Benetech Adds More State Library Partners to Bring Bookshare to Patrons with Reading Barriers

From Benetech:

Libraries in Alabama, Massachusetts, and Florida join five other state libraries to offer Bookshare’s 690,000 accessible ebooks to expand reading opportunities.

In December, 2015, New York Public Library expanded its services to offer Bookshare’s library of accessible ebooks to patrons who cannot read printed books due to a disability such as dyslexia, blindness, low vision, or certain mobility impairments. Since then, seven more state or regional libraries have followed suit by offering Bookshare to help individuals in their communities have more meaningful and accessible reading experiences. The program has been so well received that all of these libraries have renewed their Bookshare memberships:

• New York Public Library (including Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library)
• Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services
• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh/Philadelphia Free Library
• California State Library (four National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped libraries)

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These libraries recently announced agreements to offer Bookshare to qualifying patrons:

• Perkins Library for the Blind in Massachusetts
• Alabama Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
• Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach in Florida

Learn More, Read the Complete Announcement

Filed under: Libraries, National Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries