This presentation, Libraries For All: Physical and Mental Disabilities in the Library, was presented the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association conference held in New Orleans, LA in 2015.

1. Libraries For All:
Physical and Mental Disabilities
in the Library
JJ Pionke
Applied Health Sciences Librarian
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
pionke@Illinois.edu

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

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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

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

11. Problem: Physical Building

12. 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.

13. Problem: Hidden Disabilities
• Dyslexia
• Low Vision/Poor Vision
• Many mental health issues like Depression or PTSD

14. 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.

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

16. 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.