Blind Say President’s Cuts Could Deny Them Library Materials

Organizations serving the blind and handicapped said Thursday that they could be denied access to special cassettes and Braille books distributed nationwide through libraries if the Reagan Administration succeeds in its plan to eliminate funds guaranteeing free postage for those materials.

In its budget for fiscal 1986, the Administration has proposed deleting special federal subsidies to the U.S. Postal Service that allow blind people to borrow and return library books and tapes without paying postage.

If Congress approves the cuts, “a lot of people just won’t be able to read the basic things that sighted people take for granted,” said Barbara Nelson, an attorney here for the American Council of the Blind. An estimated 1.5 million people, half of whom are over 65, cannot read ordinary newspapers with the help of glasses, she said.

‘Severe Impact’ Feared

Most of the books and recorded materials distributed to the blind via local libraries are prepared and distributed through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. In fiscal 1983, the service circulated 18.2 million books and magazines, 11 million recorded discs, 6.6 million recorded cassettes and 680,000 other items in Braille.

“If the free matter for the blind were lost, it would have a severe impact on us,” said Kurt Cylke of the Library Service.

The Postal Service, however, argues that elimination of those funds does not mean that the free service will end. Ashley Lyons, in its office of rates, insisted that mailing privileges for the blind will continue to be free. But he said the Postal Service will have to find another way to provide the funds. Asked where the money would come from, Lyons said: “That’s the big question now.”

Costs of $50.5 Million

According to the Postal Service, free mail service for the blind last year cost $50.5 million.

According to the 1986 budget, new legislation will be proposed to allow the Postal Service to increase other rates so the postal subsidy can continue “for most of the current preferred mailers.” Others outside the Postal Service question whether such a cross subsidy plan would win approval at a time when the service is trying to make its revenues match its costs.

The Postal Service initially requested $981 million in subsidies for second-class nonprofit and classroom publications, third-class nonprofit bulk mailing and fourth-class library materials for the public and schools, including the blind. The Office of Management and Budget rejected the request.

Some Hit Hard

Nelson, of the Council of the Blind, said that while the Administration does not seek repeal of the statute providing free mail for the blind, it simply wants to cut out funding. She said that another statute says that if no funds are appropriated, the Postal Service can charge for those services.

The prospect of losing free library service hits blind people like Brian Charlson, 29, of Watertown, Mass., especially hard.

“For people who are totally dependent on library service, this is going to be the same thing as going around and collecting eyeglasses from people who can’t read without them,” he said.

Charlson, who read 135 Braille books last year, calculated that postage would have cost him $150. He also found it would cost $2.64 to send a two-volume Braille book, 69 cents to mail a cassette and $2.19 for a record.

“That’s a lot of money that I have to pay for a service that everybody else gets free,” he said. And, he added, it is a considerable expense for many of the 50% of blind people who are 65 years of age or more and often on fixed incomes.