COOPERATION BETWEEN LIBRARIES IN THE REGION IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MARRAKESH TREATY

Inga Davidonienė

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Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled is the first copyright treaty based on human rights principles. This agreement created an international legal framework that allows copies of works to be made in special formats and distributed to people who cannot read ordinary printed text. This agreement gives libraries and other authorized institutions of the signatory countries the right to exchange information regardless of borders. According to WIPO, as of today, more than 90 countries from all around the world are parties to the Marrakesh Treaty.

In the autumn of 2019 at the initiative of the EIFL, an international workshop was held at the Lithuanian Library for the Blind (LLB), bringing together regional partners from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Russia and launching a practical exchange of publications. After this seminar, LAB started cooperation with the Ksiaznica Podlaska Library in Poland and continues to exchange publications with colleagues from Estonia. The workshop accelerated also LLB's participation in the international exchange system.

Libraries are critical to the success of this advanced agreement, and librarians play a key role in ensuring the access for the print disabled people to the special formats publications. For these reasons aspiration of LLB is to disseminate the information on the opportunities offered by the Marrakesh Treaty at national level and to encourage the exchange of publications between libraries as well as other authorized institutions. For the future we need look for opportunities to share our knowledge and to cooperate closely in order to improve information availability services for people with print disabilities.