A fantastic service
Ms Senaderage Dona Chandrika shares her experience working as a librarian at the Sri Lanka Council for the Blind, a Sightsavers partner in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
“I live with my husband (who is blind) 22 kilometers outside Colombo. It takes me an hour and a half to get to work. I work in the Braille library, which provides Braille and audio materials, like talking books, to schools and universities. The materials are distributed on a rotational basis to 13 schools and four universities, in 13 districts all over the country, including the north and east, where the civil war is going on. The majority of the books are reading materials for blind school and university students.
People can also join the library as private members. Library membership is open to anyone who is blind or visually impaired, and there are currently 140 members. They can borrow Braille books for up to a month.
The best part of my job is travelling to the schools and giving out the books
My main responsibility is to choose and purchase books to transcribe into Braille. The printed versions of the books are given to readers and writers, who take them home and convert them into Braille. Once they have been transcribed, I pass these on to a team of proof readers for editing, and a master copy is produced, which stays at the library. The majority of the books are reading materials for blind school and university students.
The best part of my job is travelling to the schools and giving out the books, and seeing the children happy when they touch them. I love being able to meet the requests of blind school children for additional books, and seeing these children getting really good exam results because of them.”
What do you think?