Lighthouse Guild, Palm Beach Libraries and Bookshare Make Online Library Available to People with Vision Loss

Posted by PRNewswire

Lighthouse Guild is collaborating with the Palm Beach Libraries to provide annual memberships to Bookshare® for Palm Beach County residents who have vision impairment. Bookshare, a Benetech® initiative, is the world’s largest online library for people who read differently due to blindness, low vision, a physical disability, or dyslexia.

“We are proud to partner with Lighthouse Guild to make Bookshare’s library of more than 600,000 books available to individuals in Palm Beach who are unable to read standard print material,” said Brad Turner, Benetech’s Vice President of Global Literacy. “Organizations like Lighthouse Guild help Bookshare ensure everyone has equal access to books and other content by expanding our reach into the communities who can most benefit from our services.”

Dr. Alan R. Morse, President and CEO of Lighthouse Guild, said, “Reading is a right, not a privilege. We are pleased to work with Bookshare to enable people with vision loss to enjoy the books they want to read. This program will touch the lives of people of all ages in the Palm Beach community. It is part of Lighthouse Guild’s commitment to provide people with vision loss the tools, resources and support necessary to live fully and independently.

Lighthouse Guild
Lighthouse Guild, based in New York, is the leading not-for-profit healthcare organization dedicated to addressing and preventing vision loss through coordinated vision and health services. With Lighthouse Guild, people who are at risk for, or affected by, vision loss have access to all the resources necessary to lead full, independent and productive lives. For more information, visit LighthouseGuild.org.

About Bookshare
Bookshare®, a Benetech initiative, is the world’s largest online library of accessible ebooks for people with print disabilities. Through its extensive collection of educational and popular titles, specialized book formats and reading tools, Bookshare offers individuals who cannot read standard print materials the same ease of access that people without disabilities enjoy. The Bookshare library has over 600,000 titles and serves more than 500,000 members. Access to Bookshare is free for all U.S. students with a qualifying print disability. Bookshare is an initiative of Benetech, a Palo Alto, CA-based nonprofit that empowers communities with software for social good. For more information, visit www.bookshare.org.