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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies
Part2:Country studies
USA
Models and responsibilities
There are a number of agencies involved both in the production of materials and in distribution to users. These include:
- National Library Service (NLS)
- Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D)
- American Foundation for the Blind/Talking Book Productions (TBP)
- National Braille Association
- Braille Institute (part of NLS network but has own collection)
- Jewish Guild for the Blind
- Jewish Braille Institute
- Bookshare.org (sharing scanned files)
NLS operates through a network of 57 regional libraries, the majority (52) of which are administered and funded by state libraries, and 74 sub-regional libraries, of which seventy-two are located in or administered by a public library. State rehabilitation agencies administer four regional libraries and the fifth is administered by a private rehabilitation agency. Each library adheres to the policies and personnel rules of its administering agency.
Public libraries also have limited collections of materials.
Service provision - general
NLS
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) is part of the Library of Congress. It selects, produces and distributes books and magazines in Braille an audio formats and designs and manufactures specialist playback equipment for use with the audio materials. The American Library Association has promulgated standards relating to library service to blind and physically handicapped individuals. NLS uses these standards in periodic review of the regional libraries.
In the fiscal year 2005, the NLS readership consisted of 751,569 audio users and 42,322 Braille readers. NLS manufactures 42,000 cassette players annually and has an inventory of 713,893 players, of which 526,984 are assigned to users.
The 132 network libraries store and distribute the materials and players to eligible borrowers. Both machines and materials are sent to borrowers and returned to libraries free of charge through the US Postal Service, paid for by congressional funding.
In FY 2005, NLS produced 3,925 audio and Braille book titles, and 45 recorded and 33 braille magazine titles. The total collection of recorded and Braille books is more than 360,000 titles. Just under 23.5m copies of books and magazines were circulated in FY2005.
The NLS has been planning the transition from analogue to digital talking books for some time, formulating a strategy and identifying requirements. The transition for users will begin in FY2008 and is planned to be complete by FY2012. During the transition, cassette players and cassettes will continue to be supplied but will eventually be phased out altogether.
APH
The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) maintains and promotes the Louis Database of Accessible Materials for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired. Louis contains information on nearly 200,000 titles in accessible formats including braille, large print, sound recording, and electronic files. Information is contributed by over 180 agencies throughout the United States. The database is not intended to contain the titles NLS holds. Some files (over 4,500) in Louis are downloadable electronic files available to make Braille copies of the works. These can only be downloaded by authorized entities who have a repository account.
Service provision - education
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D).
This is a non-profit organisation relying on donations and volunteer readers, which records material for educational use from elementary to higher education. Most of its members (70%) are now print-disabled rather than visually impaired.
RFB&D is the nation’s first and largest nonprofit organization to provide recorded textbooks on CD and four-track cassette to students from kindergarten through to graduate school with disabilities such as visual impairment, severe dyslexia or another physical disability that makes reading challenging or impossible. RFB&D serves 127,000 students nationwide. RFB&D has nearly 5,000 highly trained volunteers who read and produce the organization’s unique collection of titles.
RFB&D production of materials (FY2005)
Books distributed (analogue & digital) 258,918
Books in RFB&D’s library (analogue & digital) 109,106
New books produced 5,134
Total hours recorded 133,012
Number of requests for service 229,699
By the close of FY05, RFB&D’s library of digitally recorded books had grown 44 percent and surpassed the 20,000 title mark with a final total of 21,764 titles. Newly recorded digital titles, which offer enhanced navigational functions, comprised 62 percent of our total digital collection. The remaining 38 percent were produced through RFB&D’s analog to digital conversion process.
In FY2005, every hour was recorded digitally. RFB&D’s custom recording service for corporations, nonprofit agencies, scholastic testing services and other clients generates revenue to help subsidise the cost of the academic recording service.
Services co-ordination
RFB&D served 141,660 individuals through school and individual memberships in FY05, an increase of three percent over the 137,025 individuals served in FY04. Individuals borrowed 258,918 books.