URGENT: Bookshare Needs Your Help
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Bookshare
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 7:51 PM
Subject: URGENT: Bookshare Needs Your Help



It’s not typical for us to send you an email like this, but we felt this 
situation was so important it was necessary.

You may already be aware, but for years negotiations have been moving 
forward on what many have come to call the "Treaty for the Blind." The goal 
of the international treaty is to make it possible for people who are blind, 
or have other print disabilities such as dyslexia, to get access to the 
books they need for education, employment and inclusion in society—no matter 
where they live. It's something we already do, with great success, in the 
United States through Bookshare.

However, private interests are trying to alter the treaty in such a way that 
it would become useless—even harmful. For example, they’re trying to get 
language adopted that basically says: “if you can buy it, you can’t borrow 
it.” This is not only an attack on people around the world with print 
disabilities—it’s also an attack on libraries, like Bookshare, and could 
have a drastic effect on the number of books you have access to.

Our biggest worry is this becoming a treaty that could stop Bookshare from 
serving our users in the United States the way we do today.  We need our 
government negotiating for a treaty that supports a library like Bookshare.

That’s why we’re working with a coalition of disability and library groups, 
including the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of 
the Blind, to fight back against the proposed changes by these private 
interests. We’ll do everything we can to secure a treaty that both protects 
the access we have now and that will benefit people with print disabilities 
around the world—but we need your help.

We’re asking you to take a moment to sign a petition on the White House’s 
website that urges the President to step up his support: http://ow.ly/lkJVs. 
If we can get to 100,000 signatures, the White House is required to respond 
to the petition and will, hopefully, take positive action. With your help we 
know we can reach that number.  We also recommend the petition at the 
National Federation of the Blind’s site, which is particularly accessible.

Thank you for your time and support. Together, we believe that our 
collective voice can make a real impact.

If you’re interested in more background on the treaty, here are some 
articles and resources you can review:
  a.. Huffington Post piece by Jim on how the treaty is being poisoned by 
private interests: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-fruchterman/poisoning-the-treaty-for-_b_3225181.html
  b.. WIRED Magazine article that gives some recent updates on the treaty: 
http://ow.ly/lfP15

Sincerely,
Jim Fruchterman & Betsy Beaumon, Bookshare

P.S. Please post the link to the White House petition on your social media 
to help spread the word and get your friends involved! Again, here is the 
link: http://ow.ly/lkJVs.

Note: this advocacy effort by Benetech, the nonprofit organization that 
operates Bookshare, has not been supported or endorsed by Bookshare funders, 
including the U.S. Department of Education.