by Daveed Mandell
In September, the blind and visually impaired community in Louisville, Ky., celebrated the first anniversary of an innovative program which had been initiated a year earlier at the Louisville Free Public Library. In September 1999, the library became accessible to blind and visually impaired people when two computers — complete with adaptive hardware and software — were unveiled at the main library on York Street. In ensuing months, similarly adapted computers were installed in three other library branches.
Thanks largely to an industrious and unassuming worker in the library’s business reference section, blind and visually impaired people have become significantly more welcome and visible at the various library branches where training on accessible computers is now offered.
Maury Weedman, who as the father of a totally blind son named Jamie, had become familiar with screen readers and braille embossers, is the person who turned his ideas about making the public library accessible to every member of the public into a reality. Speaking at last July’s Library Users of America (LUA) convention in Louisville, Weedman explained how the project began, and how he became the library’s coordinator of adaptive technology: “I wrote a proposal one day and went to the director with it, and he said ‘Yes,’ and that just sort of started us on our road.”
Charlie Harris, the library’s manager of information services, told the LUA gathering, “I’m really, really excited about what we’re able to do with adaptive technology; and I think this is only the beginning. We’re just beginning the journey at the public library, and we’re so excited and so proud to be on the journey.”
Of course it wasn’t as simple as all that. Grants had to be sought, and a needs assessment had to be conducted. But according to Weedman and Harris, grassroots community participation and support kept the ball rolling. Louisville’s mayor and other city officials offered support and encouragement. The local Library Foundation raised much of the funding for the project, in addition to procuring a $300,000 grant from the Gates Foundation. Organizations of and for the blind worked together to assist the library by promoting the program to the community of blind people, and advising staff members about which hardware and software to purchase.
Weedman organized an accessibility team of library staff members at the various branches to provide blind and visually impaired patrons with one-on-one training on everything from screen readers and braille translators, to Microsoft Office and the Internet. The team is also responsible for ongoing development of the overall program. Harris pointed out that despite the scheduled staff training sessions, for the most part, staffpersons have learned how to use access software — such as JAWS for Windows, Duxbury, Magic and ZoomText — on their own through trial and error.
Weedman said the response to the new program has been phenomenal. Library staff members have been training blind and visually impaired people, as well as their family members and teachers, four days a week at the main library, and one day a week at the three branches. There have been so many requests for technology training that training sessions must be scheduled two months in advance. Four staff members provide training at the main library, and one staff member is available for training at each of the three branches.
Jim Shaw, a blind library patron, said training is tailored to the needs of each individual, whether one has a vocational, educational or personal objective in mind. One can receive as little or as much training as one wants or needs. Shaw said he has had quite a few two-hour training sessions on accessing various library databases via the Internet. Thanks to the braille embosser and braille translation software at the main library, he has also learned how to format and produce braille documents. In short, Shaw said, he is a very satisfied patron.
The Louisville Free Public Library is also the home of the city’s NLS sub-regional Talking Book Library, which has around 1,400 patrons. Because the adaptive technology training staff has access to the sub-regional’s recording studio and duplicating facilities, plans are afoot to provide individualized training materials and tutorials on tape, as well as in braille and large print.
While many people ask for training on access technology and software, very few actually come to the library to use the computers. Weedman said one reason for this lack of personal computer utilization is inadequate transportation. When this reporter asked if some of this reluctance might be the result of a perceived psychological or attitudinal barrier, Weedman said that, luckily for blind and visually impaired Louisville residents, librarians have a very positive, naturally non-threatening attitude toward blind and visually impaired individuals.
Weedman said the aim of opening up the library to people with disabilities is not to put them in a separate area and provide them with some kind of “special” service. Rather, the goal is to integrate them into the facilities and areas that all other patrons use. Blind and visually impaired patrons can access library materials with adaptive equipment, including a scanner, tape player and closed-circuit television. One can find blind patrons performing their own database and Internet searches, capturing data on computer disks and converting files to braille or large print. Visually impaired patrons are able to interact with librarians in the same ways their non-disabled peers routinely do.
According to Harris, the library has ambitious plans for upgrading and expanding service to the blind and visually impaired community. It plans to purchase additional screen readers and optical character recognition software, and install braille embossers at the three branch libraries where access equipment is currently located. The library also plans to expand its training to include most common application software packages, and to set up accessible computers in the children’s areas.
Shaw said the Louisville Free Public Library has set up a model program that other communities around the country should emulate.
“I would encourage all of you to go back to your communities and encourage your libraries to follow suit and to do something similar to this,” he told the LUA gathering.
Last year, when the accessible computers were introduced to Louisville’s blind and visually impaired community, Weedman said he could sense the intense excitement. “I could tell there was a sigh of relief. It’s like, ‘This is our library, too, and you really mean it!’” Weedman said a psychological barrier had thus been eradicated. “A curtain had been opened, you know, and I think that, symbolically, it really was an important thing to do. I mean, it was a very public commitment made.”
For more information about the Louisville Free Public Library’s services for blind and visually impaired patrons, contact Maury Weedman via snail mail, phone, fax or e-mail, as follows:
Snail Mail Address:
Attention: Maury Weedman
Coordinator of Adaptive Technology
Louisville Free Public Library
301 York St.
Louisville, KY 40203
Phone: (502) 574-1617
Fax: (502) 574-1657
E-mail: maury@lfpl.org
Web Site: http://www.lfpl.org