TORONTO - The CNIB has launched a Right to Read campaign calling on provincial and federal governments to provide "immediate and fair" public funding for accessible library services across Canada.
The organization says that while public libraries are taxpayer-funded, accessible library services for the blind and partially sighted haven't received any such support to date.
CNIB says that less than five per cent of reading material in Canada is transferred into accessible formats such as braille or audio, and much of what is produced is through their own library.
While Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Ontario are among the provinces and territories that have committed funding, the support is crucial across the board, the organization says.
"Canadians who are blind or partially sighted have the right to read, and the right to a library that provides information in formats they can read," said CNIB president and CEO John Rafferty in a statement Tuesday. "The federal, provincial and territorial governments must partner with us to sustain this lifeline to literacy."
CNIBs Right to Read campaign calls for public funding for accessible libraries
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Published on
January 21, 2010
- Published on February 24, 2010
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The Canadian Press ~ The News
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