Libraries For All: Physical and Mental Disabilities

in the Library

JJ PionkeApplied Health Sciences Librarian

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

pionke@Illinois.edu

Objectives

• Explore issues of disability and accessibility in the library• Provide practical recommendations for improvements

What is disability?

Lenn, K. (1996). Library services to disabled students: Outreach and education. The Reference Librarian, 25(53), 13-25.

American Disabilities Act of 1990

“Physical, sensory, mental, and emotional disabilities are all covered by the ADA. A mental impairment is defined by the ADA as: ‘any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.’ Thus, mental illness is recognized by the law as a disability, with the same protections as other disabilities such as paraplegia, blindness, or hearing impairment.”

Hecker, T.E. (1996). Patrons with disabilities or problem patrons. The Reference Librarian, 25(53). 5-12.

Some Numbers• 1 in 5 adults have a mental disorder of some kind in a given year• 57.4% of the population will experience a mental disorder during

their lifetime.• In any given year:

2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings

What is the average time between onset of a mental disorder and seeking assistance?

10 YEARS

Mental Health First Aid Association. (2013). Mental Health First Aid.

Hello, My Name Is…

• Complex PTSD• Strong “knee jerk” reactions, especially to perceived threats• Sensitivity to sound• Sensitivity to crowds• Miss a lot of social cues• From traumatic events to therapy, 25 years.

Problem: Language and Perception

“Deal with”

“Problem patrons”

“Difficult to manage”

Berk, J. (2014). Mental health training in public libraries. Public Libraries, 53(6), 34-37.Hecker, T.E. (1996). Patrons with disabilities or problem patrons. The Reference Librarian, 25(53). 5-12.Murray, J.S. (2009). Library psychiatry: Is there a place for the mentally ill in your law library? AALL Spectrum, 14(2), 10-13.Westbrook, L. (2015). “I’m not a social worker”: An information service model for working with patrons in crisis. The Library Quarterly, 85(1), 6-25.

Solution

• Training such as Mental Health First Aid• Outreach to social work and mental health organizations• Compassion

Problem: Physical Building

Solution

• Accessibility Audit• Focus Groups and Surveys• Walk the Building

Forrest, M.E.S. (2005). Towards an accessible academic library: Using the IFLA checklist. IFLA Conference 2005.Nielsen, G.S. & Irval, B. Access to libraries for disabled persons checklist: A practical tool. IFLA Conference 2005.

Problem: Hidden Disabilities

• Dyslexia• Low Vision/Poor Vision• Many mental health issues like Depression or PTSD

Solution

• Compassion and empathy• Awareness of accessibility software and hardware (and the knowledge to use it)• Creative solutions

• Loaner stuffed animals• 3D printing of images to make them tactile• Hathitrust Proxy

IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Persons with Dyslexia, 2014.

Lazar, J. & Briggs, I. (2015). Improving services for patrons with print disabilities at public libraries. The Library Quarterly, 85(2), 172-184.

Petrie, H., Power, C., & Swallow, D. (2009). Students with disabilities in higher education: Challenges and tactile solutions. Art Libraries Journal, 34(2), 35-40.

Proxy allows for your library to access digital copies of copyrighted materials, that are held within your library, for disabled users, for free.

Conclusions

• Many of our institutions confirm to the letter of the law for physical disabilities but mental disabilities are often ignored.

• We can do a lot better…..and we should.