Special Needs and Inclusive Library Services (SNAILS)

Every now and then at the reference desk, I end an interaction feeling frustrated that I have not provided the level of service I want for our member. The feeling is familiar to any librarian, I’m sure, and there are a variety of reasons for it. But one I notice consistently is that I find myself unprepared or unsure when talking to a member who is deaf, or who has a disability that makes it hard to communicate, or whose needs I know I am not filling. Even when the end result is sending the person away with the item or help they came for, I always end up wishing I had found a way to do better, but unsure how. Well, it seems I may have been overthinking things. As it turns out, perhaps all I had to do was ask. http://www.lifeprint.com Over the summer, I was fortunate to have a dynamic group high school volunteers, including one teen who is deaf.  “Heather” was passionate, engaged, and full of ideas. And she was excited and enthusiastic about helping the library improve our s...

Hosted by ASCLA (Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies) Instructor: Kate Todd Dates: August 1 through August 28, 2016 Cost: $100 for student and retired members; $130 for ASCLA members; $175 for ALA members; $210 for non-ALA members Click here to register   Who should attend? Library staff in schools, public, college or special libraries would benefit from this course.  Staff at all levels, including librarians, support staff and IT staff would be able to apply their learning to work assignments.  Why Closed Captioning? By Kate Todd Library staff have found short instructional videos to be an effective way to help readers use resources, even when the library is closed. However, patrons who are deaf or those with hearing loss cannot get the full benefit unless the videos have captions. Unfortunately, technology has not provided a flawless solution. Speech recognition is still an imperfect tool. Planning and attention to ...