In the United States the government took responsibility for training
and educating blind people, and legislation was passed as early as 1931 to
provide equitable public library services with support from the National
Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (see article by
Frank Kurt Cylke and colleagues in this issue). In Sweden, too, library
services for the blind are guaranteed by legislation: the Talking Books and
Braille Library (TPB) exists as a separate entity, but it is integrated into
state-funded mainstream library services as part of the public library system. In other countries, such as South Africa, similar models exis twhere
the library for the blind is part of the national library service.