Public libraries and Deaf patrons...your thoughts?

jillio said:
That makes me think of something else: ASL storytellers brought in every so often and opened to the public. Storytellers are a great way to indtroduce the general public to ASL.
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I agree...I love watching ASL storytellers. I know this will make people angry but every year in November we hold a day long event for children with storytellers, arts & crafts, authors, etc. at our main library. Approximately 5000 kids pass through on that particular day and of course, there are no ASL storytellers. I hope that for this year, we will have at least one if not more it will depend on whether the administrators really understand the need for this.

All this just angers me because we have programs in many languages including Polish, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, etc. but not ASL.

I truly hate public speaking but I agreed to do the talk in September (and now I've been asked to speak in April as well) because I don't think my administration will change unless they get seen in a bad light when they don't provide equal service to everyone (which they pride themselves on.)
 
AlleyCat said:
The bolded -- GREAT idea !! I'm trying to think of who on this forum mentioned book club socials before. Can you recall?
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AquaBlue??? Since he is a bookworm.... he might know who had mentioned book club socials. Ask him.
 
Ms.Librarian
Have you asked the deaf people if they want to give you their emails for announcements like ASL storytellers, etc. Maybe even a short explanation of a book that has a deaf character in it? Or even a list of books that has deaf characters in it or was written by deaf authors? (I am starting to collect books that has deaf characters in it and books that are written by deaf authors.) I am throwing ideas here.

How about putting up flyers on a certain part of the bulletin board so one doesn't have to read all the flyers for deaf events?

My former library has DVD movies and not all are closed-captions/subtitles. It would be nice if there are CC stickers on them (on the spine). I didn't mean to create a lot of work for you or any other librarians. It could be done eventually over the time. I haven't have time to look around the libraries much at my new location yet.
 
blank canvas said:
GREAT idea my daughter and I had to fight to get a terp for her to go to kids story time sad thing was there was a family with 2 deaf kids who went every week with no terp, their mom had no idea she could request it.

Took us two months and a lawyer!
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That is truly a shame. I had some hearing associates go to a couple of events that featured ASL storytelling at my son's school. Believe it or not, the hearing enjoyed it as much as the deaf, and it gave them a new perspective on what ASL really is.
 
Ms.Librarian said:
I agree...I love watching ASL storytellers. I know this will make people angry but every year in November we hold a day long event for children with storytellers, arts & crafts, authors, etc. at our main library. Approximately 5000 kids pass through on that particular day and of course, there are no ASL storytellers. I hope that for this year, we will have at least one if not more it will depend on whether the administrators really understand the need for this.

All this just angers me because we have programs in many languages including Polish, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, etc. but not ASL.

I truly hate public speaking but I agreed to do the talk in September (and now I've been asked to speak in April as well) because I don't think my administration will change unless they get seen in a bad light when they don't provide equal service to everyone (which they pride themselves on.)[/QUOTE]

Use whatever you have to in making them more aware. And do not accept anyone defining deafness as more than a cultural and linguistic difference.
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jillio said:
That is truly a shame. I had some hearing associates go to a couple of events that featured ASL storytelling at my son's school. Believe it or not, the hearing enjoyed it as much as the deaf, and it gave them a new perspective on what ASL really is.
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Oh I know it was fun to watch as ALL the kids ended up paying more attention to the terp then than librarian reading the book, my daughter was very excited when the kids tried to sign to her granted it wasn't any real signs she thought it was very sweet.
 
blank canvas said:
Oh I know it was fun to watch as ALL the kids ended up paying more attention to the terp then than librarian reading the book, my daughter was very excited when the kids tried to sign to her granted it wasn't any real signs she thought it was very sweet.
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Awww...that is sweet! I'm sure she will remember that experience for a lifetime. And it will help to counteract the few meanies she will encounter, thank goodness.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. As I narrow down my dissertation project I will let you all know. Meanwhile, feel free to share more of your experiences and if you are not comfortable sharing them on the forum, send me a private message and we'll work something out. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks.
 
Ms.Librarian said:
Thanks everyone for your input. As I narrow down my dissertation project I will let you all know. Meanwhile, feel free to share more of your experiences and if you are not comfortable sharing them on the forum, send me a private message and we'll work something out. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks.
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Good luck on that dissertation.
 
jillio said:
That makes me think of something else: ASL storytellers brought in every so often and opened to the public. Storytellers are a great way to indtroduce the general public to ASL.
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What a great idea! When I was a little, I hate books but when I was at Deaf school those high school kids used to come to our dorm and did ASL storyteller. I loved it and made me want to read those books. I forgot all about it now I remember.
 
FYI -- my local library is one of largest public library system in USA with 3,677,923 items in circulation. (source:Nation's Largest Libraries - LibrarySpot Lists)

My library is really good about getting terp for programs with one week notice.

But,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

They are REALLY bad when it comes to DVD/VHS.. they don't realize that we need more CC movies,, especially the non-fiction DVD. I complained about it and the library said "10% of the movies have CC or SDH,, I told her,, 10%?? not acceptable... To this day,, our need for more CC DVDs are falling on "deaf ears."

So my suggestion,, make sure to get as much movies you can with CC or SDH.
 
Great News! Our library has gotten an ASL theater group to do storytelling next week. Auditorium accommodates 200! Yes!
 
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Ms. Librarian, excuse me for going off on a tangent. Where I live is rather remote. The closest library is about 10 miles away. Would it be possible to set up a public library near me? What are the rules if any?
 
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