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FYI
Mike L. Marlin, Director
California Braille and Talking Book Library
Sacramento, CA
Member, LPD Standing Committee
Email: mike.marlin@library.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 651-0812
Toll Free in CA: (800) 952-5666
From: Marrakesh [mailto:marrakesh-bounces@lists.keionline.org] On Behalf Of Thiru Balasubramaniam
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 3:02 AM
To: marrakesh@lists.keionline.org
Subject: [Marrakesh] 2016 Address of the WIPO - Director General Francis Gurry
http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/dgo/speeches/a_56_dg_speech.html
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A major cause for celebration was the entry into force last week, on September 30, of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. I thank the 20 Contracting Parties whose accessions brought the treaty into effect, and, in particular, India, which led the way with the deposit of the first instrument of ratification; Latin America, which constituted the region with the largest number of countries represented in the initial 20 Contracting Parties; and Australia and Canada, the first developed countries to accede to the treaty.
We have also made significant progress with the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC), a partnership of all relevant stakeholders that supports practically the aims of the Marrakesh Treaty through the exchange of books in accessible formats, capacity building and the promotion of accessible publishing. ABC has so far facilitated the loans of accessible books to 100,000 visually impaired people through its 19 participating libraries in 16 countries. It currently contains 319,000 titles in more than 76 languages. Participating libraries saved USD 11 million in production costs (for a book read aloud by a person) by being able to download 5,500 electronic books into their collections.
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