Victory for Audio Book Users

12.56.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 12th Sep 2007

Councillor David Garlick

Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Community Services, County Councillor David Garlick, has hailed as "a victory for audio book service users the decision of the County Council to continue to provide the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) audio books for customers with visual impairments, and that the Calibre service will also be an option for customers."

Commenting on this Cllr. Garlick said: "This 'U' turn is a victory for the users of these services and for commonsense. Visually impaired people around the county will be celebrating their success at the reinstatement of the RNIB Audio Book Service following their campaign. It is clear that the Calibre system is not viable for many of the blind and partially sighted people who use the Library audio services and to try to change it without full consultation with users regarding their individual needs was a mistake."

"The Conservative Administration has placed all services, including the Library Service, under severe pressure to cut costs, maximise income and at the same time maintain services. The Library Service with the recent Library closures and reductions in opening hours always at the back of their minds will have to look at every thing they do to meet those pressures. Library services are vital to all sections of the community and especially those who wish to study, people with a disability and those for whom modern computer based services are not available privately or are never going to be an option that they will use. Libraries are vital to us all in a rapidly changing and developing society and must be sure of our commitment and support."