Exceptional library opens to visually impaired
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Xinhua, June 29, 2011
The Beijing-based Chinese National Library for the Blind opened a new location on Tuesday that features Braille books, audio-books and exhibitions.
The library, founded in 1994, had been hampered by lack of space and outdated facilities at its previous location, according to a notice posted by the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) on its official website.
The new location has 28,000 square meters and is divided into many sections that includes training and exhibition areas.
The new library boasts a collection of over 50,000 Braille books, large-lettered books and audio-books.
It also features state-of-the-art technology to aid blind people in reading, such as a special reading device that contains a scanner and a speaker.
Readers scan a page of book and put the storage card into a speaker, then the book will be read aloud.
Yu Shixiang, a blind masseur in Beijing, said this tool enables the blind to read any book.
Facilities in the library are designed in a user-friendly way for blind people.
"The tables are specially designed for us, as Braille books are quite heavy, and tables are adjusted low," Yu said. "There are also places for us to store our canes."
Zhang Haidi, chairwoman of the CDPF, said blind people in China now have access to a fantastic library where they can learn in order to keep pace with modern life and improve their lives.
China has 12.33 million visually impaired people, according to the CDPF.
