This paper discusses the present situation and shortcomings of providing cultural needs for the disabled in China, and puts forward the responsibilities that public libraries should undertake for the cultural needs of the disabled. Taking Henan Library as an example, this paper introduces the measures taken by public libraries to serve the disabled, and puts forward some thoughts.

Paper Keywords: public libraries * * * cultural reading services for the disabled

According to Article 2 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Disabled Persons, a disabled person refers to a person who has lost or abnormal certain organizations and functions in psychology, physiology and human structure, and completely or partially lost the ability to engage in certain activities in a normal way. Disabled people include people with visual disabilities, speech disabilities, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, mental disabilities, multiple disabilities and other disabilities. At present, there are more than 83 million disabled people in China, accounting for 6.34% of the national population. Due to the low starting point and weak foundation of the cause of the disabled in China, the cause of the disabled still lags behind the social and economic development, and there is still a big gap between the living conditions of the disabled and the average social level, especially the cultural needs of the disabled still face considerable difficulties and problems. In recent years, in order to further improve the material conditions and spiritual environment for disabled people to participate in social life on an equal footing, and narrow the gap between the cause of disabled people and the level of economic and social development, the state has made efforts to enable disabled people to achieve the goal of "equality, participation and enjoyment" in politics, economy and culture.

First, the current situation of cultural needs of the disabled in China

At present, on the basis of ensuring the basic material needs of the disabled, the state and society also provide corresponding facilities, conditions and services for the disabled in life, work, education, medical care and rehabilitation. According to the news released by China Disabled Persons' Federation China Welfare Foundation in 2009, although the overall living conditions of the disabled have improved year by year, and the level of various guarantees and services has also been improved year by year, the gap with the social average is still obvious, and there are still many difficulties in medical care, rehabilitation, education, employment and social participation. Every disabled person is eager to participate in social life on an equal footing with healthy people and enjoy the fruits of social civilization and progress. With the acceleration of China's social modernization, the problems of education and employment for the disabled are becoming more and more prominent, and the demand for culture for the disabled is more urgent, especially compulsory education and vocational education, which are essential to improve the quality of the disabled. Therefore, learning cultural knowledge and obtaining all kinds of information through various channels can help disabled people improve their comprehensive quality and social competitiveness in order to survive and develop in society. For example, China Braille Publishing House is the only national Braille publishing and printing unit in China, which has experienced more than 50 years from its birth to its development. For decades, Braille publishing has always adopted the practice of "high welfare and low price" in the pricing of books, special paper for the blind and articles for the blind. However, with the development of market economy, the price of paper has been rising, while the state's policy subsidies have not increased significantly. Moreover, because the printing of Braille books requires special technology, it requires high paper and printing technology. Compared with ordinary books, it is not only troublesome to make, but also bulky. Braille books are generally 25 cm ×30 cm in size. After a very thin ordinary book is made into Braille, its volume and thickness will increase by 10 times. Due to the high production cost, the price of each book is very high, which makes it very difficult to publish Braille. Therefore, the variety and quantity of Braille publications in China are extremely scarce at present. Moreover, because Braille books are aimed at a specific consumer group-visually impaired people, most of them have low living standards and no purchasing power, so they are far from meeting the growing reading needs of blind readers.

In the international library field, the research of digital library for the blind has been concerned since 1980s. IFLA established a joint branch library for the blind at 1983. By this century, the United States, France, Canada and other countries have established digital libraries for the blind. In China, until June 5438+ 10, 2008, the National Library and the China Disabled Persons' Federation jointly opened the "China Digital Library for the Blind". At present, there are more than 1000 e-books, more than 2,600 audio songs, more than 400 video lectures and other resources, and the barrier-free reading content is constantly updated and improved. It is hoped that more than 83 million disabled people in China can obtain information more conveniently through the Internet, improve their skills and improve their living conditions. The opening of the "Digital Library for the Blind" is a solid step taken by the National Library in building a digital reading system for the disabled, bringing a wider range of disabled people into the public service field of the library, and truly enabling visually impaired groups to enjoy the same services as ordinary people in acquiring knowledge and information.

In addition, in order to implement the spirit of a series of instructions of the central authorities on protecting the cultural rights and interests of the disabled, the China Disabled Persons' Federation and the National Library jointly set up the "National Reading Steering Committee for the Disabled", which will investigate and collect the reading needs of the disabled and select barrier-free reading days in a targeted manner. The purpose is to organize disabled people to carry out various forms of reading activities through guidance, encourage disabled people to read more and better, so that they can obtain information, learn knowledge, develop skills, cultivate sentiment, improve their own quality and life skills, enjoy public cultural services equally, and thus better integrate into society.

Two, the current public library provides knowledge assistance for the disabled.

Library is an important symbol of social culture. It is not only an important place for people to obtain information, learn cultural knowledge and have cultural leisure, but also a window for people to show and influence the cultural spirit. As a public cultural and educational institution, the library has the responsibility to actively participate in the construction of the service system for the disabled and provide knowledge assistance for the disabled. Therefore, libraries in China are also actively exploring ways to provide knowledge assistance for the disabled. Although certain social benefits have been achieved, there are still many shortcomings, mainly in the following aspects:

1. Lack of barrier-free awareness. For a long time, public libraries in China have a weak awareness of accessibility and lack of humanistic care. The construction of the library is basically based on the design of healthy people, and it is difficult for the disabled and other people with limited mobility to enter. The elevators, buttons, floors, toilets and other facilities in the museum are also inconvenient for the disabled. According to the survey, many disabled people have never been to the library, which seriously hinders their cultural demand for knowledge and fun.

2. The number and types of books in Braille in the library are insufficient. Braille books are large in size, few in variety, high in price and few in buyers. In addition, Xinhua Bookstore and various bookstores are driven by economic interests, which makes it almost impossible for bookstores all over the country to buy Braille books, and the number and types of Braille books in libraries are far behind the needs of readers.

3. The penetration rate of audio books for the blind is low. According to statistics, of the more than 500 public libraries provided by the National Library Information Database, only 46 provide services for the blind. The proportion is less than110, and only 15 of more than 30 provincial libraries in China provide services for blind readers. Incomplete barrier-free facilities are also the bottleneck restricting barrier-free services.

It is not enough to provide special services. Many libraries don't have language prompting devices for the blind, and they don't provide sign language staff and sign language reading materials for the deaf, so the humanized service is not in place and the service efficiency is low.

5. Insufficient publicity. Due to the lack of publicity in public libraries, few blind people enjoy this right and opportunity to establish barrier-free facilities and services for the blind.

Three. Measures taken by public libraries to serve the disabled

Taking Henan Library as an example, Chinese libraries are actively exploring ways to provide knowledge assistance for the disabled and have achieved certain social benefits.