Regional State Cultural Institution
"Ulyanovsk Regional Special Library for the Blind”

 
 
Information
The library was established on Oct. 4, 1960. It provides the blind people with the access to information, which implies their full rehabilitation and integration into society.
  The library staff carry out information work: inform the readers on the new books; study their needs, interests and demands; assist in the choice of literature; arrange and hold cultural and recreational activities for readers and visitors of the library.
The library employees teach the blind people to operate the computer, and give them consultations on working with electronic data processing programs.
The librarians consult (if necessary - teach) the blind users how to use the blind aid; assist the people with disabilities, speech pathologists, social workers and everyone involved into the problems of people with disabilities, Defectology, Typhlopedagogics, typhlology etc.

The library staff conducts workshops for librarians on the work with the blind readers, mass work with the library readers, maintaining the library documentation.
Every year the students studying for a degree of a social worker come to the library for the practical training. They help to make blind aid, tactile books, visual aids, educational games for blind children.
The library is a participant and laureate of the annual regional exhibition-competition "Simbirsk book”, which is hold with the support of the Government of the Ulyanovsk region. The Library has printed Braille books by Ulyanovsk author Ilya Taranov "Maela and tower of Mr." B ", "Bogdan Khitrovo builds up Simbirsk"," Native Speech " for the 3^rd grade. Since 2006 there has been put out an electronic magazine "News of science and technology" based on scientific magazines.

Funds and services
When the library was established, the Ulyanovsk regional scientific library n.a. Lenina V.I. presented 3832 Braille books to its funds. Then the funds were constantly replenished by new Braille books, and since December 1962 with the so called "talking books" as well.
In the library there are: reading room, off-site service department and 2 stack rooms.
Every year, the library's funds are replenished by 5-7 thousand units of storage. Currently, the library funds comprise about 120 thousand units of storage. The main part of which are books published in Braille (more than 15 thousand), "talking books" on audio cassettes and compact discs (more than 84 thousand), electronic publications (about 250), as well as the relief-image books.
The content of the library is universal. It contains the documents on various fields of knowledge and fiction. In the reading room there are encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books, periodicals: 9 federal and local newspapers, 28 planographic magazines and 18 magazines in Braille. In 2008 the library opened an electronic reading room for 7 workstations, where the blind can independently work on the computer.

Blind people living in Ulyanovsk or in the Oblast, who do not have the opportunity to visit the library alone, can get the books from the funds of the Ulyanovsk Regional Special Library for the Blind due to  the home-based services (delivery service in Ulyanovsk), Correspondence subscription (by mail), off-site services (access to the library items that are established under territorial primary organizations, in the All-Russia society groups, rehabilitation centers, Pharm-college, boarding-schools, kindergartens).
The library has 2,001 readers from the city of Ulyanovsk and from the Ulyanovsk region. It has 2 branch libraries and 18 entity-libraries in the districts of the Ulyanovsk Oblast.

Membership Clubs
Much work is being conducted jointly with the city organization of the All-Russia Association of the Blind. Every week the literary lounge of the libraries hosts book exhibitions, "loud readings”, and discussions of the articles from the periodicals. Meetings with the local musicians and poets are always very interesting.
Several times a year the library arranges parties for disabled children, pupils from boarding schools for the blind and starblind.

Contacts
432700, Ulyanovsk, str. Verhne-Polevaya, 11.
(8422) 44-53-36 fax. (8422) 44-55-76
E-mail: uslb@yandex.ru

Operating hours:
Monday-Friday, Sunday - 09.00 - 17.00
Saturday - closed

To join the library one must have a passport and a certificate of medical and social expertise on disability. The readers are allowed to hold the books up to 1 month.