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News from National Library for the Blind

National Library for the Blind

· The National Library for the Blind (NLB) is a registered charity providing a free postal library service to blind and partially sighted people worldwide. NLB houses Europe's largest collection of tactile books and music and offers a range of innovative electronic library and information services via the website at www.nlb-online.org.

HAVE TEA WITH YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR!

Ever fancied sitting down with your favourite author and finding out just what makes them tick? Well, this year at the Guardian Hay Festival you could be doing just that!

The National Library for the Blind (NLB) is teaming up with top authors in an exciting charity fundraising auction which will offer book lovers the chance to bid for an opportunity to have tea with their favourite author.

Jacqueline Wilson is the first author to offer her time for the event, which will help to raise vital funds for NLB. She said: "I'm delighted to be supporting the National Library for the Blind's fundraising auction. Hopefully the event will bring in lots of money for such a good cause - and I'll get the chance to have a lovely tea with the highest bidder!"

Every penny raised in the auction will go towards helping the National Library for the Blind to bring the magic of reading to the 2 million visually impaired people in the UK who can't read standard print.

With less than 5% of books published annually in the UK ever produced in Braille, audio or large print, there is a serious shortage of reading material available for visually impaired people - making the work that NLB does essential.

Claire Briscoe, Press and PR Officer for the National Library for the Blind said: "This is the second year we have teamed up with the Guardian Hay Festival and it's great to be working with them again. As we do not receive any regular government funding, NLB is completely dependent on fundraising in order to continue to provide our service to visually impaired people. We are hoping this newest venture will help us to be able to put even more titles into Braille for visually impaired people to read."

Visit www.nlb-online/hay to find out more and to be the first to find out when new authors confirm their availability.

· Jacqueline Wilson is appearing at several events at the Guardian Hay Festival. For more information please go to www.hayfestival.com

www.nlb-online.org

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