[bksvol-discuss] Thousands of Volunteers Select and Scan Bestsellers For the World's Largest Accessible Online Library
- From: "Janice Carter" <Janice.C@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 10:24:39 -0800
Dear loyal and patient Bookshare.org volunteers,
The press announcement below was sent out for release this morning. Many of
you have done a tremendous amount of work in building Bookshare.org, a library
of accessible books that reflect your interests. Congratulations on your
achievement.
Thanks from everyone at Benetech.
BOOKSHARE.ORG PUTS 30,000 ACCESSIBLE BOOKS
ONLINE FOR DISABLED READERS
Thousands of Volunteers Select and Scan Bestsellers For the World's Largest
Accessible Online Library
Palo Alto, Calif., November 8, 2006 - Bookshare.org announced this week that
its network of volunteers has succeeded in scanning 30,000 books creating the
world's largest accessible online library. Thousands of Bookshare.org
volunteers, including educators and librarians, select their favorite books and
legally convert these texts to digital formats that can be used by people with
print disabilities such as dyslexia and visual impairment.
The entire Bookshare.org online library can be downloaded to Braille printers,
portable Braille devices and software that reads aloud in a synthesized human
voice. Among the titles are bestsellers including Criss Cross, the 2006 Newbery
Medal winner for children's literature. Information about the latest titles can
be found at http://www.bookshare.org.
"There are thousands of people who couldn't read this literature without
something like Bookshare.org, it opens up a whole new world to them," says
Bookshare.org volunteer Matthew Devcich, 16, of Chantilly, Virginia. "You are
helping people across the nation and it's a great way to learn today's
technology."
Devcich, who has a visual disability, created an Eagle Scout leadership service
project that organized 21 mostly teenage volunteers to scan and proofread 24
books. Devcich listens to the Bookshare.org ebooks which allow him to reduce
eye strain while he reads the text online in an enlarged font. "It helps me
read a great deal faster," says Devcich.
The subscription-based Bookshare.org digital library is the first literacy
program developed by Benetech, a nonprofit based in Palo Alto, California.
"It's people like Matthew who have made 30,000 books available at Bookshare.org
today," said Janice Carter, Director of Benetech's Literacy Programs. "Thanks
to the ongoing support of the Bookshare.org volunteer community, we continue to
add about 100 new books each week."
The Benetech literacy team will present their library of accessible books and
periodicals at the annual conference of The International Dyslexia Association
conference held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana from
November 8-11.
Janice Carter
Director, Literacy Programs
Benetech
480 S. California Ave., Suite 201
Palo Alto, CA 94306-1609 USA
(650) 644-3422 direct
(650) 759-5828 cell
(650) 475-1066 fax
janice.c@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Benetech - Technology Serving Humanity
A Nonprofit Organization
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