Biblioteca Celia: biblioteca persoanelor cu deficienţe de vedere din Finlanda. (Romanian)

Celia: The Finnish library for visually impaired. (English)

Celia has served the blind and partially sighted in Finland since 1890. The library service was set up by a society called Books for the Blind at the turn of the 19th century. Celia has been state-owned since 1978. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, ladies belonging to the wealthy educated class carried out various charitable deeds to help the disadvantaged. Celia was founded on 1st April 1890 by Cely Mechelin, the daughter of a Finnish senator, who was just 23 years old. Together with her friends, she wanted to open the treasure trove of literature to the blind. Cely Mechelin managed the library from when it was founded up until 1932. The library adopted the name Celia - Library for the Visually Impaired in 2001, in honour of its founder Cely (Cecilia) Mechelin. When ownership was transferred to the state in 1978, it meant an increase in resources for the library and a shift to the domain of public-sector decision-making. Along with this nationalisation, the library' services expanded to encompass other print disabilities such as dyslexia. Nowadays, Celia's operations are subject to the Finnish Act on the Library for the Visually Impaired as well as a Government Decree. In 2004, Celia moved to a brand-new building where the Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired and other organisations have their offices. In 2007, the distribution method of talking books and Braille books was changed -when a talking or a Braille book is requested, a personal lending copy is produced which the patron discards or recycles after use. After the introduction of the on demand system, the number of loans increased enormously. The library has different types of books as well as other materials: Daisy talking books, books in Braille, electronic books, tactile and picture books, relief pictures and maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biblioteca: Revista de Bibliologie şi Știinţa Informării is the property of Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)