Bookshare.org inks pact with three organisations in India

Mumbai, October 23: Tie-ups to benefit print disabled persons and 10 million blind people in country, say company officials

In a move that will benefit print disabled persons (people who cannot access the written words either because of vision impairment, inability to hold a hard copy book or learning disabilities), including 10 million blind people in the country, Bookshare.org, the world’s largest online library for people with print disabilities, has tied up with three organisations in the country. In Mumbai, the Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) will manage the registration of qualified Bookshare.org members in West India.

“At XRCVC, we’re concerned with providing print disabled people access to the printed words because right to information supercedes every other law. The partnership will make Bookshare’s international collection available to the print disabled persons in India,” said Dr Sam Taraporevala, director, XRCVC.

Bookshare had also tied up with New Delhi-based Saksham Charitable Trust and Worth Trust in Tamil Nadu. Earlier, Bookshare’s membership was restricted to US citizens, but after copyright laws were amended in the US, it could go global. The XRCVC will screen genuine print disabled persons and certify them to Bookshare so that they can become its official library members. Indian members will have to pay Rs 400 as annual membership to access as many as 6000 English language books.

Dr Taraporevala said that Indian publishers like Seasons Publishing and East West Publications have made their books accessible through the Bookshare library and hope that more publishers would come forward to make their publications accessible. In order to encourage more publishers to contribute their books to its online collections, Bookshare has also tied up with DAISY (Digitally Accessible Information System) Forum of India . The partnership is especially beneficial in India as its stringent copyright laws do not allow print disabled persons and other individuals to convert hard copy books into alternative formats like e-text and DAISY formats. Two years ago, Taraporevala along with some other organisations had approached the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD)— under whose purview the Copyright laws fall— asking for amendments to the laws to make the conversions possible, but the Indian Government ‘has been slow to react.’ The XRCVC has also made a film called ‘Blind Act’ to urge the MHRD to ‘focus on copyright amendments.’

“As many as 124 countries have changed their copyright laws permitting organisations that work with print disabled to make the conversions. But, India is yet to take any step. Print disabled persons cannot be kept away from the printed books and hence

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