Special needs in Tasmania

Citation

(1998), "Special needs in Tasmania", Asian Libraries, Vol. 7 No. 12. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1998.17307lab.008

Special needs in Tasmania

Special needs in Tasmania

Information provided by Bridget Hutton, State Library of Tasmania

The overarching objective of the State Library of Tasmania is to provide statewide library and information services that meet the information, education, social and recreational reading needs of the Tasmanian community. The State Library of Tasmania provides library and information services to customers with special needs, including people with disabilities, the homebound, people for whom English is a second language and locationally disadvantaged.

Services to people with special needs include the ongoing maintenance of special lending collections of recorded books, subtitled videos, large print books and books in a wide range of languages other than English. The needs of homebound patrons are met through a home delivery service, where staff select materials for customers and volunteer couriers deliver the materials directly to the homebound customers.

Through the recent installation of Zoomtext software which enlarges text on the screen, print disabled customers have access to the Tasmanian Automated Library and Information System (TALIS) and associated services such as the Tasmanian Index, the University of Tasmania's catalogue and to the Internet. All city libraries have a viewpoint scanner which magnifies text for the print disabled.

A number of library staff have attended courses on providing services to customers with special needs. The sessions were developed with input from members of the Tasmanian Advisory Committee on Library Services to People with Disabilities

The State Library's Tasmania Online provided the facility to enable community groups to create sites on the Web. Hear-A-Book Inc, a Tasmanian producer of recorded books, is one organisation with an interest in services to people with disabilities to take advantage of this opportunity.

Tasmanian Communities Online is another new service, managed by the State Library, which is assisting locationally disadvantaged customers and their communities. The network of technology centres around the state will be rolled out over the next two years and supported by the community. The network complements the services of the library. The centres provide the computers, printers, scanners, and software, as well as staffing and training courses to assist communities to navigate the Internet and to create their own Web pages. In addition, the centres will provide access to electronic government and community information. It is anticipated that many centres will establish partnerships with schools or libraries to maximise the community's use of existing government facilities. The centres will give communities the opportunity to showcase their heritage, cultural life and services.

The State Library of Tasmania owns a substantial language other than English (LOTE) collection. Recently the State Library conducted a survey of the reading habits and needs of LOTE customers with a view to improving access to the collection and other service aspects.