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Islanders who have difficulty seeing will benefit from a new partnership between the Public Library Service and the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), says Minister of Tourism and Culture Robert Henderson.

“Through our partnership with CELA, the Public Library Service gains access to a wide variety of materials in a wide variety of formats specifically designed for individuals who have vision impairment,” said Minister Henderson. “One of the goals of the Public Library Service is to improve access to materials for all Islanders. By partnering with CELA we vastly improve the service and the selection we are able to provide to our customers.”

CELA is a national not-for-profit organization focused on the creation, collection, delivery and preservation of both digital and physical alternate format accessible materials to Canadians with vision impairment through public libraries. Through CELA and the Public Library Service, clients have access to a growing, bilingual collection of more than 85,000 items. They include newspapers, magazines, described videos and books in accessible formats such as audio, e-text and Braille. Materials can be downloaded directly to computer, handhelds devices or DAISY players, or they can be mailed to homes or public libraries.

CELA was officially launched today at the Canadian Library Association national conference in Victoria, B.C.

The Public Library Service invested $15,000 this year to partner with CELA and gain access to its materials.

For more information on CELA visit www.celalibrary.ca, and for more information on materials for Islanders with vision impairments visit www.library.pe.ca/talkingbooks.