Yayasan Mitra Netra in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, has become the go-to place for visually impaired people to access reading materials for free, as well as to get training and counseling.

The organization’s library has 3,000 braille books, 2,800 CD audiobooks and 755 electronic format books (ebooks) specifically made by the organization to meet the various needs of the 892 library members.

Each member pays Rp 25,000 (US$1,7) for the first year, and Rp 15,000 annually thereafter.

“We believe that books are the pillar of education. However, the visually impaired also want to read novels, biographies and other popular books,” Yayasan Mitra Netra spokeswoman Aria Indrawati told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

To fulfill the need for a variety of reading materials, the library relies on five members of the conversion team and occasional volunteers to convert regular books into braille books, audio books or ebooks. The library produces 250 braille titles, 150 audio titles and 300 ebook titles on average per year.

Although audio books and ebooks are widely available nowadays, Yayasan Mitra Netra continues to convert their own versions.

“Sometimes ebooks are not up to accessibility standards [for the visually impaired],” Aria said.

Aside from the usual services offered by a library, Yayasan Mitra Netra also provides classes and counseling for its members, all of whom must be examined first so the organization can assign therapies and training appropriate for each member.

The first thing that an applicant receives at the library is counseling on how to come to terms with being visually impaired to raise their spirits, especially those who are still school aged.

“Sometimes the recently visually impaired are still confused and their parents also don’t know what to do,” Aria said.

After that, the applicants are given basic orientation, first by teaching the braille alphabet and mobility classes on how to navigate daily life such as walking with a cane, dining and basic cooking.

Members can join classes offered at the library or simply socialize with other visually impaired members on the premises.

Nina Purwaningsih, 27, from Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, visits the organization twice a week for English, computer and theater classes as well as preparing herself to get the Paket C (senior high school diploma equivalent) exam this year assisted with books available in the library.

She said her vision had started to deteriorate in fourth grade, before losing her sight in 2005 when she was just 14 years old, after being diagnosed with glaucoma.

Because of that, she had to stop going to school and stayed at home for 12 years before learning about Yayasan Mitra Netra in 2016 from one of her neighbors, who was also visually impaired.

“Thanks to coming here, there’s a way for me to continue my education by finishing the Paket B [junior high school diploma equivalent] examination in 2017,” Nina said. “Now I learn more from audio books, because I cannot read fast in braille just yet. [With audio books] I just hit play on my laptop.”

Ahmad Taufik Zulfikri, 19, takes part in six classes at Yayasan Mitra Netra, as it is one of his main venues for socializing.

He only started coming to the Yayasan Mitra Netra in January last year, after starting to lose his vision in 2015 having been diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, which also left him wheelchair bound for a year and a half.

Jakarta Library and Archive Agency librarian Fenty Afriyeni said that all seven libraries run by the city accommodated the visually impaired by procuring braille books.

“In future we will also revitalize the Jakarta Library [in Taman Ismail Marzuki complex in Cikini, Menteng, Central Jakarta], so that it will be more inclusive for all people,” Fenty said.

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