It’s been there since May 2023, but very few people know that the Uitenhage Library in Market Street, Kariega, has a mini-library within the library specifically for blind and partially sighted individuals.
Senior librarian Nompumelelo Ngcoko and library assistant Nomfundiso Mka are responsible for the mini-library and they were excited to welcome their first visitors – teachers from Khanyisa School for the Blind in KwaDwesi – last week.
“The mini-library consists of only two computers in the main library,” said Ngcoko.
She added that not all libraries are equipped with a mini-library and the one they have was moved from Elukhanyisweni Library in KwaNobuhle because of a rise in theft and vandalism.
Their challenge now is spreading the word to get people who need it, to come in and use it, she says.
“It has been installed in Kariega for almost a year. We want to see it working, being used. So I took it upon myself to search for a school, which is Khanyisa School for the Blind, to use it.
“The teachers came for a preview of what we have to offer the learners.”
In addition to the two stations that make up the mini-library, the library also has an e-reader available. It scans the pages of a book in the library and then reads them aloud. Patrons can use this in the library.
To take books home – audio books that they can listen to – they will need to fill in a registration form for the South African Library for the Blind, which provides certain municipal libraries with the mini-libraries.
After registering, they will then receive their own Envoy Connect, a device that reads audiobooks aloud.
Patrons can bring their device to the library, use one of the stations to load the books they want to listen to and take it home.
“It’s also new to us. They sent us for training and it’s very exciting. But the people don’t know about it so they don’t come here to use it,” said Mka.
“We want more community members to be aware that it is here. There are other people that we are unaware of who can use this,” Ngcoko added.
