Forum on Library Services for People with Disabilities

Building Accessibility and Adaptive Technologies for Library Users with Disabilities

Janet Poole , Community Services Librarian, Logan City Council Libraries, Queensland for the Forum on Library Services for People with Disabilities, March 2002

This paper will focus on the issues that confront public librarians when planning services for people with disabilities. It does not pretend to cover all aspects of service provision but looks at the issues that have arisen when Logan City Council Libraries set out to meet the library needs of people with disabilities.

Background

The Charles Hamilton Special Needs Centre, situated at the Logan North Library, was opened in January 1996. It provides adaptive equipment and specialist resources to assist people with vision, hearing, intellectual and mobility disabilities to personally access information.

Although the impetus to provide such a centre was conceived by library staff, the planning committee consisted of representatives from local disability groups, whose advice was invaluable and whose ideas were included in the design of Centre.

It has now been operating for 6 years with upgrades of equipment and resources being incorporated into the mainstream budget and planning of the library.

Since the Centre has opened, the ideas of how to meet people’s needs have changed and further equipment and services provided by Logan City Council will be more inclusive, acknowledging the rights of people with disabilities.

Below is a list of the issues that should be considered when building accessibility for library users with disabilities.

Focus on Enhancing our Existing Environment and Services to Ensure Accessibility

Public libraries are excellent at acquiring, organising and lending material. This is what we do best so we should not be re-inventing who we are in the face of the new formats provided by technology. By placing too much value on identifying and acquiring the latest equipment or software, we detract from focussing on the provision of a holistic service. Librarians should strive to keep informed about technological innovations but must keep in mind that all aspects of service should be reviewed.

If librarians focus on the ‘bells & whistles’, it may be that we ignore ways in which our core role/purpose can be made accessible. We should also be mindful that our best resource is human – professional, dedicated librarians can achieve a lot.

Recommendations:

  • Appoint a qualified librarian to plan and oversee all services to people with disabilities
  • Catalogues/ OPACs should be accessible via screen readers
  • Equipment owned in-house should be used to access materials and services
  • Public libraries should adapt their hardware and software to ensure accessibility

Integrated Planning

Accessibility should not be an afterthought or an ‘add-on’ but an integrated effort to make services and materials available to all members of the community. An action plan is essential to ensuring that the planning is relevant.

Recommended Action Plan:

  • Review of existing resources and programmes
  • Develop policies aimed at inclusion
  • Set realistic goals
  • Allocate responsibility for achieving goals
  • Train service providers (at all levels)
  • Evaluate outcomes – qualitatively and quantitatively

Connections/Partnerships with Other Service Providers/Peak Bodies

In almost all of the services offered by public libraries, community support is vital to success. This is especially true with services aimed at people with disabilities. In many cases, people with disabilities will not be aware of specialist services and will not consider the public library a resource. To overcome this perception, a continuing schedule of outreach activities should be undertaken. Very few public libraries have sufficient funding for professional marketing so the personal approach will communicate with people who could benefit from library services but are unaware of their existence.

Recommendations:

  • Identify groups to ensure that all sectors of the community are consulted
  • Contact local press, school and community newsletters, community centres and service providers
  • Make appointments with groups to discuss library services.
  • Offer to become a guest speaker at functions

Acknowledging that the Disability Sector is not Homogenous

Libraries need to provide different responses to different needs. As a proportion of all people with a disability, it is estimated that people whose main disabling condition is physical disability make up 50.9%, while those with a sensory disability comprise 11.6% of people with a disability. (ABS, Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, 1998) Therefore, when considering services for people with disabilities, it is vital to remember that the needs of more than of one third of people with a disability will not be met with conventional software and mobility aids. Accessibility is more than just being able to get in the door.

Recommendations:

  • Provide materials and services for people with both intellectual and psychiatric disabilities
  • Consult support groups for people with specific diseases and conditions

Current Realities

There is a strong correlation between disability and age, with the likelihood of disability and therefore severe restrictions to accessing information increasing with age. In addition, older Australians are more likely to have lower incomes than others in the community. In Queensland, 68.4% of people aged 75 and over are identified as having a disability. (ABS, Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, 1998) In addition, libraries are used more often by the older sector of the population simply because they are more likely to have greater leisure time.

Recommendations:

  • Encourage the older members of our community to access technology.
  • Acknowledge that not all will embrace technologies or be interested in the Internet as a tool,
  • Work to remove both physical and emotional barriers to technology.

Statistics

Currently, public library performance indicators are based on statistics that emphasise quantitative measures. The assumption is that large numbers = success in service provision. Public libraries must measure the quality of services provided by including performance indicators such as quality of training for staff and by staff, collection standards and even outreach/consultation guidelines.

Recommendations:

  • Lobby state and national libraries to include qualitative performance indicators in public library statistics.

Staff Training

Staff training is vital to the success of any library service. The Disability Awareness Kit produced by the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, the State Library of Victoria and Libraries Victoria is an excellent resource which can be easily accessed by the most remote library.

Recommendations:

  • Employ approved trainers from accredited bodies endorsed through advisory bodies to train staff in specific aspects of disability.
  • Ensure training is ongoing and included in the library’s strategic plan.

Funding

Funding for services must be part of the basic budget planning each financial year. To exclude funding of materials and services for people with disabilities is to assign a lesser value to its importance. In addition, identifying and applying for funding opportunities via grants should be part of the library’s strategic plan.

Recommendations:

  • Include disability resources and services in annual budgets
  • Investigate external funding opportunities for non-core services only

Conclusion

  • Services for people with disabilities must be part of planning for all libraries
  • Libraries must be keen to provide relevant and appropriate resources and services
  • Library staff must listen to customers and heed suggestions and feedback.
  • Librarians must be creative and proactive in the design and promotion of library services
  • Librarians must regularly review both the services provided and the services available.
  • Library must respect those people to whom the service is provided. .

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2000, Caring in the Community, Australia.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1999. Disability, Ageing and Carers: Summary of findings.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1999, Older People, Australia: A Social Report

Brennan, Terry & Tyquin, Damian, (eds).1999, Disability Awareness Kit: a training resource for public library customer service staff (2nd rev.ed.), Royal Victorian

Institute for the Blind, Melbourne.

Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, 1997, Commonwealth Disability Strategy: Second Progress Report, 1997. Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, Canberra.

Davis, Leanne., 2001, Disability Report for Library Services, Brisbane City Council, Brisbane.

Griffiths, Paul, 1995, Disability Discrimination Act, Action Plans: A guide for Local Government, Australian Local Government Association, Canberra.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights

Queensland Government, 2001, Disability Services Queensland: Strategic Plan 2001-2005.

ALIA’s policies. Library services for people with disabilities
www.alia.org.au/policies/disabilities.html

Williamson, Kirsty, et.al, 2001, The role of the internet for people with disabilities: issues of access and equity for public libraries, The Australian Library Journal, May 2001, pp 157-174

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