This case study explores services academic libraries provide to students with disabilities and the impact these can have on the success and experience of these students. The study focuses on staff training and outreach programming. The authors examine the academic library literature surrounding these topics, provide examples of programming…

As more students, faculty, and staff from traditionally underrepresented groups enter universities and colleges, academic libraries must find ways to reach out to these groups in order to better meet their unique educational needs. In this article, librarians from two large public universities describe how they used data about their communities to…

Disadvantaged adults who need the information a library can provide include those who are poor, in the minority, aging, institutionalized, or handicapped. Methods used to recruit these potential patrons may include the media, mailings, exhibits, posters and billboards, personal contact, classes, bookmobiles, speakers, and advisory committees. Some…

Provides a list of traditional and nontraditional services and programs offered by Illinois public libraries to special populations, including educationally, culturally, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups; ethnic minority groups; illiterates; the elderly; visually impaired; hearing impaired; emotionally disabled; and residents of state,…

The growing population of deinstitutionalized persons with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities is described, some of their information needs are examined, methods of providing library services are suggested, and a rationale for community outreach is provided. The state program in Rhode Island is outlined. (22 references) (EAM)

This directory in chart form identifies Ohio public library services and resources which can be used by people with vision, hearing, mobility, and learning impairments, and those isolated because of illness or age. Data were gathered from a survey of 226 public libraries in March 1980. Introductory information summarizes the responsibility of the…

Examples are given of the ways that the states have used funds from Title I of the Library Services and Construction Act to assist libraries in implementing outreach projects for the benefit of those who cannot easily avail themselves of ordinary service. Library outreach programs for inner-city residents; for non-English speaking persons in New…

Designed to ensure that all Library of Michigan/Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LM/LBPH) network libraries provide uniform, quality service to patrons in their service areas, these standards will serve both as the basis for a formal written agreement between each of the 12 network libraries and LM/LBPH, and as a minimum…

Since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has gone into effect, many libraries are evaluating and improving their library services for people with disabilities. There are nearly 110,000 children in Missouri who receive some type of special education assistance because of physical, mental or emotional impairments. Through an anonymous…

Describes existing library services for disabled individuals at libraries in the Chicago area, and discusses issues that need to be addressed in planning for such services; e.g., financial support, accessibility, adjusting services to patron needs, mainstreaming, and outreach programs. (19 notes with references) (CLB)

The final product of the Wisconsin Special Users Needs Assessment project initiated in the summer of 1984, this report outlines how library systems have worked with hard-to-reach and underserved populations over the past 10 years. The document is divided into three parts. Based on a review of the systems' annual plans and evaluations for the past…

The September 1975 issue of Illinois Libraries focuses on the needs of the developmentally disabled, physically handicapped, and emotionally disturbed. Articles on library services to the blind and physically handicapped cover standards, services of local public libraries, Library of Congress programs, braille books and sound recordings,…

It is estimated that one in every five people in the United States has problems performing daily activities without help, perhaps due to the aging of the population and to more and more children surviving severe birth defects. The importance of library services to the disabled cannot be overestimated; they have the same information needs as any…

This report contains six presentations by members of the Task Force on Libraries and Lifelong Learning. "Library Programming for Groups with Special Needs" describes the library as a local alternative education agency, complementing school systems, and ways libraries serve adults with special needs through outreach and special programming efforts.…

This guide, which was developed for Canadian literacy teachers, contains practical guidelines for including people with intellectual and other disabilities in literacy education. The foreword examines the problems caused by various barriers that have traditionally excluded intellectually disabled individuals from literacy programs, and the…