News:
Libraries:
· Closures will mean lonely people will suffer at Christmas: article about the effect of library closures on vulnerable people. Full details
· Study finds that a well-stocked school library has little impact on reading skills: literacy skills in year 5 students in schools without a library seem to hardly change from pupils who are at schools with well-stocked libraries. details here
· Libraries Taskforce: The Libraries Taskforce recently ran masterclasses covering two of the pieces of work it had recently published: Atoolkit to support evidence-based sustainable planning, and aBenchmarking Framework.full details here
· Mapping the future of academic libraries: a new report highlights a number of challenges and opportunities for academic libraries details here
· West Sussex continuing to provide valuable services: “Today, health, reading, digital, information and learning are five key areas for all ages. Libraries encourage and enable reading for pleasure, for example providing books for reading groups, some of whom meet up in their local libraries. Their doors are also open to children, young people and families, who learn together on a variety of subjects, such as ‘Baby rhyme time’ and ‘Knit and natter’”.
“In addition, libraries serve as community hubs, where health and well-being partners provide valuable help and information, such as online digital access to key health information sites, and schemes such as Reading Well Books on Prescription, which helps people understand and manage their own health and wellbeing. Libraries provide digital services and library staff, while volunteers help library customers develop digital skills. This includes free internet access to members of the library service and clear and accessible online library services such as eInformation, eBooks, eAudio books, eComics, eMagazines and eNewspapers, plus Access to Research, frequently on a 24/7 basis”
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· Figures show children worst hit by library cuts: “more than 100 branch libraries closed in the last year”. These falls come alongside a drop of £66m in total spend on local authority run libraries. Tim Coates argues that a drop of 22% in the loans of children’s books is due to poor stock and opening hours. Full details
· Edinburgh to operate libraries without staff: Library users would swipe a card to enter the building and use self-issue technology to borrow books. Edinburgh will be the first library in Scotland to adopt this model although they have been introduced elsewhere in the UK. details
· Hampshire uses technology to help tackle loneliness: a pilot which used tablet computers with socially isolated over-65 year olds to help them connect with family, friends and the wider community. As a result of the pilot, additional money has been provided to the library service to purchase 120 3G enabled tablets which can be loaned for up to 4 weeks at a time. full details
International
· Mobile libraries being used to deliver services in combat zones in Iraq: War Child UK has rolled out a number of mobile libraries which offers children and adults access to books to help take their mind off the violence and help them to continue their education. full article here
Sight and vision issues:
· Tactile Universe for blind people wins award: A university of Portsmouth project enables blind and visually impaired children and adults to ‘see’ the universe by feeling the shapes and compositions of astronomical objects. Full details
· Wearable tech for the legally blind: Legally blind people can now see with the help of electronic glasses.The wearable technology behind the glasses is a high-definition, high-speed camera. Algorithms sharpen the video and display it on screens directly in front of the user’s eyes. The glasses feature Bioptic Tilt which helps the glasses adjust automatically to the wearer’s movement, protecting them from nausea. details here
· Microsoft launch iPhone app designed to ‘narrate’ the world to blind and visually impaired people: The app uses artificial intelligence to recognise what it is seeing and turn it into an audio description. The app can also recognise colours, currency and handwriting. more details here
· New lens for cataract sufferers: a new lens means that patients not only get good distance vision, but they also get good intermediate and good reading vision. details
· New technology changes lives for those with vision loss: Article about how new technology and libraries in Nova Scotia are providing some of the best library services for people with print disabilities. details
· New generation of artificial vision: “Wireless, lightweight and compacted into the size of finger, OrCam MyEye 2.0's breakthrough assistive technology reads printed and digital text aloud: newspapers, books, restaurant menus, signs, product labels, computer and smartphone screens. Instant face recognition improves social situations. Identification of consumer products, colours and paper money helps to provide a level of independence. Magnetically mounted on the wearer's eyeglasses or sunglasses frame and weighing less than an ounce, OrCam MyEye 2.0 is the only wearable artificial vision tech that is activated by an intuitive pointing gesture or simply by following the wearer's gaze – allowing for hands-free use without the need of a smartphone or Wi-Fi”. details
· Why ‘RNIB Solutions’ became a problem: “When the sight-loss charity theRNIBset up a new department called RNIB Solutions four years ago, it was hoped it would help to eliminate the charity's deficit and increase the number of beneficiaries using its services”.
“RNIB Solutions consists of two main areas: charitable services such as delivering talking books to the blind and partially sighted; and commercial services, such as making magazines and newspapers suitable for people with optical impairments”.
“The problem is that it lost money. In four out of the past five years, the department has posted a loss, according to an internal document seen by Third Sector, and in 2016/17 it spent £16.6m against an income of £12.4m - a loss of £4.2m. The department employed 261 full-time-equivalent staff at the start of this summer,but in October 52 jobs were lost, although only 23 members of staff were made redundant because many were found other jobs at the charity”.
“The changes at Solutions come in the wake of wider changes at the RNIB: earlier this yeara merger with Action for Blind Peoplewas finalised and a restructure in which 100 people left the charity, 70 of them through voluntary redundancy, was completed”.
“Certain free or subsidised services run by Solutions, such as the charity's talking books services, proved more popular than anticipated and the income from the commercial work did not cover the costs. The talking books service attracted an extra 10,000 users in 2016, a 24 per cent increase on the year before”.
"We expected that the commercial business would grow even bigger and be even more profitable," says Lynch. "What happened is that our ambition was greater than what we achieved, but it's not like the commercial business had failed. In fact, it was successful in bringing new income into the charity that wasn't there before. It just wasn't enough to cover the cost of running our charitable activities." full article
Season’s Greetings from everyone at Share the Vision
Share The Vision is a partnership of UK libraries and library organisations that work together to improve the accessibility of library services for blind and other print disabled people.
More information is available from the Chair, Mark Freeman, or 01642 526481. Contributions for the bulletin can be sent to Mark at the email address above.
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