LIBRARYPALOOZA

HOME

AWARDS

SEARCH

ARTICLES

LETTER TO EDITOR

TOOLBOX

Serving Patrons Who Have Limited Mobility

A recurring theme in our conversations with librarians has been concern about how to address the needs of patrons who have limited mobility. If your library has a wheelchair for patron use, or if you would like to obtain one, the single most important thing you can do is to communicate to your community that you are willing and able to assist patrons who have limited mobility. To that end we have prepared a series of resources to help in obtaining, using and promoting your library's accessibility to patrons who have limited mobility as follows:

• The "reader wheelchair" graphic. We have modified the international wheelchair symbol to include an open book in the hands of the chair's occupant. This graphic is available in various formats including EPS for professional printing; TIFF and BMP for use with word processors, PICT for the Mac platform and a Web site-suitable GIF. The graphic is available as stand-alone symbol and as a white symbol enclosed in a solid box. All of the "reader wheelchair" graphics are included in wheelchair_logos.zip (59KB). The files can be extracted from the zip archive using WinZip (Windows) or Stuffit (Mac and Windows).
  
  
• The "Get Around" series of bookmarks. There are six bookmarks available in Acrobat format (download wheelchair_bk_6.pdf - 168KB - Acrobat Tips) inducing:
  
  
  • Circulate @ your library (for libraries with and without wheelchairs)
    
    
  • Get Onboard @ your library (for libraries with and without wheelchairs)
    
    
  • Get Around @ your library (for libraries with and without wheelchairs)
    
    
  
  
• The "Scoot Around" series of bookmarks, in color and black, as requested by LM&PR buddy Carolyn Garner, Asst. City Librarian at Arcadia (Calif.) PL, for use by libraries with electric carts or scooters. Includes all of the bookmarks in the "Get Around" series plus "Scoot Around @ your library."
  • Black - wheelchair_bk_4.pdf - 126KB
  • Color - wheelchair_bk_4_color.pdf - 131KB
  
  
• Prepared advertisements for magazine, newsletters and newspapers. There are six ads in each of two series (for libraries with and without wheelchairs) ranging from 4" x 5" up to a newspaper full page (13" x 21"). The ads are in EPS format for use with publishing software and can be downloaded in the following archives:
  
  
  • wheelchair_ad.zip - 358KB - for libraries which have wheelchairs available. ). The files can be extracted from the zip archive using WinZip (Windows) or Stuffit (Mac and Windows).
    
    
  • Wheelchair_ad2.zip - 290KB - for libraries without wheelchairs but with other accessibility assets. ). The files can be extracted from the zip archive using WinZip (Windows) or Stuffit (Mac and Windows).
    
    
  
  
• A list of suggestions on how to use the materials provided here.
  
  
• Some hints on the use of wheelchairs and other mobility aids gleaned from our survey of librarians.
  
  
• Internet resources relating to mobility aids in libraries (also at right)
  
  

Serving Patrons Who Have Limited Mobility II — The Sequel

A few weeks ago we posted an article entitled "Serving Patrons Who Have Limited Mobility" and included all kinds of bookmarks, advertisement art and logos to promote your library's accessibility resources. The other day LM&PR buddy Carolyn Garner, Asst. City Librarian at Arcadia (Calif.) Public Library, called and told us that her library had just added a brand-new and truly nifty electric cart and asked if we would make up a set of bookmarks just for those who "scoot."

Good ideas deserve to be acted upon so we are pleased to introduce the "Scoot Around" series of bookmarks. Since the Arcadia PL has a new color copier (funded by the Arcadia Friends of the Library) these bookmarks come in a splashy color version (for the color-printer crowd) and in traditional black (for the copier clan).

Scoot right in and download them now...
       Lavish Color - wheelchair_bk_4_color.pdf - 127KB
       Basic Black - wheelchair_bk_4.pdf - 131KB

• Making It All Work—Staff Training
  Keynote address by Barbara T. Mates to Microsoft employees and experts on disabilities and technology, Redmond, Washington, February 19, 1998
  http://www.ala.org/editions/samplers/mates/ch10.html
  
  
• AccessAbility @ Your Library Bibliography Grows for Partnership with Easter Seals
  http://www.ala.org/ascla/interface/#story1
  
  
• AccessAbility @ your library — Recommendations for Children Easter Seals Bibliography
  http://www.ala.org/news/v7n10/children.html
  
  
• Libraries Serving Special Populations —American Library Association
  http://www.ala.org/ascla/lssps/
  
  
• San Francisco Public Library: Services at the Main Library for people with Limited Mobility
  http://sfpl4.sfpl.org/access_services/Limited_mobility.htm
  
  
• "Disabilities Clip Art," Library Media & PR, 12/20/2000.
  http://www.ssdesign.com/librarypr/content/p122000a.shtml
  
  
• Santa Monica Public Library has a web page of Services for Individuals with Disabilities
  http://www.smpl.org/library/services/disable.htm
• Friends of the Post Falls Public Library (Post Falls, Idaho) purchased a wheelchair and walker.
  http://postfallslibrary.nicon.org/bookstore.html
• ADA Links
  http://www.jan.wvu.edu/links/adalinks.htm
• Grant Information
  http://www.jan.wvu.edu/links/funding/GrantsLoans.htm
• "Over 1.5 million Americans use wheelchairs for a variety of causes: a congenital condition, traumatic injury, or disease. People who depend upon wheelchairs for mobility are in varied situations. They might live independently or need attendant care; live alone or with family; be employed full-time or no longer working. Despite differences, people dependent on wheelchairs face some similar medical issues and a need to cope with changed circumstances.",Life on Wheels: For the Active Wheelchair User, Karp, Gary and Linda Lamb (Ed.)
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565922530/qid=1015541385/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-3769354-2935069
• Disability Etiquette Tips
  When talking with a person who uses a wheelchair or scooter for more than a few minutes, use a chair whenever possible in order to place yourself at the person's eye level; this facilitates conversation. Do not move a wheelchair, crutches, or other mobility aid out of reach of a person who uses them. Also, do not push a mobility aid without first asking the occupant if you may do so, lean on a person's mobility aid when talking, or pat a person who uses a wheelchair or scooter on the head. Make sure that audiovisual equipment does not block the view of people who use accessible seating; clearing the aisles of excess debris for the use of mobility aids may be useful. Be alert to the possible existence of architectural barriers.
  Continue at... http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/etipresent.html