This place provides better access to culture for the visually impaired and the blind through recent and sophisticated machines. The library will also ensure the development of training for these tools and devices, as well as workshops on raising awareness about braille.
Consisting of two telephoto enlargers for the visually impaired, which are more comfortable and practical, offering an ultra-efficient zoom and various colors to address different disabilities, and two screens specially adapted for the blind, with specialized software, braille terminals, a speech synthesis system, and other access tools, this Handithèque offers cutting-edge technological support. A social and cultural advancement primarily funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Children are not forgotten either, with, for example, braille books illustrated with descriptive CDs, along with audio-descriptive DVDs with a well-stocked catalog. Another station, called VocalPress, allows the visually impaired to read or listen, depending on the degree of their impairment, to various press titles, from local to national, as well as various magazines.
The Human Dimension of This Patronage
This place came into existence thanks to the partnership the city of Nice has with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, founded by the late eponymous philanthropist.
A collaboration that Jean-Luc Gag, municipal councilor delegated to historical heritage, literature, the fight against illiteracy, theater, and the Niçoise language and cultures, was keen to commend:
“We are proud to inaugurate the first Handithèque space in the city here, with the hope of opening more in the future and promoting access to culture for the greatest number.”
He particularly praised “the human dimension of this patronage,” which had already made its mark in Nice through “the funding of exhibitions” at the Musée Mathis, and “the renovation of the bronze gates of the Musée Masséna.”
The representative of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, present at the Louis Nucéra library, explained that she was keen on seeing this project come to fruition:
“I am Austrian-German and have been married to a Niçois for years, so it gives me even more pleasure to see this city improve through such projects; we will continue to work in this direction in culture, arts, social areas…”
Baptiste Meline
