[NFBF-L] NLS BARD and the Marrakesh Treaty

[ctate2076 at att.net]

Dear Federation Family: 

 

I am excited to announce that the NLS Talking Book Library have titles for
download as a result of the Marrakesh Treaty. For those who were unaware or
are new to the National Federation of the Blind, for over ten years, we have
advocated to pass the Marrakesh Treaty, an action that would open the 95% of
the world's print materials that have been closed to the blind and print
disabled. On October 9, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Marrakesh
Treaty Implementation Act and on January 30, 2019, he signed the
ratification documents. 

 

What does the Marrakesh Treaty do? For too long, print materials from
foreign countries were not available to the blind and print disabled in the
United States. Statistically, only 5% of the world's print materials were
available in alternative formats to the blind and print disabled. The treaty
called for revisions to U. S. Copyright laws and now those titles can be
made available to readers, researchers and students with print disabilities.


 

What is the point? The point, besides the fact that the world has opened to
us for print materials, is that sometimes legislative work takes time to
come to fruition. One of the four "P's" shared during Washington Seminar is
persistence. We do not give up. Our persistence will pay off in the end. 

 

For our brand-new Washington Seminarians, do not be discouraged if the
fruits of your labor have not born instant results. We continue to work on
our priorities, even if it takes years.  Legislation is a process, like
keeping a bonsai tree. The tree may grow slowly and you can only clip a
little here and a little there, but over time, your tree will thrive. You
keep working on it, nurturing your tree, feeding and trimming and, before
you know it, the tree is strong and healthy.  

 

Let's go build the National Federation of the Blind of Florida 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Camille Tate 

President, Melbourne Space Coast Chapter, National Federation of the Blind,
FL 

Board of Directors, National Federation of the Blind, FL 

Email: ctate2076 at att.net <mailto:ctate2076 at att.net>  

Phone: 321 372 4899 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbf-l_nfbnet.org/attachments/20210306/9bf3eb37/attachment.html>