> Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph (UK) > Tuesday, September 11, 2007 > > Talking books to continue for blind > > By Staff Copy > > A COUNCIL has backed down over plans to cut a talking books service for > the blind. Northamptonshire County Council wanted to end it's £45,000 > funding of the Royal National Institute for the Blind service. > > It provided recordings of books which were sent to people's homes. > > After protests from users, the county council yesterday announced it will > continue the service. > > The council planned to replace the RNIB contract with a new arrangement > using free audio book supplier Calibre, however the results of a four-week > public consultation exercise in July have seen the council change it's > decision. > > Cllr Ursula Jones, cabinet member for voluntary sector, communities and > heritage, said: "It became clear that some of our customers had concerns > about the proposed new arrangements. > > "It's clear that Calibre offers an excellent service, but because the > consultation has demonstrated the overwhelming support of our customers > for the RNIB service, the best way forward is to both retain RNIB's > services but also offer customers the option to use Calibre. > > "Users of the audio book service will have their subscription renewed on > an annual basis and we will work with customers to ensure they are using > the service that best meets their needs. > > "I would like to thank everyone who took the time to take part in the > consultation. > > "Customer feedback is a vital tool in helping us to reach the right > decisions and in this particular case, it's brought to the fore the high > value placed on the services our libraries provide for people with visual > impairments." > > A spokesman for the RNIB said: "We welcome the council's decision to > provide RNIB's Talking Books service subscriptions to blind and partially > sighted people. > > "This will allow us to continue to supply a much-needed world of talking > books to blind and partially-sighted people in and we would like to thank > the council for listening to the concerns of it's service users and > supporting their right to read." > > Last Updated: 11 September 2007 6:28 PM > > > http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/Talking-books-to-continue-for.3192534.jp > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > BlindNews mailing list > > To contact a list moderator about a problem or to make a request, send a > message to BlindNews-Owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > The BlindNews list is archived at: http://GeoffAndWen.com/blind/ > > To address a message to all members of the list, send mail to: > BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > Access your subscription info at: > http://blindprogramming.com/mailman/listinfo/blindnews_blindprogramming.com > > To unsubscribe via e-mail: send a message to > BlindNews-Request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in either > the subject or body of the message > To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, go to www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes