Alberta

Imagine taking your blind child to your local library and finding an extraordinary collection that you can read together -- your son's fingertips following
along in braille as you read the words aloud.

Imagine your teenage daughter devouring every word of Twilight on her MP3 player -- and being able to join her sighted friends' conversation about Bella
and Edward's forbidden love.

Imagine your aging parent losing his sight to macular degeneration -- and seeing the joy on his face when he receives in the mail the latest shipment of
talking books and magazines.

Literacy is at the heart of how we connect with the world around us: our education, employment and participation in culture and civic life depend on our
ability to read.

Yet reading is something most people take for granted.

For 79,000 Albertans with vision loss, the right to read is in jeopardy. Without partnerships with our federal and provincial governments, the CNIB library
could be closed in two years.