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>>Alexia: I absolutely love Narnia; it’s one of my favourite books.
I just love the idea of opening a wardrobe and then finding yourself in another world.
>>Narrator: Imagine if you lost your sight, for those who do,
it’s easy to feel they’ve lost everything.
>>Alexia: When I hear them, especially when it’s written in the first person,
it sounds as if the main character’s actually next to me.
>>Narrator: Reading unlocks almost everything we do.
Losing your sight means losing the ability to read for necessity and for pleasure.
RNIB wants to increase the number of books available to blind and
partially sighted people, which could help them reshape their lives.
>>Lesley-Anne Alexander: It’s just not fair that blind and
partially sighted people can't read the latest bestseller.
It costs us about two and a half thousand pounds for each title
that we add to the library and we are constantly trying to keep up.
>>Narrator: Incredibly more than 95 per cent of books never become
available in large print, audio or braille. RNIB believes it’s unacceptable
that blind and partially sighted people, especially children,
are missing out on many of our cherished childhood stories.
>>Julian Fellowes: My whole life has been based around the word,
you know as an actor and screenwriter and then a novelist and everything else.
And the thought of being deprived of the word is terrifying to me.
What is really crucial to the Talking Books service is
it makes blind people autonomous.
>>Narrator: The charity wants to improve the situation
by converting as many titles as possible, but they need help.
>>Ian Hislop: The service is not subsidised by the state,
which means that it depends on the public. If you go to the website
you can see the work they do, and if you’ve seen the work they do
and you don’t want to give money, well that’s your problem.
But obviously I know that you will go and you will want to give money
and you will help. It’s one of those problems that
throwing money at it would help.
>>Narrator: To coincide with world book day RNIB is launching
an online campaign. This includes a short film featuring a young girl
who’s lost her sight, to raise awareness about the shortage of books
available for blind and partially sighted people to read.
By visiting RNIB’s Facebook page (RNIBUK) people can view the film
and think about how our favourite books shape our lives.
>>Alexia: RNIB’s a brilliant organization and they’re finding it difficult
to get enough books into braille so donate as much as possible
and just think of it as a good cause.