Introduction
That library and information services to visually handicapped (vh) persons in Nigeria are almost negligible has become a cliché. Empirical evidence (Atinmo, 1979, Dawha and Atinmo, 1997), observations from educational institutions for the visually handicapped, parents, teachers and the students themselves attest to this fact. The Nigerian government has been negligent in fulfilling that part of its educational policy (1981) which promised to equalize educational opportunities for all children regardless of their physical, mental, emotional disabilities. The government established the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo to train special teachers, and either built or took over some existing special schools, but stopped short of providing adequate reading materials in alternative formats for the visually handicapped. As a result of government action, many visually handicapped persons are receiving some education in separate or integrated special schools, situated all over the country. In Oyo State alone, there are about thirty-five of such integrated schools for primary and secondary school children.
Including the Excluded in Schools in Nigeria
The Nigerian government supports integration as the most realistic form of special education since handicapped children are expected to live in the society. In effect, however, integration means partial segregation. 'Units' or classrooms are provided in the ordinary schools for handicapped children who are taught separately by their specialist teachers. There are also some schools with handicapped children, which do not have separate units. These ones have their children taught alongside their non-handicapped peers. During school activities such as recess, games, outdoor work and non-academic activities, the handicapped associate with their normal peers.
There have been long and continuing debates on the merits and demerits of integration of handicapped children with their 'normal' peers. While it is believed that integrated handicapped children have a good opportunity of learning desirable behaviours by interacting with their non-handicapped peers, most of our regular schools have classes which are too large to permit the teacher to give individual attention to children who may need it. Lack of any form of individualization of instruction, which is the bedrock of special education, places most handicapped children at a disadvantage in regular classrooms. In agreement with Mba (2000), I think that our school system should provide basic supportive services in regular schools for handicapped children. One of such supportive services is the provision of reading materials in alternative formats for the visually handicapped.
Supportive services in integrated schools
Provision of reading materials
A common feature of schools (both integrated and normal) in Nigeria, is the lack of library facilities and the consequent dearth of reading materials. For the visually handicapped, the dearth might have been caused by the difficulties attendant on producing their reading materials in readable format. Braille book production has had a checkered history in Nigeria. It was done manually on a Perkins Braille writer and copies reproduced with the thermoform process by schools for the visually handicapped. Government's promise of a Braille press never materialized, and so reading materials were never produced in enough quantities. Yet the demand for reading materials is rising because more visually handicapped persons are registering in schools and thirsting for knowledge. Now the cost of thermoform paper has sky rocketed, and computer production of Braille materials has replaced thermoform reproduction on the world scene. This has caused greater dilemma for the producers of reading materials in alternative formats. Obi (1999) suggested that the provision of reading materials for the visually handicapped hinge mainly on two resources:
Sources of Books in Braille
Some centres such as Nigerwives Book Production Centre, the Anglo-Nigerian Welfare Association for the Blind (ANWAB), Gindiri School for the Blind, Plateau State, Dept. of Special Education, University of Jos and the Pacelli School for the Blind, Yaba, Lagos, are in the forefront of computer Braille production in Nigeria. These NGO's and institutions cooperate by procuring the same reproduction and translation equipment so that they can exchange master copies and avoid duplicating the same materials. In this way, Nigerwives and ANWAB have together produced over 50 secondary school texts, which may be purchased at the cost of the printed edition. Thus for the first time, the visually handicapped are opportuned to possess personal copies of textbooks. Some brailled books are received from the Library of Congress and distributed by Nigerwives, ANWAB and the Inlaks Library at the Vocational Training Centre, Oshodi. These centres are not able to meet the demand for reading materials.
Physical centres for Braille reading
The Inlaks library seems to be the model library for the visually handicapped in Nigeria. It was established in 1988 as a reference and bibliographic centre for information materials for the blind. It has a growing collection of Brailled books (about 3,313 in 1999) large print books (about 95) and cassette recordings (about 694 on various subjects. There is a Braille Book Production Unit, and carrels equipped with tape recorders for listening to talking books. Other centres, besides ANWAB and Nigerwives Book Production Centre, are much less well equipped. For example, the Table below shows the scanty provision for Brailling facilities in some schools for the visually handicapped, from southwest Nigeria, which recently attended a one-day seminar on resource sharing.
Table 1
Braille Reading facilities in Schools for the Visually Handicapped
| School Name / Location | No. of pupils | Brailing facilities | ||
| Braille typewriter | Braille machine | Abacus / Stylus | ||
| Adeniran Memorial College, Ogbomosho | - | 1 | - | Students own theirs |
| Egbado College, Ilaro | 21 | - | - | - |
| Ekiti School for the Handicapped, Ekiti | 25 | 2 | - | 100 |
| Farm Craft Centre, Ikeja, Lagos | 72 | - | - | - |
| Federal College of Education, (Special) Oyo | 50 | 29 | 37 | 45 |
| Okubanjo Model School for the Blind, Ijebu-Igbo | 11 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Omoyeni School for the Handicapped, Ibadan | 10 | - | - | - |
| Queen's College, Lagos | 14 | 6 | 4 | |
This table shows that the schools do not have enough brailling facilities even for their own students. There is a yawning gap between the needs of the students and the available facilities.
The students individually scout around for readable materials for themselves. Those who can afford them buy Braille editions of their texts from Nigerwives Book Production Centre, which sells to them at the price of the print edition. Others request for broiled or photocopied reading materials from the Anglo-Nigerian Welfare Association for the Blind (ANWAB); many others do without books because access to these materials is practically impossible for them.
Library Facilities through ALVH
The importance of information in today's world, gave impetus to the formation of an association that would oversee the provision of reading materials to the visually handicapped in Nigeria. The Association of Libraries for the Visually Handicapped (ALVH) was formed in May 1999, as a Section of the Nigerian Library Association. It's mandate included identifying and determining a National Information Centre to act as the rallying point for Braille production and distribution to visually handicapped persons. At its inaugural Conference, (October 1999) the Inlaks Library was selected as the National Coordinating Centre to 'develop effective and appropriate methods to share resources among Braille producing centres.
Recognizing the need for cooperation and resource sharing among Braille production centres and schools for the visually handicapped, ALVH invited them (those in southwest Nigeria, to begin with), to a seminar on resource sharing. It was resolved that each centre should provide a list of its resources and be ready to share with others. For example, it is envisaged that master copies of brailled materials will be exchanged to avoid duplication of effort. Photocopies of brailled editions could also be circulated. ALVH will then compile a union catalogue or database of these available information resources and analyse them by format, title and location. This will be circulated and updated annually to keep everybody informed about available resources. It is envisioned that eventually the total national information resources available for the visually handicapped will be thus collated. Basharu (2000) suggested that an official of ALVH could travel round the country to record new acquisitions and provide an updated list.
Accessibility
For accessibility to such services, end users will be encouraged to register themselves at State Public Libraries. Those persons in educational institutions could be registered in their schools. Involving state public libraries in this exercise might be the easiest way of reaching all the visually handicapped persons who desire to have reading and information materials. Such a register will also generate information on their age and educational levels; their reading needs and interests, information, which is much needful for planning and future development. It is envisaged that a national library service for the visually handicapped would eventually evolve through this process. It is also envisaged that Internet access would open the Nigerian visually handicapped persons to disability resources and global information. These are all possibilities within our reach with strong determination and hard work.
References
1. Atinmo, M.I. (1979) Public and school library services to the physically handicapped in Nigeria: an evaluation. International Library Review. 11(1) pp.471-479.
2. Atinmo, M.I. and Dawha, E.M.K. (1997) The reading needs of exceptional students and the dilemma of equity of access to information: a case study of the University of Ibadan. The Exceptional Child: The Journal of the National Council for Exceptional Children. 1(2) pp. 25-29.
3. Danlami, Basharu (2000) Resource sharing among institutions and libraries serving the blind in Nigeria. Paper presented at the ALVH Seminar. Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo. July 2000. 5p.
4. Mba, P.O. (2000) Fundamentals of special education and vocational rehabilitation. Ibadan: Codat Publishers. 278p.
5. Obi, Jean (1999) The roles of government and non-governmental organisations in the provision of library services. Journal of the Association of Libraries for the Visually Handicapped (JALVH) 1(1) pp. 62-66.
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