Canadians with print disabilities, who are unable to read print materials, have access to a growing collection of downloadable audio and electronic books through public libraries. Today, the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) is pleased to announce that over 30 Freehand Books titles will be added to the existing NNELS collection in accessible formats, starting December 5, 2014. A complete list of titles is appended to this release.
Library cardholders are always looking for a great read, even better when it is a great new Canadian story. When the Province of Nova Scotia alerted NNELS to their choice of the Freehand book Roost for their One Book Nova Scotia program, NNELS was quick to contact Freehand to see about making the title available in the collection. Not only has Freehand Books made Roost available, but now nearly the entire shelf list of this Alberta based publisher will be available through NNELS.
“This collaboration with Freehand Books really helps deliver on our shared interests and objectives in connecting new titles with readers,” said Ben Hyman, Executive Director of the BC Libraries Cooperative, on behalf of NNELS. Approximately 10% of Canadians cannot read standard books because of a print disability, yet less than 5% of printed material is available in formats accessible for print-disabled readers. Now authors, publishers, and libraries are working in partnership to change those numbers. “We’re very pleased that, thanks to our partnership with NNELS, our books will be available to more readers than ever before,” said Kelsey Attard, Managing Editor of Freehand Books.
NNELS is an ambitious grassroots plan aimed at helping libraries to better serve their print disabled patrons by providing libraries with free access to digital resources in accessible formats. There is no charge to use NNELS - it is fully funded by participating jurisdictions. More than 12,500 titles are available through NNELS, a predominantly audio-on-demand collection, built around standard public library collections. It features free resources, which can be used on computers, tablets, smartphones or burned to CD and DAISY readers, a format specifically designed for use by people with print disabilities.
Freehand Books, founded in 2007, is the literary imprint of the independent academic publisher Broadview Press. Based in Calgary, Freehand publishes a select list of four titles a year: an aesthetically diverse, award-winning collection of fiction, creative non-fiction, and graphic literature written by Canadian authors.
Publishers are invited to visit nnels.ca or to contact coordinator@nnels.ca for more information.
Media Contacts:
NNELS: c/o BC Libraries Co-op Ben Hyman, Executive Director, BC Libraries Cooperative ben.hyman@bc.libraries.coop | 1.855.282.5761 extension 1001
nnels.ca
Freehand Books: Kelsey Attard, Managing Editor kattard@broadviewpress.com | (403) 452-5662 freehand-books.com
Freehand title List
A Description of the Blazing World And Me Among Them
Are You Ready to Be Lucky? Between Clay and Dust
Bitter Medicine: A True Story of Rape and Recovery Blue Sunflower Startle
Boundary Problems
Detachment: An Adoption Memoir
Every Wolf's Howl
Harmonics
Here Is Where We Disembark
Hold Me Now
It's Hard Being Queen: The Dusty Springfield Poems Mother Superior
Not Anyone's Anything
Not Being on a Boat
One Hour in Paris: A True Story of Rape and Recovery Open Arms
Pathologies: A Life in Essays
People Who Disappear
Personals
Postcard and other stories
Roost
Seen Reading
SubUrban Legends
Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me The Crimes of Hector Tomás
The Dilettantes
The Doctrine of Affections
The Green and Purple Skin of the World
The Reverse Cowgirl
While the Sun Is Above Us