The Canadian Urban Libraries Council / Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada has been working since Spring 2012 on the creation of a new national public library organization – focussed solely on the creation, collection, delivery and preservation of both digital and physical alternate format accessible materials.
New Organization Formed
On September 1, 2013 Industry Canada issued a Certificate and approved Articles of Incorporation for a new Canadian Not-for-Profit corporation to establish, operate and maintain national equitable library services delivered through Canada’s public libraries for Canadians with print disabilities. The working name of the new entity is The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA).
The new organization, separate from CULC/CBUC and the CNIB, will leverage the extensive publicly-funded digital repository, ILS and physical production and delivery infrastructure currently used for those Canadians who receive their service direct from the CNIB Library Service and from existing public library partners.