World Blind Union
Survey of Braille Libraries Around the World
September 2011
Argentina
 Biblioteca Argentina para Ciegos, Buenos Aires, http://www.bac.org.ar/
Armenia
 Braille and Talking Book Library of the Armenian Association of the Blind, http://www.euroblind.org/fichiersGB/libraries.htm
Australia
 Vision Australia, 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong, Victoria, http://www.abwa.asn.au; Tony Iezzi, National Library Manager,
Tony.iezzi@visionaustralia.org
founded in 2004 (combined services), 10000 Braille books, all English, mostly Fiction, ca. 20000 patrons, service free of charge
Austria
 Federal Institute for the Blind, Vienna; http://www.bbi.at
Bangladesh
 Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation (BERDO), 3/1, Road # 11, Rupnagar R/A, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216; Md. Saidul
Huq, berdo@citechco.net
founded in 2001, Books in Bengali and English, 236 patrons, service free of charge
Belgium
 Ligue Braille - Association d'aide aux personnes aveugles et malvoyantes, Brussels; http://www.braille.be/
 Oeuvre Nationale des Aveugles, Brussels; http://www.ona.be
printed Braille material
 Luisterpuntbibliotheek (Flemish Library for Audiobooks and Braillebooks), G. Schildknechtstraat 28, 1020 Brussels;
http://www.luisterpuntbibliotheek.be/nl/; Geert Ruebens, director, info@luisterpuntbibliotheek.be
founded in 2008, 8000 Braille books, Dutch, 4300 patrons, service free of charge
 La Lumière, Liege; http://www.lalumiere.be/
printed media
1
Bosnia-Herzegovina
 Special library for blind and visually impaired of Srpska; http://www.bsrs.rs
printed Braille material, digital and online Braille planned for the near future
Brazil
 Instituto Benjamin Constant/Biblioteca Luis Braille, Rio de Janeiro; http://www.ibc.gov.br/
Bulgaria
 National Library for the Blind "Louis Braille", Sofia; http://www.nllb.bg/
Canada
 CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind), 1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4G 3E8; www.cnib.ca; Margaret Williams,
Manager, Content and Access, margaret.williams@cnib.ca
founded in 1918, 12000 Braille books, 3000 Braille picture books, 2800 Braille music scores, 1750 patrons, service free of charge
 Crane Resource Centre/Disability Resource Centre, Vancouver; http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/access/crane.html
 Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille, Longueuil; http://www.inlb.qc.ca/
Chile
 Biblioteca Central para Ciegos (BCC), Santiago; www.bibliociegos.cl
China
 China Association of the Blind (CAB), Beijing
 Hong Kong Society for the Blind, Kowloon; http://www.hksb.org.hk
printed Braille material, E-book lending services
 China Braille Press, Beijing; www.cn-bp.com
Croatia
 Hrvatski Savez Slijepih, Zagreb; http://www.savez-slijepih.hr/
 Croatian Library for the Blind, Zagreb; www.hkzasl.hr/
2
printed Braille material
Cuba
 Asociación Nacional del Ciego (ANCI), Calle I No 201e/Línea y 11, Plaza de la Revolución. Ciudad de La Habana, C.P. 10,400, Aptdo. Postal:
4129; http://www.bnjm.cu/; Carlos Abel Ramírez Vega, Jefe Dpto. Cultura, Educación y Relaciones Públicas, ANCI Sede Nacional,
cultura@anci.cu
founded in 1984, 2250 Braille books, 300 books on cassette tapes, 2600 titles in digital format, mostly Spanish, diversity of topics, 110 patrons,
service free of charge
 La Biblioteca Central de la Asociación Nacional del ciego (ANCI), radica en Calle 82 No. 4105 entre 41 y 43 Marianao, La Habana Cuba.
Cyprus
 Pancyprian Organization of the Blind
Czech Republic
 The Library and Printing Office for the Blind, Prague; www.ktn.cz
printed Braille material, online digital library
 Christian Library for the Blind, Prague; www.ktf.cuni.cz/KTF-267.html
text format - students and users have access to the virtual library of the full-text; files are provided with marks of end of the page and other
marks of the references and quotations
 Knihovna pro nevidomé a slabozraké Knihovny Jiřího Mahena v Brně, KJM v Brně, Kobližná 4, 601 50 Brno; nevidomi@kjm.cz
service free of charge
 Diakonie ČCE – Středisko pro zrakově postižené, Klimentská 18, 110 15 Praha 1; szp@diakoniecce.cz
Braille books, cassette tapes, CDs, digital titles (TXT), mostly Czech, cost: 100 CZK/ year
Denmark
 The Danisch National Library for Persons with Print Disabilities, Copenhagen; www.nota.nu; Inge Padkaer Nielsen, ipn@nota.nu,
nota@nota.nu
founded in 1948, 3400 titles, 3000 Braille music scores, in Danish, ca. 400 patrons, service free of charge
 Studiebogservice; www.studiebogservice.dk
El Salvador
3
 Biblioteca Nacional Braille, San Salvador
Estonia
 Estonian Federation of the Blind, Lai 9, Tallinn; http://www.epr.ee; Monica Lõvi, member of the board on international affairs,
epl@pimedateliit.ee, monsalovi@gmail.com
founded in 1947, 730 titles, 2500 copies, audio books, 520 patrons, service free of charge
 Repository Library of Estonia, Department of the Estonian Library for the Blind, Suur-Sõjamäe 44a, 11415, Tallinn
Fiji
 Fiji Society for the Blind, Suva
Finland
 Celia Library for the Visually Impaired Finland, Helsinki; www.celialib.fi
printed Braille material, Daisy books type 6 which may be read with refreshable Braille (until now on CDs, from 2010 on downloadable)
France
 Association Valentin Haüy pour le Bien des Aveugles (AVH), Paris; http://www.avh.asso.fr
printed Braille material
 Groupement des Intellectuels Aveugles ou Amblyopes, Paris
 Association Bibliothèque Braille Enfantine – ABBE, 111, avenue Parmentier - 75011 Paris; http://bibli.braille.enfant.free.fr; Mme Olga
d'AMORE Présidente, bibli.braille.enfant@free.fr
3731 Braille books
Gambia
 Opposite MDI Road, Kanifing, P O Box 2053, Serre Kunda, KSMD; Mamout M Touray, touraymamout@yahoo.com
founded in 2003, 400 books (Braille, Large print), variety of topic, 90 to 120 patrons, service free of charge, computer centre in collaboration
with Force Foundation in order to teach blind children how to use a computer and the internet
 GOVI Resource Centre
Germany
 Deutsche Blinden-Bibliothek Blindenstudienanstalt (e.V.), http://www.blista.de/dbb/, printed Braille Material
 Deutsches Katholisches Blindenwerk e.V., Deutsche Katholische Blindenbücherei gGmbH, Graurheindorfer Str. 151a, D-53117 Bonn; +49 228
4
559490; Mr Michael Schroeter (head of the library), info@blindenbuechereibonn.de
founded in 1918, 6800 books, diversity of topics, 69 patrons, service free of charge
 Deutsche Zentralbücherei für Blinde zu Leipzig, - German Central Library fort he Blind Leipzig - Postfach 100 245, D 04002 Leipzig, GustavAdolf-Straße 7, D 04105 Leipzig; www.dzb.de; Dr. Thomas Kahlisch, Thomas.Kahlisch@dzb.de
founded in 1894, Braille books 15.700, Braille notes 6.200, DAISY books 17.900, mostly in German, 9600 patrons, service free of charge
Greece
 Lighthouse for the Blind of Greece, Athens; http://www.fte.org.gr/
Honduras
 Centro Cultural Sampedrano Biblioteca, San Pedro Sula; http://www.centrocultural-sps.com/
Hungary
 Hungarian Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted, Budapest; www.mvgyosz.hu
India
 Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys‘ Academy, Narendrapur, Kolkata – 103, West Bengal;
http://www.webelmediatronics.in/brlads/wbschools_narendrapur.htm; Principal Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys‘ Academy,
bbapkm@gmail.com
founded in 1957, 9400 Braille books, mostly in Bengali, 250 patrons, service free of charge
 Indian Association for the Blind, Sundarajanpatty, Alagarkoil RD, Arumbanoor Post, Madurai – 625104; S. M. A. Jinnah, founder and secretary
general, Iabmdu@gmail.com
founded in 1988, 120 titles, in English, Tamil, 150 patrons, service free of charge
 All India Confederation of the Blind, Braille Bhawan, Behind Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital, Sector-5, Rohini, Delhi-110085
founded in 1990, 4500 text files, in English, Hindi, 150 members, service free of charge, no Braille books in stock, but files are printed on
demand, for students and teachers of the University of Dehli
 Braille Library, Tutorial Building, Arts Faculty, University of Delhi, Delhi – 110007
 Blind People’s Association (India), Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380015 Gujarat; F J Porwal, Manager, blinabad1@bsnl.in
founded in 1957, 14500 titles, in English, Hindi, mostly Fiction, 470 patrons, service free of charge
 National Federation of the Blind, Plot No. 21, Sector b, M. B. Road, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi, 11017; Mr. S. K. Rungta,
Nfbindia_mlm@hotmail.com
founded in 1978, 1323 books, in English, Hindi, 807 patrons, service free of charge
5
 National Federation of the Blind Braille Library, 7/458, Dehli, Rohtak Road, District: Jhajjar, Bahadurgrah – 124507 (Haryana)
 National Institute for the Visually Handicapped; the director, anuradhamohit@gmail.com
founded in 1962, 4000 titles, in English, Hindi, 6008 patrons, service free of charge, circulating library for individuals and institutions, 25
extension libraries in 13 states
 National Library for the Print Handicapped, 116- Rajpur Road, Dehra Dun, Pin 248001
Ireland
 National Council for the Blind of Ireland(NCBI) Library and Media Centre, Unit 29 Finglas Business Centre, Jamestown Road, Finglas, Dublin
11; http://www.ncbi.ie; Lina Kouzi, Library and Media Services Manager, lina.kouzi@ncbi.ie
founded in 1858, Braille books, in English, diversity of topics, 4500 patrons, service free of charge
Israel
 ALEH - The Society of Blind and Dyslexic Students in Israel and Learning Center for the Blind, Jerusalem; http://www.alehblind.org.il
 Central Library for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Handicapped, Netanya; http://www.clfb.org.il/index-e.php
 Jewish Institute for the Blind, Jerusalem; http://www.jewishblind.org/
Italy
 Biblioteca Italiana per i Ciechi “Regina Margherita”, Via Giuseppe Ferrari, 5/A, 20900 Monza MB; www.bibciechi.it; bic@bibciechi.it; Daniele
Arreghini, Head of the Publishing Activities Office, darreghini@bibciechi.it
 Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted, 38 via Borgognona, 00187 Rome; Tommaso Daniele, President, inter@uiciechi.it
founded in 1928, 7000 titles (Braille, Large print, digital), mostly Italian, diversity of topics, 3500 patrons, service free of charge
Iran
 Roudaki Complex for the Blind, Tehran; http://www.behzisty.ir/
Jamaica
 Jamaica Society for the Blind, Kingston 6; http://www.jamaica-kidz.com/pact/blind/
Japan
 Japan Braille Library, Tokyo; http://www.nittento.or.jp/
 Japan Federation of the Blind, Tokyo; http://www.normanet.ne.jp/~nichimo/
6
 Nippon Lighthouse, Information and Culture Center, 1-13-2, Edobori, Nishiku, Osaka; Mr. Wataru Takeshita, General manager,
watake@lighthouse.or.jp
founded in 1935, titles in Japanese, 4409 patrons, service free of charge
Jordan
 Friendship Association of the Blind – 3rd Circle, Abdel Mone'm Riyadh Str. Amman; Abdel-Qader Suleiman, alhourriah@gmail.com
founded in 1976, 600 titles, in Arabic, English, 500 patrons, service free of charge
Kazakhstan
 Republic Library for Blind and Partially Sighted Persons, Almaty
Kyrgyzstan
 Kyrgyz Association of Deaf and Blind People, Bokonbaeva Str. 191, Central Board of Kyrgyz Association of Deaf and Blind People, 720017,
Bishkek; Mambetakonov Kalyk, erc@elcat
founded in 1970, titles in Russian, diversity of topics, 625 patrons, service free of charge
 Specialized Libratry for Deaf and Blind, Kekol Str. 5, Bishkek
Latvia
 Latvian Library for the Blind; www.neredzigobiblioteka.lv/eng/about.php
printed Braille material
Lithuania
 Lietuvos akluju biblioteka (Lithuanian Library for the Blind), Skroblu g. 10, Vilnius, LT-03142; http://labiblioteka.lt
printed Braille material
 Lithuanian Association of the Blind and Visually Handicapped, Rasa Januseviciene; director, r.januseviciene@labiblioteka.lt
founded in 1966, 8600 Braille titles, mostly Lithuanian, 231 patrons, service free of charge
Malaysia
 Asrama St Nicholas Bags Orang Cacat Penglihatan, Penang
 Persatuan Bagi Orang Buta Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; http://www.mab.org.my/
7
Netherlands
 Dedicon Netherlands, Amsterdam; www.dedicon.nl
 Bibliotheek Le Sage ten Broek lectuur en informatie in aangepaste vorm, Nijmegen; http://www.lsb.nl
 Christelijke Bibliotheek voor Blinden en Slechtzienden, Ermelo; http://www.cbb.nl
printed Braille material
 Nederlandse Luister-en Braillebibliotheek, Den Haag; http://www.nlbb.nl/
 Studie en Vakbibliotheek voor Visueel en Anderszins Gehandicapten, Amsterdam
 Loket aangepast-lezen, Postbus 84010, 2508 AA Den Haag; www.aangepast-lezen.nl/; Mr. Jan van Koolwijk, j.vankoolwijk@aangepastlezen.nl
integration of three different libraries started in 2007, 10300 titles, ca. 1400 patrons, service free of charge
New Zealand
 Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind Private Bag 99941, Newmarket, Auckland 1052; http://www.rnzfb.org.nz/; Marianne Kraack,
Manager, Library Collections and Access, mkraack@rnzfb.org.nz
founded in 1980s, 7600 titles, in English, Maori, ca. 4500 patrons, service free of charge
Nigeria
 Nigerian National Advisory Council for the Blind, Lagos
Norway
 Norsk lyd- og blindeskriftbibliotek, Oslo; www.nlb.no
Pakistan
 Ida Rieu Poor Welfare Association and The Hatim Alavi Memorial Braille Library, Karachi
Panama
 Escuela de Ciegos Helen Keller, Panama City
Peru
 Unión Nacional de Ciegos del Perú, Plaza Bolognesi 477, 479 Lima Cercado; Oscar Eduardo Vega Alvarado, uncperu@speedy.com.pe,
8
ovaperu@hotmail.com
founded in 1941, 550 Braille books, in Spanish, 300 members, service free of charge
Poland
 Biblioteka Centralna PZN, Warsaw; http://www.biblioteka-pzn.org.pl
Portugal
 Associação dos Cegos e Ambliopes de Portugal (ACAPO), Lisbon; http://www.acapo.pt
 Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do Livro, Lisbon
 Area de Leitura Especial, Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Lisbon; www.bn.pt
Puerto Rico
 Puerto Rico Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Romania
 Asociatia Nevazatorilor din Romania, Bucharest; http://www.anvr.ro
Russia
 Novosibirsk Regional Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Novosibirsk
 Russian State Library for the Blind, Moscow; http://www.rgbs.ru/
printed and digital Braille material
 Saratov Regional Special Library for the Blind, Saratov
 Al LOGOS VOS Center, Moscow; http://www.logosvos.ru/
 All Russia Association of the Blind, Moscow; www.vos.org.ru
Serbia
 Library for the Blind Milana Budimira, Beograd
Singapore
 National Library Board, Singapore; http://www.nlb.gov.sg/
 Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped, Singapore; http://www.savh.org.sg
printed Braille material
9
Slovak Republic
 Slovenska kniznica pre nevidiacich M. Hrebendu, Levoca; www.skn.sk
printed Braille material
Slovenia
 Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted of Slovenia, Ljubljana; www.zveza-slepih.si
South Africa
 South African Library for the Blind, Grahamstown; http://www.salb.org.za/
Braille masters in digital formats for printing purposes
 Dorothy Duncan Centre Braille Library, Harare
 Instituut vir Blindes, Worcester; www.blind-institute.org.za
South Korea
 Daegu University, Braille Sign Library, Kyong-Buk
 Pusan Braille Sign Library for the Blind, Pusan City
 Korean Braille Library, Seoul; http://infor.kbll.or.kr/
printed Braille material, Braille files
Spain
 Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE), Ortega y Gasset, 18 – 28006 Madrid; http://www.once.es; Ana Isabel Ruiz López,
Directora de Educación, Empleo y Promoción Cultural, Prado, 24 – 28014 Madrid, Tlf.: +34 915 894 881, airl@once.es
founded in 1939, 34800 titles in a variety of languages (Castellano, Catalan, English, French), diversity of topics, 1693 patrons, service free of
charge
 Servicio Bibliográfico de la ONCE, La Coruña, 18 – 28020 Madrid
Sri Lanka
 Sri Lanka Council for the Blind, No 74, Church Street, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka; http://www.srilankablindcouncil.org/; Mangala Weerasooriya
Arachchige, Assistant Secretary/ project coordinator, Sri Lanka Council for the Blind, slcblind@sltnet.lk
founded in 1971, 2000 titles, in Sinhala, English, Tamil, 847 patrons, nominal annual payment
10
Sweden
 Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille, Johanneshov; www.tpb.se
printed Braille material; prestudying a project to transcend to on demand print (one way) loans (time frame is service start January 2011),
collection of 3000+ ASCII-based e-books in the format Textview which the end users read using Braille display and speech synthesizer
Switzerland
 Swiss Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Zürich; www.sbszh.ch
printed Braille material, e-texts on individual demand
 Bibliothèque Braille Romande et Livre Parlé, Geneva; http://www.abage.ch/aba/ch/fr-ch/index.cfm?page=/aba/home/bibliotheque
printed Braille material
 Biblioteca Braille e del libro parlato, Tenero; http://www.unitas.ch/home/index.php?lang=it&mainID=1&subMenu=0&pagId=7&mainPagID=8
 FIDACA, c/o IBZ – CAB, Alte Landstrasse, CH – 8597 Landschlacht; Urs Rehmann, bbl@cab-org.ch
founded in 1965, 5200 titles, in German, 90 patrons, service free of charge
 BlindenBibliothek der CAB, Hinterdorfstr. 29, CH – 8597 Landschlacht
Taiwan
 Institute for the Blind of Taiwan, Taipei; http://www.ibt.org.tw/
 Taipei Municipal School for the Blind, Taipei
Tatar Republic
 Tatar Republican Special Library for the Blind, Kazan
Thailand
 Foundation for the Blind in Thailand, Bangkok, seems to be named as Caulfied Foundation for the Blind, at the moment no working link
Turkey
 Turkey Library for the Visually Impaired, Izmir; http://www.turgok.org/
printed Braille material
Ukraine
11
 Ukrainian Association of the Blind, Kiev
 Central Library for the Blind, Kiev
Uruguay
 Biblioteca Uruguaya para Discapacitados Visuales
United Kingdom
 Royal National Institute of Blind and Partially Sighted People, 105 Judd Street London, WC1H 9NE; www.rnib.org.uk; Helen Brazier, Head of
NLS, helen.brazier@rnib.org.uk
merged organization founded in 2007, 25000 Braille titles, 12000 Braille music scores, 18000 talking books, mostly in English, 3000 patrons,
service free of charge
 ClearVision Project, London; http://www.clearvisionproject.org
 Torch Trust for the Blind, Market Harborough; http://www.torchtrust.org/
printed Braille material, magazines as e-text in HTML
 RNIB National Library Service, Far Cromwell Road, Bredbury, Stockport, SK6 2SG
USA
 American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, Baltimore; www.actionfund.org
 Andrew Heiskell Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, New York
 Arizona Braille and Talking Book Library (BTBL), Phoenix; http://www.lib.az.us/braille/
printed Braille material, digital online download format as Web-Braille
 Bookshare, Provided by Benetech, the nonprofit parent of the Bookshare library. 480 California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306; Jim
Fruchterman, jim@benetech.org
founded in 2002, 110000 titles (BRF digital files), mostly in English (some Spanish), 140000 patrons, free for students in the USA, Australia,
Norway and Qatar, charges differ in different countries, annual individual subscriptions from $ 10 to $ 75
 Braille Institute of America, Los Angeles; http://www.brailleinstitute.org
 California Braille and Talking Book Library, California; http://www.library.ca.gov
printed Braille material, digital online download format as Web-Braill
 Connecticut State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Rocky Hill; http://www.cslib.org/lbph.htm
printed Braille material
 Florida Bureau of Braille and Talking Book Library Services, Daytona Beach; http://dbs.myflorida.com/library/
12










printed Braille material, digital online download format as Web-Braille
Georgia Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Atlanta
JBI International, New York; http://www.jbilibrary.org/
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Washington; http://www.loc.gov/nls
printed Braille material and Web-Braille, an Internet, web-based service that is password protected
Oregon State Library Talking Book and Braille Servicrs, Salem; http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/TBABS/
printed Braille material, digital online download format as Web-Braille
Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown; http://www.perkins.org/
Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Philadelphia; http://lbph.library.phila.gov/
printed Braille and Web-Braille
Tennessee Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Nashville
Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled, Salt Lake City; http://blindlibrary.utah.gov/
Washington Talking Book and Braille Library, Seattle; http://www.wtbbl.org
Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Milwaukee; http://www.loc.gov/nls/
Zambia
 Zambia National Library, Cultural Centre for the Blind, Lusaka
Zimbabwe
 Dorothy Duncan Centre for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Amby
13