, CNIB can no longer shoulder the full cost of a nationwide accessible library service alone. Immediate government funding is needed to ensure these vital services remain available for all who need them.
Without such funding, people who rely on the CNIB Library will face a significant erosion of services – including increased wait times and fewer books – beginning this April. The library’s aging infrastructure will suffer from the lack of maintenance and much-needed upgrades. This will happen in an already untenable situation where just five per cent of written information ever makes it in to an accessible format – and most of what does is produced by CNIB.
Just imagine the impact on blind and partially sighted people of all ages who count on the CNIB Library as a vital and irreplaceable link to the world of books and information. The right to read will be missing from their lives.
Canada's governments are developing their budgets for the coming year. We need you to help ensure they act NOW to allocate resources to preserve accessible library services for Canadians with vision loss. CNIB is contributing its share, and the governments of Ontario and Alberta have led the way in committing funds to the cause. Canada's federal government and the remaining provinces and territories must do so too.
Please help us advocate on this crucial issue of equality. Act now and write a letter to Canada’s Prime Minister and your Premier. Your letter will make a difference, and will help ensure all Canadians continue to enjoy the right to read.
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