The project has been set up to address the need for identifying web-based information resources to help the educational and professional development needs for people with disabilities (primarily those with visual impairments) in Bulgaria and to create a library and information service model, initially through the project website. Currently there are 31 participating libraries comprising city, municipal and regional libraries, university libraries, national libraries and “chitalishta” libraries (comparable to UK special libraries).
 

The aim of the consultancy was to give Bulgarian colleagues an overview of UK library experience in this area and to raise awareness of best practice, drawing particularly on the work of the M25 Disabled and Special Needs Working Group. I delivered two presentations as part of a two-day conference programme in Stara Zagora and the meeting was very well-attended and positive. The progress that had been made in the project until then was impressive and disability provision in some of the key participating libraries was quite advanced. The participants were extremely enthusiastic and committed to the project and the conference allowed them to form a social cohesion which was important given their geographical dispersion. It was interesting that a number of the other speakers were disabled themselves and there is extensive collaboration between libraries and their disabled users in developing services.

The next stage of the project has been to develop the website (maintained at Sofia University) and to create links to all 31 library catalogues, with a view to facilitating an inter-library loan system between members for materials in alternative formats. The project has funded the purchase of JAWS and Speechlab to be installed in seven of the participating libraries as a pilot for evaluation of uptake and appropriateness for assistive technology. The project has been heavily publicised and the conference saw coverage on national radio and television!

The main success of the project has been the development of collaboration between the participants. They were very interested in the M25 Consortium experience and the M25 Disabled and Special Needs Working Group is discussing ways to maintain dialogue and exchange of experience.

Anne Poulson
Librarian
School of Oriental & African Studies