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| About Library | Our Departaments | Services | Audio/CD books | Computer technologies |
About our Library: basic information, history, book collections.
St.-Petersburg State Library for the Blind is one of the biggest libraries for the blind in Russia. Its' great universal collection of books in three formats - Braille, audio and ordinary printed - enables to serve various age and social groups of patrons.
All library processes are automised, catalogues are accessible in electronic and Braille variants.
The library administration and staff believe their main goal is to organize high quality services for visually impaired people of St.-Petersburg and the city region. This is not, however, an exhaustive description of the library's activity. The library today is becoming centre of communication and collaboration of special libraries of North-Western Region of Russia. Libraries for the blind of Russia learn carefully St.-Petersburg experience. In our turn we highly appretiate this contacts and are sure that only mutual work enables us to develop library services for visually handicapped.
At the end of 1994 St.-Petersburg State Library for the Blind got membership in IFLA. This gave us opportunity to participate in international library programms. Among the tasks our library resolves - elaboration of united standart of "talking" books recording, creation of world information data basis on book collection of special libraries, organisation of access to world information resources for visually and physically handicapped people.
Brief history reference
St.-Petersburg State Library for the Blind inherits book collections of Mariinsky School for the Blind, Institute for the Blind and other institutions for the blind from XIX century. It is considered that 7th January 1927 is the date of St. Petersburg Library for the Blind foundation. On that day the library started its' work at the Central Club of the Blind. At that time embossed books collection includes 5 000 volumes and 600 patrons attended the library. In 1967 the Russian National Library donated us collection of embossed books.
The unique part of the collection forms rare embossed books (19th century) which is our treasure. We can name here such titles: "Rules to The Cross" 1825 (embossed letters of ordinary shape, made by Anna Ismailova in Novgorod Region); "Historical, Physical and Political Geography" byVasilij Bardovskij 1838 (the book was made in simplified embossed letters); "The Sermon on the Mount" 1881 (in Russian vesion of Dr Moon's Alphabet); "Biographical articles for children's reading" 1885 (this is the first Russian braille book printed by Anna Adler in her own printing-workshop) and others. In the following years our book collection was supplemented not only from centralised resources but also by the donations of great Russian teacher of the blind B.I.Kovalenko and famous blind public leader I.J.Galvin. Their book collections were preserved as separate units and can be read now in typhlological department of the library. In 1993 St.-Petersburg Library for the Blind got a new status of a State Regional Library. It is called now St.- Petersburg State Library for the Blind.
Patrons and book collections
St.-Petersburg State Library for the Blind includes 8 branches (4 - in the city and 4 - in the region) and more than 50 small network libraries. The branches are situated at enterprises of training and production of the Russian Society of the Blind, small network libraries - at local organizations of the Russian Society of the Blind. Total amount of the library patrons - approximately 11.000 people. 2.500 from them - children. Among our patrons there is a special group of different professionals concerning with visually impaired people. Mostly they are teachers and psychologists working at special schools for the blind and rehabilitation institutions.
The library works in close contact with pedagogues and students of Defectology Faculty of St.-Petersburg Pedagogical University, the oldest educational institution in Russia to prepare teachers for visually impaired people. The library's collection is various in its' formats as well as in topics. It totals 400.000 volumes of books. Among this about 100.000 are talking" books, about 100.000 braille books, about 150.000 ordinary printed books, more than 11.000 musical disks, 32 slides, more than 100 embossed graphical materials, CD-ROMs. 20.000 volumes in ordinary and special formats are involved into collection annually. The library provides its patrons with 163 titles of magazines and 71 titles of newspapers. Ordinary printed books from our universal collection are intended mostly for our visually impaired patrons. The book collection of Typhlology Department represents the whole picture of typhlo- science inside the country. Librarians also do their best to connect with scientific and public organizations in the field of visual impairment abroad. We also have "talking", braille and ordinary printed books in English, German, French and Finnish. Several years ago St.-Petersburg State Library for the Blind starts publishing of large print books, which are first books of this format in Russia.
Services you can get in St.-Petersburg State Library for the Blind
- Our librarians work in 8 departments. All library services for visually impaired people are free.
- At the Home Loan Department you can borrow any material in braille, "talking" book, large print and ordinary printed format, to get information and to brows new editions and periodicals.
- If needed you can get books by mail or by the library car.
- The Reading Room disposes of all kinds and format of books and periodicals. The other important opportunity is ordering editions through interlibrary loan system.
- Ordinary printed books can be read with help of CCTV or readers from the library staff. There are cabins for reading of talking books. The Circle of "Loud" Reading works in this department once a week.
- The Library Network Department provides the library branches and small local library sets with universal book variety in different formats.
- At the Department of Information and Bibliography you can get any reference, to order bibliography list on the topic you are interested in. Bibliographers run special card indexes in computer and braille formats. While preparing bibliography lists and references they they work with catalogues of the Russian National Library. The department also publishes the Information Report of New Books.
- The Typhlology Department keeps a unique collection of books, magazines and other materials on typhlo-sciences. Any person who are interested in problems of the visually impaired can be registered as its' patron. In this department you can find the rare books mentioned above. It is run the General Card Index on Typhlology in computer and braille formats.
- The Department of Production produces "talking" books, braille materials and ordinary printed materials.
- "Talking" books are produced professionally in audio studio.
- To prepare large print books, covers and labels for "talking" book it is used modern computer hardware and software.
- At the library we prepare musical scores materials in braille.
- While producing braille materials we use special computer techniques for visually impaired (braille and speech output) and appropriate special software.
- St.-Petersburg State Library for the Blind organizes regulary local, regional, national and international conferences and participates in different forums.
- All library processes are automased, catalogues are run in computer and braille formats.
- Our patrons get tape recorderes through the Russian Society of the Blind but, if needed can use the library's tape recorders.
- Collaboration with special libraries of the world is one of the main principals of St.- Petersburg State Library for the Blind activity. Coordinated activity gives us an opportunity to consolidate efforts of professionals in order to develop library and information services and give visually impaired patrons access to world information resources.
Computer technologies
The computer centre renders service:
At the Computer Centre the independent job of the visitors is provided:
- Search of the necessary information in the Internet, in the electronic catalogue of library
- Scanning and editing of the texts, graphic images
- Formatting of the texts submitted on Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Czech etc. languages for the subsequent seal by a relief - dot font Braille.
- Seal of the texts on braille and laser printers.
- Creation of letter boxes, reception and sending of an e-mail.
- Record of the information on CD/DVD, Flash-map, diskette
- Distribution of the books from fund of a department (including on CD)
- Advice on job with tiflotechnical and software
- Fact-finding excursions
At the computer centre the opportunity is given you to work with the newest computer literature and our funds are constantly updated. The various themes are covered: from training to independent job on the computer before the profound study of the programming languages and administration of networks.
- Output(exit) in the Internet with use of the programs of speech access and Braille displays.
- Job with the applications Microsoft Office - with a speech conclusion and Braille displays.
- Scanning of the texts and graphic images, listing on the laser printer (with the paper).
- Job with reading machines Poet-Compact, Infa-100.
- Reading of the texts and viewing of the images with the help of the increasing device WideoLight
- Job with the encyclopedia Kirilla and Mephody.
- Job with legal systems.
At the computer centre 13 workplaces function, from which 6 are supplied Braille displays.
Besides the specialized places for job blind the various software is used also which adapts the computer for the special inquiries of the given category of the users. We cooperate with German firm BAUM-RETEC, from which the Library has got the program VIRGO, allowing blind to work in operational system MS Windows.
At us the visually impaired readers also are engaged which we give workplaces with the large monitors 21 " and 19 ". If necessary it is possible to use strong desktop magnifier.
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| Arch. Averkey Gospels |
| V. Akimov From A.Blok to A.Solzgenitsin:
Guide-book for Russian literature. |
| V. Aksenov Moscow - Kwa - Kwa |
| A. Alexin Novels and stories |
| H.K. Andersen Tales. |
| N. Antsiferov Soul Petersburg. |
| A. Apraushev Education optimism |
| Aristophanes. Comedy / Frogs, Lysistrata, Clouds, riders. |
| B. Avseenko History of the City of St. Petersburg in faces and pictures. |
| A. Azolsky Monks. |
| A. Azolsky White Nights. |
| A. Azolsky Cell. |
| A. Azolsky Lopushok |
| A. Azolsky Marriage in the Baltic. |
| A. Bakhtiarov Brucho Peterburga |
| A. Barto Verses for children. |
| Belikh, Panteleev Republic «SKID» |
| C. Bergerac Other light or the state of the empire of the moon. |
| A. Block Poems. |
| V. Bogomolov Tale. (Ivan, Zosia). |
| Y. Borgen The little Lord |
| Y. Borgen Dark Sources |
| Y. Borgen And Now He Will Not Go Away |
| M. Bulgakov. Zapiski Yunogo Vracha. Morphii. |
| M. Bulgakov. Rocoviye Yaitsa |
| M. Bulgakov. Sobachie Serdtse |
| M. Bulgakov. Life of Monsieur de Moliere. |
| I. Bunich. The Party`s Gold |
| I. Bunin Izbranoe |
| L. Byurklen Psychology of the Blind. / Translated from German., Ed. VA Ganderax. |
| Magical Fairy Tales |
| A. Vampilov White City |
| I. Vo Loved One |
| V. Voinovich Stories. |
| S. Volkov Strasty po Tchaikovsky |
| P. Vozdvijenskii My First Holy Story |
| V. Vysotsky Izbranoe. |
| G. Grass. Koshki-Mishki |
| T. Gautier Captain Fracass |
| J.W. Goethe. Faust |
| G. Darrell. A Zoo In My Luggage |
| G. Darrell. Under Cover Of The Mad Forest |
| G. Darrell. The Animal Lodge |
| V. Dragunskii Na Sadovoy Bolshoe Dvijenie |
| Collection of European Fairy Tales |
| S. Yesenin. Poems |
| E. Zamyatin. Short Stories |
| E. Zamyatin. Na Kulichkah |
| G. Ivanov. Raspad Atoma. |
| A. Kuprin. Granatoviy Braslet |
| A. Kuprin. Poedinok |
| P. Corneille Horace |
| P. Corneille Cid |
| N. Leskov. Na Kraiyu Sveta |
| N. Leskov. Nesmertelniy Golovan |
| N. Leskov. Boitelnitsa |
| A. Melnikov Murder of Doctor Goryiansky |
| Moliere Comedies |
| J. Milton Paradise Lost |
| T. Okunevskaya. Tatianin Den-1 |
| T. Okunevskaya. Tatianin Den-2 |
| T. Okunevskaya. Tatianin Den-3,4 |
| Collection of writings of Russian avant-gaurd poets and writers of the beginning of XX century |
| A. Platonov. Dgan |
| A. Platonov. Short Stories |
| A. Platonov. Kotlovan |
| B. Pasternak. Sketches |
| B. Pasternak. Prose |
| Pushkin about St. Petersburg |
| A. Pushkin Povesti Belkina |
| A. Pushkin Ruslan and Ludmila |
| A. Raykin. Memoirs |
| J.B. Racine Tragedies |
| J. Swift Gulliver's Travels |
| Collection of Fairy Tales of Russian Writers (3 parts) |
| L. Tolstoy. Kazaki |
| L. Tolstoy. Stories |
| A. Tolstoy. Upir |
| O. Wilde Stories |
| V. Shukshin Do Tretyich Petuchov |
| Euripides Tragedies |
| Aeschylus Tragedies |
| W. Shakespeare. Tragedies |
| R. Sheridan. The school for scandal |