Diane Fazackarley, 50, has been left outraged after learning of Brighton and Hove City Council's proposal to withdraw funding to RNIB's Talking Books Service.
Diane, from Bevendean, Brighton, is totally blind. She also has severe lung damage and is on oxygen frequently during the day and at night.
She has been a wheelchair user since the age of 11 and has since been diagnosed with MS and has been unable to stand for about 20 years.
Cannot leave home
Diane, who uses a specially trained guide dog, cannot leave home alone unless it's a planned, specific route such as flat surfaces with very few roads to cross.
She said: "I can't go to the library on my own but I can make it to the post box to return my Talking Books. Most Talking Book users are older people who don't get out a lot and don't have a lot of money and the Council wants to take away one of their only few pleasures.
"I just don't understand how they could even consider cutting the service. I pay my taxes but I don't use many of the services the Council provides. Please let me keep this one."
Savings
The Council funds 169 Talking Book subscriptions, costing £22,000 each year. It aims to make savings of more than £80 million over the next four years (1).
Just 7 per cent of all books are available in formats fully accessible to blind and partially sighted people. RNIB's Talking Book Service provides people with a vital, and for some the only service that allows them to read independently in their own home or when out and about.
It's the largest provider of unabridged audio books, with almost 20,000 titles to chose from across all subjects and genres. The Council's alternative to Talking Books is Calibre Audio Library which offers less than 9,000 titles, reducing blind and partially sighted people's choice by more than half (2).
Consultation concerns
RNIB is concerned the Council's consultation paper does not give an option for a person to continue to have their subscription paid by the Council, therefore creating an unfair bias towards the alternative service.
Eleanor Bullimore, RNIB Regional Campaigns Officer for the South east, said: "Given the differences between these two services, I do not feel it is right that the Council should present them as similar services.
"RNIB's main concern is to ensure all blind and partially sighted people have access to reading. As sighted people continue to read any book at Brighton and Hove libraries for free - a cut would mean blind and partially sighted people will either have to pay to carry on reading, by subscribing to Talking Books membership, or have far fewer audio books to read.
Campaign launch
Local campaigners, along with RNIB, have launched a campaign to fight the Council's proposal. To respond to the consultation visit http://consult.brighton-hove.gov.uk/portal
Alternatively people can write to their local councillor or the library service at Libraries Consultation, Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE. A petition has also been launched on the Council's website.
The consultation ends on 10 February with a final decision due at the next Full Council meeting.
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Notes to Editors:
For more information or to arrange interviews contact Emma Mercer, RNIB Senior Public Relations Officer, on 020 7391 2085 or email emma.mercer@rnib.org.uk
(1) The cut to Talking Books are part of savings to the Council's library service amounting to £171,000 for 2012/2013. These in turn are part of the £1,223,000 cuts to the Communities budget.
(2) Calibre Audio Library is not in fact free as the Council has suggested in its consultation but subject to a £35 admin charge.
RNIB
Every day around 100 people in the UK start to lose their sight. There are almost 2 million people in the UK with sight problems. RNIB is the leading charity working in the UK offering practical support, advice and information for anyone with sight difficulties. If you, or someone you know, has a sight problem RNIB can help. Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk
Factfile:
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Since 1935, RNIB Talking Books has issued millions of books to blind and partially sighted people across the country, making it one of the most popular services ever provided by a charity in the UK.
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RNIB now sends out over 1.75 million Talking Books each year to people with sight problems.
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More than 37,500 blind and partially sighted people in the UK use Talking Book Service.
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A subscription to Talking Book Service costs £82 per year. RNIB does not make a 'profit' from the Talking Books Service, in fact we subsidise the service by approximately £1.6m every year. This is the equivalent of £42 per subscriber.