What do you do if your library patrons have disabilities and special needs?

To challenge this article’s premise of “if you have”, I would encourage all libraries to assume as a basic reality that your library has disabled users. This includes physical and learning disabilities, as well as mental health disabilities. In assessing needs, consider what you can do in anticipation of need and implement yourself, and what needs would need support from other colleagues. Assessing need may need you or your teams to learn about different disabled populations — look to disability-led organisations and their training to help you.

It's so important to be transparent and up front with information about your spaces. You need to know the physicality of the building, and whether factors like narrow doorways, lighting/sound levels and pedestrian traffic will be off-putting. Reviewing the site, identifying potential barriers to access, and then providing visitors with this information in advance of their visit, allows them agency and to determine whether your service is suitable for their needs. If a space is not suitable for your visitors, how can you adapt it, or offer an alternative access point? We have found providing noise cancelling headphones to borrow useful in a high-traffic reading room, and remote consultations for those who cannot travel onsite with ease.

Recently had a patron who was deaf/mute and was having issues accessing a video ASL chat service that he uses to contact service providers due to the time limit on our public wifi. After initially communicating via my limited ASL and pen & paper, we arranged for an interpreter to facilitate a meeting between the patron, my department head, and our director to figure out the patron's needs and how the library could assist him. We ended up installing the ASL chat software on one of our in-house computers for him to use without limits and also created a subset on our wifi with special password for him to use in our public areas also without a time limit. Communication is the key, listening, being empathetic and reasonably accommodating.

1. Be proactive, prepare and take action. Assume that you WILL have patrons who will need accomodations. Design your buildings, spaces with accessibility in mind. Design your websites, online courses with accessibility in mind. Design/ develop services that cater to neurodiverse users e.g. sensory story telling time, and then advertise these services. 2. Collaborations are helpful. Collaborate with agencies that already provide services for these individuals and learn how libraries could serve them. On campus collaborate and consult with student accessibility services.

Providing audio and visual aids to disabled patrons is one of the most effective ways to attract them to visit the library regularly. I have a special child in my class; so I try to read the story to her and explain her story with expression and believe me she loved it

Hire librarians with disabilities. Better yet, hire library administrators with disabilities. Why is hiring Library administrators with disabilities better than simply hiring librarians with disabilities? Because the administrators set the policy for the entire library. If you hire a librarian with a disability, you have a librarian with a disability on staff. But if you hire a librarian administrator with a disability, you might change the policy for the entire library via this hiring policy.

Focus on training provided by disability-led organisations so that awareness and solutions are coming from disabled experiences, rather than abled ones. Consider training that goes more deeply into theories of disability (medical, social, technological, charity etc) and into disability language, so that teams understand more of the contexts that shape your users experiences in the world, and more specifically, in your library.

It is important to support all visitors, whether they inform you that they require or would appreciate adjustments or not. Building considerate practices into standard procedures is a great way to do this. For example, questions such as 'would you prefer to take the stairs or the lift?' are applicable to all visitors, but quietly offer alternative resources and options those who need additional mobility support. Staff should be familiar with both the standard practices of the institution, as well as reasonable adjustments that can be implemented and alternate access routes that can be provided.

I wholeheartedly agree with Evan Lynch, hiring administrators with disabilities means change can happen from the top. However, what do you do when the applicants just aren't there? (aside from closely examining your job description of course) Staff training is critical to your organization's success in so many different ways. Training that directly affects the service you provide to customers with disabilities and other challenges, to me, is the most important because it sets the tone for what kind of organization you are. Are you inclusive? Are you accessible? Are you tolerant? Leadership in libraries should be spending a proportionate amount of their time identifying the needs of their staff and providing them the appropriate training.

As Evan says - hire staff with disabilities. And if you don’t have employees with disabilities make sure that your training is Delivered by people with disabilities. After all, we are the experts.

Thank you for mentioning the large print materials and audiobooks. If possible, have large print materials available for all age levels. It is not just senior citizens who benefit from large print books. Many people of all ages are farsighted and have an easier time with books and magazines that have larger fonts.

Accessibility is multi faceted. Start by making it welcoming. Make sure all signage is simple and easy to read. Make sure we know Where the lists are without having to ask. Surely the time has long gone when we have to ask where the accessible entrance is. It should Be the main entrance, but if it is not, at least make sure it is sign posted

The language “special needs” needs to be addressed first- let’s go with “accessibility”. Our public libraries are often the first in our communities to bring the needs of our neighbourhoods, and individuals to fruition. I love the conversations around accessibility ideas to bring people together! I love our community libraries and I’m now inspired to see what kinds of accessible programs they have!

I have experience with working the service desk at libraries, and in supporting library information technology. Assistive technology can greatly increase patron confidence and satisfaction. There are many hardware and softwares options available such as digital magnifiers, braille keyboards, and screen readers. It is important for libraries to recognize the importance of assistive technology, and to implement it effectively to support their patrons.

As a campus library with a large physical sciences studies' population, we had very frequent occasions where 3-4 individual students or groups wanted to utilize the same material for an important practicum in the near future. The challenge we faced was that many of these were student athletes, which meant their schedules were usually quite rigid, so our queue system for materials was not working. Some groups and individuals would utilize the materials for long periods straining the others' time. My manager had a brilliant idea, to ask the students which materials they needed multiple copies of the most. We made copies of those texts, had a check-in sheet which was reported to professors happily and resolved the challenge efficiently.

Certainly in my time working in an FE/HE college we had students with special educational needs, including disabilities. I found it key to treat those students in the exact manner as any other student, they had every right to the same resources that we offered. In my experience they were often some of the most conscientious people in the library, aware of their own needs and more than willing to explain to others as needed. Working in education often meant that other students understood, sometimes better than we did, about being inclusive I can honestly say I saw no incidents of bullying, harassment or exclusion.

It can also be worth inviting people with disabilities to be more actively involved- I know of multiple libraries who've worked to build partnerships with local chapters of a host of disability groups to have day visits, joint programming/outreach, and even to have individuals specifically chosen to represent them in Friends groups and library boards. I mention this here because the "Foster inclusion" section as written focuses on those without disabilities being supportive...without actually making space for those with disabilities proactively, which is a BIG PART of inclusion.

Stop using the term special needs! We do t Have special needs, we have the same needs as everyone else such as the need for access to a public library and the community. Perhaps the problem is that you see us as the other. Employ librarians with disabilities - they exist. The ableism of the initial statement is why we are not included

Know your users personally and treat them equally and where assistive or adaptive technologies needed try to help to ensure inclusivity .

As an academic librarian, apart from assistive technologies I would prioritize providing personalized support to patrons with disabilities and special needs. This includes conducting individualized assessments to understand their specific requirements, offering one-on-one assistance in navigating library resources and technology, and providing tailored accommodations to ensure their full participation and access to library services. I understand though that this may not be possible in larger settings, but we are a small community college library so this can work for us.

Libraries must ensure accessibility for patrons with disabilities and special needs. This includes physical accommodations like ramps and assistive technologies such as screen readers. Providing specialized services like large-print materials and audiobooks is crucial. Staff training on disability awareness and communication strategies is essential. Overall, fostering inclusivity through accommodations and a welcoming environment is key to serving all members of the community effectively.

Most disability organisations advocate for not using “special” when talking about disabled people’s needs (and never as a term for people themselves). Whilst it is still common in some areas of education, it is widely considered stigmatising to label disabled people’s needs as special. Consider more accurate descriptive words such as “accessibility needs” or “learning needs”.