Special Topics Paper Summary
I am writing a paper discussing the Talking Book and Braille Service program, and how readers advisory for blind, cognitively, or physically people compares with readers advisory under traditional circumstances. The American Library Association provides helpful guidelines to serving patrons with disabilities, and the Americans with Disabilities Act has legal guidelines that all libraries must adhere to. These resources are a good place to start if you haven't had much experience working with people with disabilities.
Talking Book and Braille Service is an extremely unique library situation. All of our books come on audio cartridges, so we never see any actual print books. It takes a little getting used to, especially if you have had any prior library experience where you handle books all day long. As silly as this sounds, sometimes not ever getting to see or touch the books we discuss with patrons can feel a little detached, like there is something "missing". True, we can always see covers and sometimes excerpts online, but not ever being able to flip through a book as you are talking to a patron about it is disorienting. With that in mind, we all find different ways to fill in those gaps. The most important way to stay in touch with our patrons' reading experiences is by "reading" the way that they do. That is, we listen to books all the time, using the same technology as the patrons. In this way, we are able to understand how the book sounds, which is a vital component of their reading experience. We have readers who can't hear female narrators well because of hearing difficulties, readers who have a difficult time understanding narrators with accents, and we have plenty of patrons who say "I just never want to hear that narrator again". So, along with genre and author preferences, we have to incorporate what people can or can't hear, or what they prefer as far as narrators go.
The readers advisers in our department essentially work in a call center. All of our readers advisory is done over the phone. Our patrons live all over the state of Illinois, and we will likely never meet any of them in person. However, that does not mean that we don't have the opportunity to form relationships with them in terms of getting to know them as readers. And in some ways, we get to know them beyond their reading preferences. It is not unusual for us to be the only person that a patron speaks with on a regular basis. Many are home-bound and lonely, so we also learn about their illnesses, their families, what kind of help they do or don't have to manage their technology or their account, and what their qualifying condition is or any limitations they might have that would prevent them from getting the most out of the program. Learning about who they are helps us give them a specialized reading experience, and aids us in finding new things to read that they might not have considered. For instance, some veterans enjoy reading about wars and combat, and others never want to read about it or talk about it.
In that same line of thought, it is very easy or tempting to make assumptions about what people, especially the very elderly, would like to read. We conduct a pretty thorough interview when patrons first enter the program to find out likes and dislikes, because the default setting is that books are chosen randomly by our computer program every night based on the preferences the patron gives us. We have an almost infinite number of combinations and possibilities for preferences, including authors, genres, series, and content inclusions or exclusions. Readers advisers use these preferences as guides when we are talking to patrons about what they want to read next.
I go into more detail in my paper about the day-to-day operations of how to best serve this special population, but I have provided some links below to get you started if you want more information about library services for patrons with disabilities, including a link to my own program.
Resources:
ALA Planning Guide for Serving Patrons with Disabilities
ALA Working with Patrons with Disabilities: How Do I Get Started?
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at the Library of Congress
Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-Libraries and Accessibility
Mandy, the library I work at just got informed of this collection and our ability to get patrons in need signed up for it! I believe that ACPL had a little more of a permanent collection, but I'm not sure. But this is such an important service, and I absolutely love hearing that your library has made it your RA mission to really understand what the experience of these materials is. I imagine that your patrons have nothing but wonderful things to say about you guys!
ReplyDeleteYes! The NLS has just launched a nation-wide advertising campaign to get more people involved with the program. We LOVE it when libraries keep a talking book player and cartridges for demonstrations. I have a few libraries that actually manage the talking book accounts for patrons who don;t have anyone else to help them. Local public libraries are VITAL to the success of the program, especially in small towns where patrons don't have access to many other services. In just the past week we have already seen an uptick in inquiries because of the advertising. I'm happy to see its been effective in other states besides Illinois!
ReplyDeleteMandy,
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing program, one that I'm hearing about for the first time! What a wonderful way to serve your patrons! I love how you went into detail about knowing each reader's personal preferences, especially with narration. Making notes of what a patron likes and dislikes for these is excellent. Do you find that some of your patrons prefer to speak to specific staff members if they feel like that staff member would remember them more? I would almost expect them to have a favorite librarian with this type of service!
It's funny that you ask about certain patrons talking to certain RAs. It came up in a meeting last week. We are actually trying to discourage that, mostly because we have a high call volume and it's better for the patron to not have to wait to talk to a particular person. Also, there is the occasional "getting too attached" situation, where a patron wants to call just to talk, so we are trying to circumvent some of that. That being said, we speak to many of these people on a weekly basis, so we do know to a certain extent what is happening with them, and are emotionally invested in them. There are so many wonderful people! Its not unusual to speak with someone over the age of 100 in a given week, and it is such a delight to get to know them.
DeleteMandy,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting area of library service. I understand how one might feel detached without actually handling the physical book, but, applaud the efforts taken to truly understand the patron and use the same technology that they would use. If they have questions, concerns, the librarian, then, would be better suited to assist. Do you offer outreach services to patrons needing the Braille services or Talking Book options? I researched outreach services and readers' advisory for cognitively impaired patrons. There is much need to assist the underserved populations. Thank you.
I think outreach is crucial for making sure undeserved populations get the benefits of library services. In Illinois, there used to be several talking book centers dispersed throughout the state, and in September of last year, all patrons were sort of "funneled" into the Springfield system, and they built our call center and hired 6 RAs to handle the influx. I think outreach is a part of the long term plan, though . Recently, however, the National Library Service has launched a campaign to make people aware of the services. They are running ads on targeted TV and radio stations, and we are getting great results already. I had three calls before 10:00 this morning from people wanting info and apps. So, we are very excited about that!
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