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Sample News Article

Submitted by leslie.corbay on
Forum: 
Manitoba

Library Community,

Below is a sample news article, developed by our NNELS partners, for you to complete and edit as you see fit for your local paper. Through having local papers publish articles about the new NNELS service, we are building a strong community awareness around who can sign up for NNELS, and importantly, where they can go to sign up for the service – your library. We are also letting our communities know that libraries are providing access to books and reading for persons with perceptual disabilities in towns big and small all over Manitoba. Please read the sample article below, and add your special touch, customizing it to the needs of your local community. Cheers Team NNELS!

leslie.corbay replied on

(YOUR LIBRARY) Provides Access to Books for People with Print Disabilities

(HEAD LIBRARIAN)

Date: (DATE RELEASED TO LOCAL PAPER)

(YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY) is pleased to announce that we have teamed up with other libraries across Canada to provide access to the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) to local residents who find reading difficult or impossible due to a disability.

(QUOTE FROM THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AS TO WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT IN YOUR COMMUNITY)

NNELS provides free and unlimited access to alternative format materials ready to download today for Canadians with a perceptual disability.

Perceptual disabilities, commonly referred to as print disabilities, include:

· An impairment of sight or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes,

· The inability to hold or manipulate a book,

· An impairment relating to comprehension (e.g. dyslexia, autism),

The NNELS collection is diverse, with children, teen, and adult books in all genres from popular fiction to classics and non-fiction. And the collection is growing.

Since NNELS’ launch in December 2013, libraries across Canada have been joining the NNELS network to provide print-disabled patrons reading materials they would not otherwise have access to.

If you or someone you know could benefit from this service, please contact the (YOUR LIBRARY) at (LIBRARY PHONE NUMBER) or (LIBRARY EMAIL), or visit nnels.ca for more information.

NNELS is a partnership between the provinces of and territories of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and the British Columbia Libraries Cooperative.

leslie.corbay replied on

Hi Team NNELS Manitoba,

Biblioteque St. Claude Library has shared the news article they published in their local paper regarding the NNELS with me. To celebrate, I have posted it below. If you have published a news article regarding NNELS in your local paper, please share it below.

FOR THE PRINT DISABLED

Bibliotheque St. Claude Library along with The
National Network for Equitable Library Service
(NNELS) will be providing the digital delivery of
talking books to individuals who are print disabled.

NNELS provides access to approximately 10,000
adult fiction, non-fiction, and juvenile titles. NNELS
is aggressively expanding its' collection every day and
projecting to reach a total of 20,000 items by the
summer of2014.
To access NNELS you need a library card and a signed
self-declaration form provided by the library verifying
that you are print disabled. Library staff will then
provide instructions on how to access the collection.
Print disabled patrons are those individuals who are
either visually impaired, physically disabled such that
he/she cannot hold a book, or have a comprehension
disability. It also includes those who are awaiting
cataract surgery and are temporarily visually impaired.
It does not have to be a permanent disability.
You may have a family member or know someone
who could benefit from this service. Please inform
them of this service to see if they would be interested.
For more information contact the library or visit the
NNELS website at http://nnels.ca. The website is
also up on the St. Claude Village website at www.
stclaude.ca.