| Bookshare: Cross-border Exchange and Cooperation
J. Fruchterman, Benetech, USA
Jim.F@benetech.org
Bookshare is currently the largest online library for people with blindness and vision loss. Bookshare has a global mission to provide accessible works, and plans to be of service to the blind community of Africa. Bookshare can help in two ways. First, by providing access to its American collection, and providing library infrastructure to countries that currently lack the same. Only 200,000 of Bookshare's 360,000 books are available outside the United States: those where the publishers have provided permission. With Marrakesh ratification, nearly all of these books will be available. Second, by providing access to a top quality digital library infrastructure, which can be used to create local or national collections and provide these ebooks to schools, organizations and individuals with free assistive technology solutions that support users with MP3 players, smartphone, tablets and computers. This presentation will explore these two options, and help realize the promise of Marrakesh for cross-border cooperation in ending the book famine for persons with vision disabilities.
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