Visual aid boost for libraries and museums

Herefordshire Council is helping to improve the lives of people with visual impairments by installing a series of hi-tech devices at the county’s libraries and museums.

Libraries at Ross, Leominster and Hereford are all to have a myReader, a device to capture, scan and enlarge entire pages of script. This can be used for reading books or documents and has a wide variety of uses such as reading bills and creating lists.

Hereford Museum and library also has a Scannar System. This will scan any script or document and then read it back to the user and can be used for a variety of written items such as letters, brochures, newspapers, reports and books.

As well as these, Hereford museum has a Smartview system which magnifies small objects, bringing into life parts of the collection which were previously not accessible for some users.

Staff at libraries and museums have been trained in how to use these hi-tech devices and will be actively encouraging their use.

Cllr Roy Stockton, cabinet member for community services, said: “This new equipment represents Herefordshire Council’s commitment to continually improving access to all its services and resources and we hope it will be of great benefit to people with visual impairments.”

For more information on how to use the devices potential users should speak to staff at libraries and museums.