Phone +972 9-861-7874 | Founded 1951 | |
Address Hahistadrut St 4, Netanya, 42441, Israel Similar Elias Sourasky Central Li, Centre for the blind in Israel, Media‑Te City, Milestones Israel, Ha‑Aguda le‑Ma'an ha‑Khayal Profiles | ||
The Central Library for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Handicapped (Israel) (Hebrew: הספרייה המרכזית לעיוורים, כבדי ראיה ומוגבלים) supplies people who cannot read books, for various disabilities, with books which are suitable for them, either in Braille, large print, or recorded formats.
History
The library was established in 1951 as a response to the need to rehabilitate soldiers who sustained injuries which blinded them.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense with Dr. Ludwig Cohen and Haya Bem pioneered the idea, and with the help of volunteers, translated books to Braille.
In 1959 the library started also producing audio cassettes.
In 2004 the effort to convert the audio cassettes, which were produced until that point, to CD format began, alongside producing new books in CD audio format.
The library nowadays (2012) produces CDs, Braille books, and large print books.