CDNLAO Newsletter
No. 72, November 2011
“Our small efforts to create a world that eliminates discrimination and embraces differences are not pointless. Literature does not ask for any reward, and I believe the reading program, Literary Journey with Writers, offered by the National Library of Korea, is doing the exact same thing. I really hoped the Library would continue this praiseworthy program.”
- Comment by a writer who participated in the program
From April to October, 2011, the National Library of Korea has held reading events for people with disabilities to provide the unprivileged group with access to books through various opportunities, in cooperation with organizations and libraries related to the disabled.
The cultural events to extend the campaign for encouraging reading among people with disabilities were designed for the purpose of “learning from writers how to read, listen to and wholeheartedly appreciate books.” The events aim at enabling visually impaired and hearing-impaired people to read and listen to books and develop more interest in reading, while helping them draw their inherent intellectual desire, thus encouraging their social participation led by their desire for self-improvement.
The cultural events for the expansion of the promotion campaign for reading among challenged people included the Literary Journey with Writers, Meeting with Writers, and 2011 Reading Forum for the Disabled.
The Literary Journey with Writers is a program to visit background locations for famous literary works to understand the literary worlds created by the authors. The trip, whose location was decided according to the preferences of the participating disabled people, was held once a month from April to October, 2011. Seven trips were arranged by October this year with 290 participants.
Literary Journey with Writers
The Meeting with Writers event aims at supporting the reading activities of those for whom reading entails difficulties. In the program, writers and volunteers visit challenged people and read books to them, teach them how to write essays or poems, and discuss the contents of books and the lives of the writers. The program was joined by 123 people (87 visually impaired, 26 hearing-impaired and 10 physically handicapped participants) with 12 weeks-course in ten institutions between June and September.
Meeting with Writers
As part of the Month of Reading events in September, the 2011 Reading Forum for Challenged People was held from 2 p.m. on September 26, Monday, in the Digital Library and International Conference Hall. The event was divided into the Literature Day for the Disabled and the 4th Book Review Contest for Disabled Children and Teenagers under the theme of “Reading—The Path to a World without Discrimination.”
Literature Day for the Disabled consisted of the two main events: the ‘policy forum’ aimed at seeking ways to vitalize reading promotion campaigns for the disabled; and the Literary Recital with Music, in which disabled people who participated in reading activities alongside authors, recite their own literary works (poetry, prose and others) accompanied by live classical guitar in the background.
In the 4th Book Review Contest for Disabled Children and Teenagers, 25 finalists presented their own reviews, followed by the award ceremony. Since 2008, the contest has been held every year in an attempt to encourage and motivate disabled children and teenagers, one of the most literature-deprived sectors, to read more, targeting the visual or hearing-impaired students in special-education schools nationwide. The prized reviews presented in the finals have been published and distributed in mute-letter, Braille-letter and sign language video books to be utilized as reading guide materials for special-education schools in Korea.
4th Book Review Contest for Disabled Children and Teenagers
These cultural events have played a major role in fostering and spreading a favorable social atmosphere for the disabled thanks to their growing interest and active participation. Furthermore, they have helped raise public awareness for the needs of library services and the importance of reading for people with disabilities, and provided disabled people with the valuable experience of enriching their lives through reading. These fruits serve as a momentum to approach one step closer to an understanding and caring society, free of prejudices.
To expand its support for the reading activities for the handicapped, the National Library of Korea is firmly determined to encourage a culture of sharing and empathy through the medium of books, by directly entering their communities and encouraging them to participate in a variety of events and reading culture programs, and to root this culture deep in our daily lives, ultimately contributing to the development of potential and the improvement of the cultural lives of disabled people.
Copyright (C) 2011 National Library of Korea
