Webinar - Itasca Comm Library's Vision Center: Library Tech Blind & Low Vision - 2013-11-20
Channel: TechSoupVideo
Date: 2013-12-13

Does your library provide assistive technology for patrons who are blind or have low vision? Or is this a goal for the near future? Join this session to learn from the Itasca Community Library (IL), which provides special technology, services, materials and equipment for patrons with vision impairments. With generous support from the local Lions Club, a Vision Center was created in the library.
 
Watch as we talk with Adult Services Librarian Soon Har Tan about special technology, services, materials and training the library provides for patrons with vision impairments. We'll also be joined by Tom Perski, senior vice president/rehabilitation services for The Chicago Lighthouse. He assisted Soon Har with planning the Vision Center.
 
This webinar is part of a series of webinars exploring the Edge Initiative Benchmarks. Benchmark 11 states, "Libraries ensure participation in digital technology for people with disabilities". A coalition of leading library and local government organizations are working on Edge, including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Urban Libraries Council, American Library Association's OITP, International City/County Management Association, Lyrasis, Public Library Association, State Libraries of California, Oklahoma and Texas, TechSoup Global, Universities of Maryland and Washington, and WebJunction/OCLC. The Edge Initiative is a voluntary assessment program that provides libraries with benchmarks, best practices, tools and resources that support continuous improvement and reinvestment in public technology services. Edge helps libraries connect their services to community priorities. Edge will be available to public libraries nationwide in January 2014.