The delight of visually impaired readers at the large print bookstore

Hello, I had your collaborator on the phone and I’m coming to pick up a book. “Is it for your mum?” Matthieu Rondeau, Founder and Director of La Librairie des Grands Caractères, in the heart of the 5th arrondissement of Paris , guessed. Danielle, the customer, comes to buy a book for her mother, 91, whose eyesight is declining over time. “Discovering this bookstore revived his pleasure in reading! » she testifies. It was my daughter who spotted your address on the Internet. »

Because you don’t come here by chance. You have to do some research to know that a particular bookstore opened a year ago, in an alley next to the Pantheon. Here, all the books are in large print. These are not simply magnified texts but editions designed for the visually impaired. Printed on opaque paper, neither too dark nor too white, to avoid glare. With the right rate of inking and in size 16, 18 or even 20 for the most visually impaired. The police ” ( or typography, Editor’s note ): Helvetica, Museo or, better, Luciole. The name evokes these light bulbs with soft yellow light that dot the bookstore of large characters where everything has been worked out for the comfort of visually impaired people, sometimes photosensitive: a counter higher than average, magnifying glasses and leather armchairs. But Luciole is above all this new typeface, designed for visually impaired readers, and “which works”, rejoices Agnès Binsztok, editor. “The result of two and a half years and work! “says the one who discovered this nugget at a show dedicated to vision.

Breaking down preconceptions

Until now, the offer was very limited. In many bookstores or libraries, the “large print” remains illegible for the visually impaired, due to a lack of real expertise. Added to this are the assumptions that visually impaired people are old and only like local writing or romances… “The visually impaired readership has the same expectations as any reader. Why decide for people with disabilities? she protests.

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On the shelves cohabit the Goncourt 2021 Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Flaubert, Patricia Falvey or even Pierre Billon… And there is no question of exaggerating on the prices: when The anomaly (by Hervé LeTellier) costs €19 elsewhere, the large print version is €24.

“I dream of the day when we will be well enough known to further diversify the offer! exclaims the bookseller. For the moment, it is “a survival economy” admits Agnès. The bookshop being a business, it does not benefit from any institutional support. “Clearly, we need help for the Theater collection,” says the editor. But the tandem is teeming with ideas. Matthieu Rondeau created an association – Friends of large characters – to finance the publication of new titles while its sidekick is actively expanding the editorial offer intended for schoolchildren. “We each became activists through our work,” says Matthieu, who discovered big characters late in life. He and Agnès have been working together since 2017.

A public health issue

“It’s a public health issue, she says, to stop reading, a person loses their cognitive functions.” And to quote such a client who can finally read something other than children’s books, another reassured to go to bed, because a reading awaits her… “It’s not at all the same pleasure as that of a reader” , testifies Valentin Bertrand, visually impaired from birth. At 22, the student discovers the joy of favorites and the happiness of being advised. “It’s the first time in my life that I have the feeling of being useful!” Matthew exclaims.

While 932,000 French people suffer from severe visual impairment, only 6% of books are suitable for use by the blind and visually impaired (1). The two associates no longer count the feedback from visually impaired or even – and this is more unexpected – hyperactive or dyslexic customers, whose eyes are no longer lost thanks to large print.

(1) Source: French Federation of the Blind .

By Charlotte Gambert

Recipes for success from The Large Print Bookstore

Technical expertise

Matthieu and Agnès know the different visual disabilities (AMD, glaucoma, etc.) and their consequences. They master the precise needs in typography, paper, ink, volume estimation, weight of a book, etc.

The editorial experience

Matthieu Rondeau has solid experience as an artistic director, book packager and editor. Agnès Binsztok is the editorial director of the Voir deprès and À vue d’œil publications.

The specific answer

Until now, to have a suitable paper book, a visually impaired person had to buy the book, cut the edge… and reprint it, enlarging the characters themselves.

The delight of visually impaired readers at the large print bookstore