RNIB National Library Service video transcript

Megan: My name is Megan Gilks, and I'm the communications and marketing manager for the National Library Service at RNIB.

RNIB National Library Service provides books in audio, braille and giant print for people of all ages. We provide a wide range of fiction and non-fiction and we're the largest library serving people with sight loss in the UK.

Susan: 'My name's Susan and I'm 65.' I've never had very good sight since childhood, but in the last few years, it's got considerably worse, and now I'm registered severely visually impaired.

When I first joined the RNIB, there was a Talking Book service and there was a braille service. At that stage, I couldn't read braille. So I enjoyed reading the Talking

Books.

Talking Book: Mary Wesley published her first novel when she was 17 and went on to write nine more bestsellers before her death in 2002 at the age of 89.

Susan: As the time has gone on, I've learnt to read braille, so I read that as a challenge. I tend to read short stories or short articles in braille. More recently, RNIB has been producing large print books and I love those because, although I can't read them very well, it makes me feel a human being again just to sit there and read a paperback book, and I feel just as I always used to do.

Mike: 'My name is Mike Howell,' I am aged 66, I am totally, congenitally blind. One of the fascinating things about childhood was a strong liking for radio, and one of the dramas which they did on Children's Hour, which was of huge entertainment value to us, was Jennings - the books by Anthony Buckeridge.

To realise that these were available in braille was a tremendous thrill. And I think that that was the first book I actually borrowed.

Megan: Well, reading is essential not just for pleasure but for study, for work, for everyday living and information. And for children especially, it's absolutely essential for their education, their learning and their literacy skills. So it's really, really important that blind and partially sighted people have equal access to reading material.

Ellie: My name is Ellie, I'm 11 years old, I was born without sight. When I read something in braille, it feels like... I mean, it feels sort of... I can't explain it but it sort of feels magical. The first book I read was The Little Red Hen, and I said, "I can read braille," and then I read it. I felt sort of a sense of thrill. I mean, I thought, "Yay, I can do it! I can do it!" And then I started reading a lot.

Without reading, I would basically be lost. I wouldn't be able to survive because I need to read to learn.

Megan: Each year, we send 1.7 million Talking Books on CD and 160,000 volumes of braille and giant print direct to readers' homes though the post. So it's a big operation.

Mike: With my fianceé, Margaret, and I having similar interests in literature, it's a great thrill for me to be able to obtain a book in braille and for her to have it in print, and for us to not just be in the same room and read and then compare notes later in the evening, but to literally go through the exercise of reading it as if we were on the radio.

Together: "She smiled at him properly for the first time "since their first meeting

in the dancehall. "I married him because I was fond of him, because he was so kind."

Mike: It's important that as many books be made available to us so that we are on an equal footing.

Megan: Well, only 7 per cent of all books published in the UK each year ever make it into a format that a blind or partially sighted person could read. And that obviously reduces the choice and the range of books that people can choose, and we don't think that's right. And that's why RNIB does a lot of work to remove those obstacles so that people can read what they want, when they want and how they want.

So we work with Government, we work with libraries, we work with publishers and authors and retailers to make sure that they understand why it is so important that we break down these barriers so that people can access reading on an equal basis.

A library service is more than just books on the shelves. And at the RNIB National Library Service, the support that we offer to our readers is a big part of what we do.

Susan: Making choices is quite a challenge because about, I think, four or five times a year, I get a large volume from the RNIB, which has all the new books in braille and in large print and in audio for me to choose. So I go through that making lists, and then I usually ring and chat to somebody there.

Mike: It's possible to ring up a very cheerful and knowledgeable group of people, any one of whom will give the answer.

"Have you got this?"

"Yes."

"May I borrow it, please?"

"Yes, you should get it tomorrow or the next day."

Ellie: This morning, I, um, basically woke up and I went downstairs and I nearly tripped over six humungous boxes of books. And I was like, "What on earth?" And my father said it was this morning in the post. The Carnegie Medal short-listed

books and that there were lots of books. So he put them all in a pile, and I got really pleased and I got really excited.

Megan: The Carnegie Medal is the most prestigious children's book prize in the UK. And each year, the organisers enable children to take part in a shadowing process, so that they can read the six short-listed titles and add their comments to those of the judges.

RNIB National Library Service produces the six short-listed titles in accessible formats and then we send them out to the readers who want to participate in the scheme. And we sent a consignment of books to Ellie in braille so that she could also participate.

Susan: I've found the National Library Service a great help. I can't imagine how lost and isolated I would feel without it.

Mike: It's always meant a lot, the availability of the library, knowing it is but a telephone call away. I think it has remained a constant and it has mirrored whatever my interests have been, in developing from the Jennings books to Ian McEwan, Kingsley Amis, Peter Cox, or anybody else of that ilk.

Ellie: It's really important that I've read something cause, I mean, all books are important and I like to feel important when I read something.

Megan: At RNIB National Library Service, we're passionate about reading, and the most important thing for people to know is that they don't have to give up on reading, they can carry one reading and we are here to help them do that.

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