On October 13, 2022, library specialists from the Petko R. Slaveykov Regional Library, together with Assoc. Proff. Dr. Kalina Ivanova, director of the cultural institution, presented to the libraries of the North Central Region a project ‘Tech.Library: Improving the services of public libraries for visually impaired users through ICT tools and training’. The work of the project is based on identifying the main goals and jointly discussing the most appropriate activities and outputs to achieve these goals and to address the main common problem: how to work with visually impaired people in libraries.

On the meeting were demonstrated in detail the project’s web-platform and resources that can be useful in encouraging libraries to include services designed for blind and visually impaired users.

One of the results of the project was the creation of a Practical Handbook for working with visually impaired people. The exchange of best practices between library staff enables each staff member to learn and understand how other countries and other libraries are dealing with the use of ICT for the inclusion of visually impaired users. The handbook collects the best practices and basic guidelines and recommendations for working with blind and visually impaired people and is a methodological guide that can be used by library professionals for further training. The handbook will help library staff deal with their day-to-day challenges in working with and including visually impaired users.