Everyone has the right to read

 

To support Right to Read Week in November 2006 the Scottish Braille Press has launched two new Braille books in the new Thistle series: I’m Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti and Highest Tide by Jim Lynch. 

 

The first title, I’m Not Scared is available in three volumes price £6.99. The second title, Highest Tide is available in four volumes price £7.99.

‘Over three million people in the UK are denied the right to read just because they have a sight problem or print reading disability,’ said John Donaldson of the Scottish Braille Press.  ‘Even more concerning is the fact that a shocking 96% of books are not available in large print, audio or Braille.  At the Scottish Braille Press we can tailor a publication to suit an individual and we fully support the move of the Right to Read Alliance to ensure that everyone is able to read the same book, at the same time and at the same price.’ 

 

Right to Read Week aims to raise awareness that people are being denied the right to read just because they have a sight problem or print reading disability.  For example in the UK there are approximately 20,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 with a visual impairment severe enough to require specialist educational support (figures taken from Campaign report ‘Where’s my Book?’ based on research by Loughborough University’s Library and Information Statistics Unit and RNIB).  However, blind and partially sighted pupils are still not receiving educational materials in the format they require when they need them.  The current system of providing accessible textbooks is simply not working. It lacks any national coherence or co-ordination, and is far from cost-effective. In an age of digital technology dedicated staff are often reduced to cutting, pasting and photocopying textbooks page by page to get them to their pupils in time.  Therefore, the Scottish Braille Press, working with other partners in Scotland has produced a proposal for a national educational transcription service that will ensure that the needs of these children are met.  This proposal is currently sitting with the Scottish Executive, awaiting a decision.
 
‘I’m proud to work for one of the UK’s leading providers of information that is produced in alternative formats,’ continued John, ‘but from the figures recently printed by the Right to Read Alliance there is still a lot to be done to ensure the rights of individuals to choose what they want to read and how they want to read it.  Our children are especially important and unfortunately one size does not fit all, so I will work closely with partners to hopefully ensure a better future for the blind and visually impaired.’

 

Highest Tide – Jim Lynch – 4 Vols - £7.99. One unforgettable night, thirteen-year-old Miles goes to the flats near his home in search of shellfish, only to discover something startling and remarkable: a giant squid. Instantly, he becomes a local celebrity and is pursued by TV crews urging him to explain the phenomenon. His psychic friend Florence predicts that even more astonishing discoveries are to come, indicators of the highest tide in fifty years. Yet, Miles worries more about matters closer to home: will his passion for his ex-babysitter Angie go unrequited? Will his arguing parents divorce? Is everything, even the bay, shifting from him?

I’m Not Scared – Niccolo Ammaniti – 3 Vols – £6.99.  The hottest summer of the twentieth century. A tiny community of five houses enclosed by wheat fields. While the adults shelter indoors, six children venture out on their bikes across the scorched, deserted countryside. Whilst exploring a dilapidated and uninhabited farmhouse, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano discovers a secret so momentous, so terrible, that he dare not tell anyone about it. To come to terms with what he has found, Michele has to draw strength from his own sense of humanity.