Braille library in deplorable state

Robin Muchetu Senior Reporter
THE Braille section of the Bulawayo Public Library is now in a deplorable state with officials saying more than $30 000 is needed to rehabilitate machines, printers and buy braille paper for the facility. Braille Library assistant at the Public Library Mr Killion Dube said the state of the library was affecting access to information for those who are visually impaired, adding that there were fears the section could be closed if resources are not sourced.

“We need to capacitate this department because we want to see those living with visual impairments also getting an education by reading and researching from books. If we manage to produce books, we can distribute them to schools in the city. At the moment we have text books that are outdated, they are old editions and some are no longer recognised in the school’s curriculum so we need to update our text books,” he said.

Mr Dube said there were challenges in sourcing braille paper as the cheapest was selling at $150 a ream.

As a substitute, Mr Dube said the institution was using manilla cards, which he said fade quickly and were not readable on a Braille Embosser.

In a bid to raise money to rehabilitate the library, some students and other visually impaired readers have proposed to host a fundraising dinner and musical concert at the Large City Hall in August. He said money raised will be channeled towards acquiring books, devices and equipment for use in the library. He said a street collection will be done on 2 July in the city as part of fundraising. The Braille section of the Public Library is used by at least 450 students from primary to tertiary education and is the only one of its kind in the city.

Meanwhile, a visually impaired student at the Bulawayo Polytechnic, Mr Tafadzwa Matope said he has set up a committee to fundraise for the library after realising that it could be closed.

“The management board of the Public Library is saying the section is struggling to remain afloat due to the nature of the equipment that is required. It is very expensive to secure,” he said. Mr Matope said he has decided to mobilise funds to rehabilitate the section as it was important to those who use the facility.

He said the committee noted it needed a book reader which is a reading device which can read text out loud for visually impaired individuals. The machine can convert printed texts into audio making it easy for the users. He further said they need advanced computers.

“We need visually impaired people to be up-to-date with the latest technology and there are computers that are suitable for them. They also deserve a chance to learn how to use computers so we are appealing to those who can to assist with these computers,” said Mr Matope.

During lectures, he said, visually impaired people can have recorders that record the lectures which can be played back when they revise since books which they can use were not readily available. He said his committee was also willing to translate some books into Braille provided resources are availed.