The Ulverscroft Foundation and the IFLA Libraries Serving Persons with Print Disabilities Section are pleased to announce that the Foundation has agreed to provide renewed sponsorship of 20,000 GP Pounds in 2009 to continue a best practice development programme which commenced in 2003. 

 Since then individuals have been sponsored to visit libraries in other countries as follows:

  • From Iran to Sweden
  • From Norway to Bosnia
  • From UK to Canada
  • From France to Germany
  • From Nigeria to UK
  • From Belorussia to UK
  • From South Africa to UK

Additionally, the programme has funded the following projects within organisations:

SID Uncuyo, Argentina: Services for Visually Impaired Persons at the IDS: Creation of a Media Library, Technology Updating & Adaptation of Municipal Infrastructure to Access the Premises. £6,250 awarded.

Adaptive Technology Centre for the Blind, Ethiopia: Bridging the Gap: Access to Actual Information & Knowledge in Braille. £5,000 awarded.

Centro Para la Integracion y Desarrollo Invendente (CIDESI), Peru: Assistive Bibliography: Document Accessibility for Blind Students. £10,000 awarded.

Belgorod State Special Library for the Blind, Russia: Life-Creation, Creative-Life Project £10,000 awarded

Department of Library, Archival & Information Studies, University of Abadan, Nigeria: Setting up a Computerised Catalogue & Distribution Database of Alternative Materials for Blind & Visually Impaired Persons in Nigeria. £5,220 awarded.

This programme provides a wonderful opportunity for both personal and organisational development and both IFLA LPD and Ulverscroft wish to encourage worldwide applications from all persons and organisations interested in improving library services for visually impaired people.  Whilst this will be of particular interest to special library services for the blind, applications are also welcomed from public libraries, school libraries, university and college libraries, national libraries etc.

Further details of the awards and an application form for individual awards can be found on the Ulverscroft Foundation website at www.foundation.ulverscroft.co.uk   Applications should be submitted by 31 December 2009.

For further details please contact:
Ulverscroft: Joyce Sumner at j.sumner@ulverscroft.co.uk
IFLA LPD: Jenny Craven at j.craven@mmu.ac.uk