Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons Section

Annual Report 2002-2003

Scope

The Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons Section provides leadership to libraries, associations, and government bodies for the development of specialized services to those groups within the community who are unable to make use of conventional library services.

These groups include persons in hospitals and prisons, the elderly in nursing homes and others in specialized care facilities, the house-bound, the deaf, the physically and developmentally disabled, and persons with reading difficulties.

The Section provides an international forum for the discussion of ideas and sharing of expertise. It develops projects that promote and improve library and information services to all.

Membership

Officers

Chair
John Michael Day

Secretary / Information Coordinator
Vibeke Lehmann

Treasurer
Joanne Locke

Meetings

Midyear meeting, March 6 & 7, 2003, The Hague
The Standing Committee held a two-day midyear at IFLA Headquarters in The Hague. There were 6 members in attendance. A large portion of the meeting was devoted to the drafting of the LSDP 2004-2005 Strategic Plan.

Annual conference meeting, August, Berlin
There were 10 Standing Committee members present and 7 guests.

Projects

1. Translations of miscellaneous LSDP guidelines publications
   Translations into French (IFLA Professional Report #74), Spanish (IFLA Professional Report #76) and Russian (IFLA Professional Report #79) of the Guidelines for Library Services to Persons with Dyslexia (IFLA Professional Report # 70) were completed.
2. Revision of Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners, 2d ed.
   Vibeke Lehmann, project director, reports that the revision work continued during the year. Several articles and documents identified during a literature search have been translated into English and distributed to members of the working group. The bibliography is completed. At this time, about 2/3 of the revisions to the text and has drafted a new format. The Working Group expects to have a final draft completed by early Spring 2004. The project has been delayed due to work reassignment of the project director.

Publications

Conference Programmes

Theme: "Planning and Implementing Library Services to Prisoners: Accepting the Challenge and Making it Happen"

Five speakers from the United States, Italy, Germany, and Brazil, highlighted the unique reading and information needs presented by incarcerated persons. They explained how they worked with government and library agencies to establish and maintain the needed library services and collections - often facing enormous political, economic, and social obstacles. Their success stories, however, were inspiring, and they provided information on available resources that provide guidelines, standards, and justification for prison library services. The session had simultaneous interpretation and had an audience of 60 to 75 persons. After the program, several members of the audience met with the speakers for a lively discussion and the sharing of information on the status of prison library services in their respective countries.

1. Planning and implementing prison libraries: strategies and resources
   VIBEKE LEHMANN (Department of Corrections, Madison, USA)
2. "ABC" and the Italian prison libraries
   "ABC" et les bibliothèques carcérales italiennes
   EMANUELA COSTANZO (University of Milan, Milan, Italy)
   
3. Prison Libraries in Italy
   MARIA ANGELA BARLOTTI (Bibliotecari Fuori di Se, Province of Ravenna, Italy)
4. Bibliotheksarbeit im Justizvollzug in Deutschland am Beispiel Nordrhein-Westfalens - Gefangenenbibliotheken als Portale begrenzter Freiheit zur sinnvollen Freizeitgestaltung für Inhaftierte
   GERHARD PESCHERS (Justizvollzugsanstalt Münster, Münster, Germany)
5. Library services to prisoners in the State of Rio de Janeiro
   LUDMILA POPOW MAYRINK DA COSTA (School of Library Science, University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Relationships with other bodies

The LSDP Section has cooperated closely with the Japan Library Association and the Danish Library Association in arranging the Japanese and Danish translations of the "Guidelines for Library Services to Persons with Dyslexia."

The LSDP Section also used its close connection with staff of the Russian State Library to bring about the Russian translation of "Guidelines for Libraries Serving Hospital Patients and the Elderly and Disabled in Long-Term Care Facilities."

The LSDP Section continues to plan conference programs jointly with the Libraries for the Blind Section. Joint conference programs are under development for Buenos Aires 2004 and Oslo 2005.

Author: Vibeke Lehmann, Acting Chair.
Date: February 28, 2004.