Briefing Document for Federal Officials and Politicians

Library Service for Canadians with a Print Disability

The Issue:
Canadians who have a print disability* do not have equitable access to books and information in their public or academic libraries, as do their sighted peers. Only 3 % of what is available in print is also available in an alternative format*.  With the exception of Quebec there is no direct ongoing government funding to support the production of library material for those unable to read print.
 
According to the 1991 Statistics Canada Health and Activity Limitations Survey: 3 million, or 10% of the population cannot access regular print due to a disability and therefore require alternative formats such as audio, electronic text, large print, or braille. However, Canada is on the verge of a crisis in vision health care and services.  There are 10 million Canadians born between 1946 and 1965. Age-related eye conditions such as cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma and others will drastically increase the number of Canadians who rely on access to information in alternative formats. 

The Government of Canada can be proud of its commitment through Canada Post to deliver “material for the blind” postage free.  This enables the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), Library for the Blind to circulate over 1.8 million alternative-format books annually. In addition, the federal government recently committed to a one-time $6 million grant to the CNIB towards the development of a $33 million digital library service to replace its existing service on the verge of obsolescence.  These are example of a public/private partnership that is the foundation of the current system for distributing library material to persons who are blind.  

Public libraries can partner with CNIB to deliver alternative-format library service to the larger population of print disabled Canadians but current resources by all levels of government are insufficient to provide comparable service to that available to Canadians who read print. 

Canada is the only country of the eight major industrialized nations (G8) that does not fund or legislate support for a national library service for people who have a print disability. For example, 
The United States:  The Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Disabled has a budget of more than $50 million to produce materials in alternative formats. The total budget, including production, network libraries, and Post Free circulation, is $166 million annually. In 2001, 700,000 blind or physically disabled library users were served.

Canada’s largest producer and distributor of alternative-format materials, the CNIB, relies on charitable donations and on 700 volunteers to produce books in alternative formats.  (The Canadian Copyright Act, Bill C 32, addresses the permissions for the production of alternative-format materials for people who have a perceptual disability.)

The National Library recognized there was an issue and established the Council on Access to Information for Print-Disabled Canadians. In 2000, the National Library and the CNIB commissioned a Task Force Report on access to information for print-disabled Canadians. The report resulted in 26 recommendations. As of April 2003, the Council on Access focus has been on very specific and worthy recommendations. They do not, however, address the crisis in access to equitable library services for print-disabled Canadians.

The Solution

1. The following organizations: 
* Council on Access to Information for Print Disabled Canadians
* The Canadian Library Association
* The Canadian National Institute for the Blind
* Movement for Canadian Literacy
* Learning Disabilities Association of Canada

Strongly urge the Government of Canada to: 

Fulfill recommendation 10 of the 2000 report commissioned by Heritage Canada: Fulfilling the Promise: Report on Access to Information for Print Disabled Canadians.  Namely:

“That the Government of Canada, through Canadian Heritage, annually appropriate at least $7.5M, beginning FY 2001/2002, to support the production in Canada of multiple formats (audio/braille/large print) of materials which have authorship outside governments.”  P.32

2. The Government of Canada is further urged to 

Support the formation of a task force of library experts from the private and public sector to design a made in Canada network of equitable library services for Canadians who are print disabled.

Some legislation can be interpreted to cover an individual’s right to equitable access to a government-funded service such as a library service. The Charter of Rights and Freedom, Provincial Human Rights legislation, and Provincial Public Library Acts should be reviewed depending on the jurisdiction you are in. Apart from the Province of Quebec, no legislation explicitly states that a person who is print disabled must have the same access to a public library service that a sighted person has.

*Print disability is defined as severe vision loss, a learning disability such as dyslexia or a disability that prevents the physical holding of a book. 

‘Alternative format’ refers to print material that has undergone a translation process resulting in an audio, braille or electronic text version of the print material.