In 2019 we sent over 460,000 audiobooks to over 14,000 members across the UK and internationally. We are able to lend to countries that have ratified the Marrakesh Treaty (the 2013 international copyright exceptions for visually impaired and print disabled people).
Everyone has the legal right to equal access to information, yet only 7% of print books are converted to audio, the format needed for many disabled people. For young people, this has serious implications for their ability to learn and develop, and for the elderly, socially isolated, or disadvantaged, coming to terms with the loss of their sight, health and mobility, losing a lifelong love of the written word can be a real blow.
At Calibre, we believe in social inclusion and the wider benefits that reading brings, combating social isolation, increasing confidence and independence.
We also campaign with the Right to Read Alliance, and the DAISY consortium, and Share the Vision to support equality in disability and end discrimination.