Nazareth: First library for people with reading disabilities launched

A Palestinian-Israeli NGO has launched a bold new project to encourage reading among Arabs, including those with visual difficulties.

Al-Manarah Association for Persons with Disabilities announced the project, titled Close Your Eyes And Read, on Saturday at the Mahmoud Darwish Centre in Nazareth. The date was chosen to coincide with the International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD).

"We have launched the project today to encourage Arabs who often have no access to reading, through alternative methods in the age of speed," Abbas Abbas, director of Al-Manarah, told The New Arab.

The goal of the project is to encourage reading and promote culture through audio books, especially with people with reading difficulties and visual impairments.

The audio-digital library, launched in 2014, today boasts of more than 3,700 digital titles available for free. They include children's stories and Arabic and international fiction and non-fiction books, including self-help manuals.

On its website www.arabcast.org, Al-Manara's library describes its collection as "the first Arabic library suitable for people with reading disabilities." The library not only includes audio books but also Braille books for the blind.

The library also offers its collection via a smartphone app.

"The library also seeks to make knowledge available to people with reading disabilities to develop their capacities and assist them integrate into higher education and the labour market."

Al-Manarah says it is the first organisation of its kind within Palestinian-Israel society. Launched in 2005 by a group of grassroots activists, led by Abbas Abbas, himself a person with a visual disability, Al-Manarah means “lighthouse”.

The organisation says it seeks to serve as a beacon of information about disability rights and a source of empowerment for the disabled community, through social advocacy and legislative activities.