§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what information he has as to which local authorities supply a free talking book service to the visually impaired from the local library service; and if he will make a statement about such provision.
§ Mr. KeyInformation about which local authorities supply a free talking book service to the visually impaired is not collected centrally.
Library authorities generally exercise their responsibilities towards visually impaired people by providing as wide a selection as possible of large print books and cassette recordings of books. Large print books are part of the book lending service and must be provided free of charge. Many authorities also loan cassette recordings of books free of charge to the visually impaired. Some library authorities provide reading machines, and in some cases braille transcription services. The Royal National Institute for the Blind—RNIB—talking books service, as such, is not generally regarded as an indispensible element of a library service for blind people, and any charge which might be made for the talking book service does not, of itself, constitute any infringement of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.
However, we recognise that more needs to be done to develop public library services for blind people. That is why we have been jointly funding the RNIB's "Share the Vision" project, which is examining various ways of developing the public library as the primary point of access to information services as a whole for visually impaired people.