Hadley School for the Blind partners with Bookshare.org

The Hadley School for the Blind has formed a partnership with Bookshare.org, an online community that lets people with print disabilities, such as blindness or low vision, scan books and exchange them legally through its website. The strategic partnership will extend the reach of both organizations and provide a broad range of learning and reading materials to people who are blind and visually impaired.

The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded Bookshare.org $32 million over five years to give all U.S. students under 26 years of age access to its library without charge. Other users pay a nominal annual membership fee for access to Bookshare.org. Benetech CEO, Jim Fruchterman, who received a 2006 MacArthur Fellowship, visited the Hadley School on October 24th to commemorate its partnership with Bookshare.org and celebrate the expanded availability of accessible electronic books.

"Finally individuals who are blind will have access to a library from which they can download books and newspapers in Braille, large print, or synthesized voice formats," says Chuck Young, president of The Hadley School for the Blind. "This is an incredible asset and will change lives through literacy for people who are visually impaired."

Through the partnership, Hadley students will have access to Bookshare.org, which will dramatically increase and diversify their options for both academic and leisure reading material. A special provision in the U.S. copyright law gives nonprofit organizations like Benetech the ability to distribute copyrighted digital books to people with disabilities. Eligibility for access to Bookshare.org requires a qualifying print disability such as blindness, low vision, a severe reading disability or a mobility impairment that makes it difficult or impossible to hold a book or turn pages.

Hadley has established a volunteer program that will create a scanned library of recommended reading from Hadley courses and books about Braille. Bookshare.org will include these texts in its online library and serve thousands of Hadley students who will have free access to this material.

"Bookshare.org's goal is to give people with disabilities access to the books they need for school and work," says Fruchterman, founder of Benetech and Bookshare.org. "We're delighted that we are partnering with Hadley to meet the needs of their students and to gain access to a new and vital volunteer resource."