Equitable library services for Canadians with print disabilities

Network member Donna Kormilo would like to bring to members’ attention the issue of equitable library services for Canadians with print disabilities, one of great significance to public library systems. She notes that Manitoba Provincial Library Services have been heavily involved in the pilot for the Canadian Accessible Library Service (CALS).

From their website:

National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS)

Coming together to provide accessible library services for the print-disabled; all citizens have a right to equitable access to library materials, including those with print disabilities.

NNELS partners are currently piloting the Canadian Accessible Library Service (CALS); a repository of downloadable alternate format materials for the print disabled, made available through Canada’s public library network.

A related resource is the 2005 strategy paper, Opening the Book, issued by CLA’s Working Group to Define a National Network for Equitable Library Service.

 

 

Coping with spiralling IT costs

I would like to start a discussion with any trustee associations or library boards that have been wrestling with the issue of the spiralling costs for information technology infrastructure. I represent a relatively small but very busy public library that serves a town of around 6,000 plus two nearby townships, with a total population of over 19,000, swelling to around 28,000 in the summer months as it is a summer holiday area. Use of electronic resources, whether through onsite computer use, online access to the catalogue, various databases and electronic services, or the borrowing of e-books, is on a steady rise.

At the same time, the library has a small IT budget, currently no staff with defined IT duties, and a fair amount of aging and antiquated equipment. As for many other small-town and rural libraries, the cuts to the federal CAP program were a crippling blow, and have resulted in the need to juggle funds from other areas of the library’s budget. The library staff are extremely resourceful; our CEO has managed to find grant monies for resources for the teen service area, recruit volunteers to help with computer maintenance and public computer tutoring programs, and update the most critical elements of software and hardware. But the prospects of any significant increase in the library’s overall budget beyond the rate of inflation is small, despite the supportive good will of our town and township council members on the board, given the current tight economic climate.

Does this describe your situation? Does anyone have any good suggestions for improving access to technology, other than the usual rounds of grant-hunting?

Any and all suggestions welcome!

Carol Rigby
Perth & District Union Public Library Board