Newsletter of the Section for Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons

Issue 42
May 1996

At Kjerstin Thulin's suggestion, with this issue we are starting a series of articles on the public library situation in the various countries that the members represent. We are starting with reports from members of the Standing Committee, but invite readers of the Newsletter who may come from countries that are not represented on the Standing Committee, to submit similar reports to the Editor, for publication.

The series starts with a brief overview of special library services in Catalonia, by Carmé Mayol and Teresa Pagès;, who have been profiled in the previous edition of the Newsletter (No.41, Fall 1995). Carmé as been a members of the Section since 1993 and Teresa since 1995.

I am also pleased to report that I have been asked and agreed to continue editing the Newsletter and that John Day, from Gallaudet University, a previous Secretary-Treasurer of the Section, will publish and distribute it to the members. The membership list is currently under review. As part of budget-cuts, it will be necessary to keep the mailing of the Newsletter limited.

We are also investigating the possibility of distributing the Newsletter by electronic means and are therefore asking for your e-mail address. Kindly complete the form on the back cover, and return it to the Secretariat of the Section, as indicated.

Anne M. Galler
Email: amg@alcor.concordia.ca

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Mid-Year Meeting of the Standing Committee in Stockholm, Sweden.

By Kjerstin Thulin, Chair

As newly appointed Chairperson of the Section of Library Services for Disadvantaged Persons I was privileged to choose where to hold the mid-year meeting. It was with great pleasure that I received the eleven representatives of the SC who were able to attend the meetings, and we all worked very hard and effectively during the two days of meetings. We also had the opportunity to study Swedish library services to disadvantaged persons in the County of Stockholm. SC members were invited to the Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille, the Easy-to-Read Foundation (LL- Stiftelesen), The St. Gran Hospital Library, and the Custody Library (Prison) as well as the Nobel Library, the latter situated in a beautiful building in the Old Town.

Among the most important issues on the Agenda of the meeting were:

a) follow-up on the current Medium Term Program, 1992-97.
b) preparations for the new Medium Term Program, 1997-2003.

Following a very successful brainstorming, a first draft was prepared. This draft will be discussed in Beijing and the results presented to the Professional Board of IFLA.

The follow-up on the current MTP revealed that several projects were either completed or near completion:

• The Prison Library Guidelines, 2nd rev. ed. (1995) completed and available.
• The Guidelines for Library Services to the Deaf is also published and available.
• The draft of Guidelines for Library Services to Hospital Patients is available in English and French. Comments should be sent to Genevieve Chavanis, who is responsible for this project. The final draft should be ready for the General Conference in Beijing.
• A draft of Guidelines for Easy-to-Read publications was presented by Bror Tronbacke. These will be sent to other members of the Division of Libraries Serving the General Public, for comments. A decision on these Guidelines will also be made in Beijing.
• The International Survey on the Disadvantaged in Library
• About 20% of the library schools responded to the International Survey on the Disadvantaged in Library Curricula. Anne Galler who is responsible for this project is still waiting for responses from some Latin American and European countries. The results of the survey will also be available at the Beijing Conference.

Conference Planning, 1996, Beijing.

At the Open Forum during the General Conference in Beijing the Section will present four papers under the theme:

The Challenge of Change: Reading Promotion to Special Groups

The four papers to be presented are as follows:

• Chinese Public Library and Economic Development, by Ms. Lui Xiaoquin
• The Investigation and Consideration about the Reading Conditions of Juvenile Offenders, by Xiong Zhonggi
• Talking Newspapers and Magazines for Visually Impaired and Other People with Print Disabilities: An International Perspective, by Peter Craddock, member of the Section
• Easy-to-Read Ð an Important Part in Reading Promotion and The Fight Against Illiteracy, by Bror Tronbacke, member of the Section.

Three Sections from the Division of Libraries Serving the General Public will also present themselves, namely:

• The Section for the Blind
• The Section for Public Libraries
• The Section for Library Services to Disadvantaged Persons

Dr. Sue Lithgow is giving the presentation on behalf of the Section, with the following title:

New Roles, New Skills: Library and Information Services to Disadvantaged Persons.

Future Conferences.

Next year the IFLA Conference will be held in Copenhagen. The theme for this Conference is:

Libraries and Information for Human Development

Plans are as follows:

• A full day workshop
• Open session on the theme of Life-Long Learning

News On the Internet.

The Newsletter of our Section is to-date the most important connection and source of information for the members. We discussed the possibility to have the Newsletter distributed on IFLA-NET for those who have access to INTERNET. There must also be arrangements for the exchange of mailing lists on IFLA-Net.

Name of the Section.

Last but not least I have to report on the name of the Section. The proposal to change the name to "Section for Libraries with Specialised and Outreach Services" has not met with the approval of the Professional Board. The reason for the change was that we wished to have a name which evokes more positive associations then the present one, and a name that incorporates all the aims of the Section.

The name was again discussed at the mid-year meeting. Members agreed that "specialised" and "outreach" have different meanings in various countries and in other languages.

The name change was tabled, with the proviso that the Coordinating Board should be asked to suggest suitable names, acceptable to them. These proposals will then be discussed in Beijing.

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Visit to the Easy-to-Read Foundation

by Louisa Toran.

As members of the Standing Committee arrived in Stockholm, the afternoon of Sunday, March 17th, they were invited to a reception at the Easy-to-Read Foundation, hosted by Bror Tronbacke, Director of the Foundation, followed by a tour of the place.

Bror explained the main objectives of the institution, namely to make news and literature accessible to people who find reading difficult or are unpractised in the Swedish language. Readers include the mentally handicapped (adults and children), the deaf, aphasiacs, people with reading and writing difficulties, those with little or no education and also school children.

The Foundation also produces an easy-to-read newspaper, called "8 SIDOR" (Eight pages) and is responsible for the publication of easy-to-read books, which include fiction and poetry, and is also responsible for information and marketing.

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Nobel Library Hosts SC Members

By Vibeke Lehmann
Secretary of the Section

During our Stockholm mid-year meeting, I and the others SC members participated in a most interesting visit to the Nobel Library which was founded in 1901 to assist the Swedish Academy in its task of selecting the NobelLaureate in Literature. The Nobel Library is a private research library, financed entirely by the Nobel Foundation and the Academy. The library is an integral part of the Academy which is located in the old Stock Exchange Building in Gamla Stan (Old Town). The premises are beautifully appointed and the library space is arranged for effective management as well as quiet study and research.

The main function of the Nobel Library is to serve the Swedish Academy and its Nobel Committee in their work to award the annual Nobel Prize. Each year the committee invites Swedish and foreign authors and literary scholars to propose candidates for the prize. The committee members commission expert opinions, study and discuss the possible candidates, and present their recommendations to the whole Academy. The role of the library in this connection is to assist in the research and supply the required background materials.

To fulfill this role, the library over many years has built an impressive 200,000 volume collection of current library works, literary criticism, linguistics, and related reference sources. The main emphasis is on contemporary literature, often in the original language, but also in translation, mainly Swedish, English, French, and German. Approximately 2,500 new titles are added annually. There is also a large collection of literary journals in many languages. The library has an impressive endowment that funds most new acquisitions, but an exchange system also exists with other European countries. Some special collections have been donated by Swedish authors and academics.

The libraryÔs holdings are listed in LIBRIS, the Swedish national database. It is searchable through its own computerized system which also contains newspaper and journal articles. Although open to the public, the library is used primarily by advanced students and scholars referred by their university. The library circulates most of its collection and participates in interlibrary loan.

During our visit to the Swedish Academy, we had the opportunity to admire the beautiful ceremonial hall, sit in the chairs of the distinguished academy members, and open the big door used by the Academy's Executive Director when announcing the Nobel Prize winner. The well informed and friendly staff furnished us with a wealth of information and we departed very impressed with this most unique library. The visit was a welcome break from our busy meeting schedule.

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Profile of Sue Lithgow

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Wales Aberystwyth

Like many of us, Sue claims that she joined the library and information profession more by accident than by design, when she took a 'temporary' job as a library assistant with the Isle of Wight Cultural Services Department. Sue 'temporarily' stayed for three years but in her final year a chance happening led her to take on an additional role as the relief librarian at HM Prison Albany. Much to Sue's surprise this chance happening has since shaped her career. Sue joined the Department of Information and Library Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth in 1989 as a postgraduate student. In 1994 she completed her PhD thesis which was based on developing performance indicators for prison libraries in England and Wales. For the last year, Sue has been the holder of a Department for Education and Employment Postdoctoral Research Fellowship which has enabled her to continue her research into prison library provision. Sue is also a member of the Home Office Standing Committee for Prison Libraries.

In addition to her research, Sue has a number of teaching commitments within the Department. She teaches on a range of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses where her specialist areas include; quality management, performance measurement and data collection techniques. Sue is also actively involved in the Health and Welfare Information Management team.

Away from work, Sue's interests include squash, tennis and swimming but she adds that if not doing housework was an olympic sport, she'd go for gold! As a confirmed insomniac Sue spends some of her many waking hours counting the ceiling tiles or trying to perfect her Paul Robeson impression with the aid of a gramaphone and several hundred 78's. If she can't sleep, then why should anybody else.....?!

This year's IFLA conference in Istanbul was the first one Sue had attended and having fully recovered from the shock, she now hopes it will be the first of many!

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Country Profile : Catalonia Special Library Services in Catalonia: A Brief Overview By M. Carmé Mayol and M. Teresa Pagès

The Country.

Its population is 6,000,000, three-quarters of which live in Barcelona and the industrial suburbs surrounding it. Fifteen percent of the total population of Spain lives in Catalonia.

Catalonia has a strongly defined historical personality, as well as its own language and culture. The Spanish Constitution (1978) establishes SpainÔs autonomous communities (Art.8) and provides exclusive jurisdiction over prison legislation (Art. 149.6)

Catalonia's Statute of Autonomy (1979) establishes the degree of jurisdiction enjoyed by the Autonomous Government, the "Generalitat of Catalonia," creating exclusive jurisdiction over culture (Art. 9.4) and consequently public library services.

Jurisdiction over the management of prison services complies with the provisions laid down in the Spanish governmental legislation on prisons (Art. 11.1). A Royal Decree in 1984 established the transfer of the jurisdiction to the management of prisons.

Library Policy.

The Public Library Act of 1993 (Llei del Sistema Bibliotecari de Catalunya) represents a very important change in the organization of public libraries. Under this new act the municipal administrations are ultimately responsible for library services, while the Autonomous Administration provides the support services. This Act is not yet in force, but slowly the municipalities are assuming more responsibility.

As to specialized services, the 1993 Act states that:

-public libraries must offer accessible services to the general public and to particular groups of users.
-public libraries in cooperation with social services in each locality must offer lending services to the housebound and provide library services to hospitals, prisons, residences and admittance centres in their own areas.

The Prison Library Legislation of 1979 offers an ideal framework for the implementation of progressive library policies. Description of Special Library Services.

Currently there are no regulations, agreements or grants to help implement the services that are established by law.

The activities are sporadic, instigated by a public library with the support of the municipal government and the collaboration of volunteers. The course offered by the Escola Universitaria Jordi Rurio I Balaguer de Biblioteconomia I Documentacio resulted in the development of such services in some public libraries in Catalonia.

The different services which have been established with the help of institutional support, are mentioned below:

The housebound.

The first service of this kind was established in Catalonia in 1994. Set up in Sant Boi de Llobregat near Barcelona, and developed slowly but steadily.

In the future it is expected that services like this one will be established in other localities in the vicinity of Barcelona.

Hospital libraries.

Most hospital library service is conducted by volunteers. However, there are now three cities in Catalonia with professional hospital service and institutional support.

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat
Granollers
Terrassa

Prison libraries.

Currently, out of the nine prisons in Catalonia, eight have certified librarians working full time. In the correctional institutions, inmates work as library assistants. In the prison library field library students have participated in various activities such as:

• visited important public libraries in the neighbourhood with small inmate groups.
• conducted workshops to teach young inmate mothers how to read to their children
• helped elaborate a slang vocabulary created by the inmates

Easy-to-read.

Several groups are working towards developing material that could be considered easy-to-read. Here again students from the university worked on identifying 256 appropriate publications.

Other activities.

Activities in the public library for challenged children Activities in the public library for the unemployed Needs of the elderly have been analyzed in one neighbourhood Projects concerning ethnic minorities and the sensorially deprived have also taken place.

New Trends.

The following trends have been noted recently:

• The Library Act has introduced two important changes - the increased responsibility of municipalities, and the obligation of public libraries to provide services to people who have difficulties obtaining these for whatever reason.
• The University Library School has included special services as an optional subject in the curriculum.
• The Barcelona County Library appointed a person to be responsible for the development of special library services.
• It is hoped that in the not too distant future, the public library system in Catalonia will pay greater attention to the special groups that have to date been seriously neglected.

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61st IFLA Council and General Conference

Istanbul, 20 - 26 August 1995

by Sue Lithgow

The 61st IFLA Council and General Conference attracted one of the largest audiences to date with some 2,390 participants from 103 countries. The theme of this year's conference, Ôlibraries of the future', was intended to emphasise the changing role of librarians in terms of the move away from the Ôsilent task' of collection, organisation and preservation to the Ômany sided active role' of spreading information. This theme was further developed by the sections for Public Libraries, Libraries for the Blind, Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons and INTAMEL, who hosted a programme of jointly run sessions entitled ÔNew Technologies: How does this influence the library service for libraries serving the general public?'.

Following an Introduction to Division 3: Libraries Serving the General Public, given by Sissel Nilsen and Torny Kjekstad, a series of nine papers was presented;

• Portuguese public libraries network, Luis Oliveira Machado (Portugal).
• The library of the future: public libraries and the Internet, Chris Batt (United Kingdom).
• Librarian or Cybrarian: A professional's future in a virtual library, Claudia Lux (Germany).
• Strategies to educate librarians to introduce new technologies to users, especially disadvantaged ones, Anne M Galler (Canada).
• New technologies -new opportunities? The virtual library in a prison situation, Frances E Kaiser (The Netherlands).
• Electronic books for the visually impaired: the Norwegian project, Grete Knudsen and Eivind Knudsen (Norway).
• The Canadian information highway: special needs addressed, Mary Frances Laughton (Canada).
• Extra large: large print on demand, Marij Schols (The Netherlands).
• The information highway and the print handicapped, Norman Coombs (USA).

As one might expect in a session on new technology, many of the papers considered the improvement in service level provision brought about by technological advances. Chris Batt looked at the impact of the Internet on public library services. Whilst the information super- highway has revolutionised our ability to access information Chris was quick to stress that he did not see this leading to the demise of the public library. There will of course be physical changes but at a grass roots level public libraries will continue to act as information gateways. The traditional role of libraries as community information centres and open learning centres will be extended to that of community information banks and virtual universities. With this in mind Chris further urged librarians and information professionals to take the initiative in bringing about such developments before other less suitably qualified individuals attempt to do so.

Mary Laughton looked at how technological advances and particularly the Internet have transformed access to information for the elderly and people with disabilities in Canada. Electronic newspapers, speech synthesizers and descriptive captioning for television programmes for example, have greatly enhanced the quality of life for many individuals. Mary also highlighted the inappropriateness of the term disabled. Whilst we may like to think that it refers to a discrete group of individuals, Mary reminded us that disability is a continuum and that we will all of us become disabled simply as a result of growing old.

Anne Galler reminded us that technological advances are not an end in themselves and that the success of such developments is dependent upon securing the appropriate training of library and information professionals. Continuing professional development of this nature is of fundamental importance if librarians and information specialists are to ensure the effective introduction of new technologies to the general public, and in particular to disadvantaged groups. Whilst acknowledging the difficulty of keeping up to date with new developments, Anne went on to suggest a number of suitable courses of action. Library and information professionals should work in conjunction with Library Associations to run appropriate training workshops. Similar collaboration is required with library schools in an effort to ensure that their curriculum is equipping students with the necessary skills to both utilise and train others to utilise new technology. Anne also stressed the advantages of a programme of mentoring, co-operative learning and human relations skills, as well as offering general advice on the training methods themselves.

Anne's sentiments were closely echoed by Claudia Lux, who addressed the issues surrounding the realisation that, as new technology takes us still further along the continuum from librarianship to Ôcybrarianship', this transition will call for a new professional perspective. Claudia therefore considered ways in which library and information professionals must mentally prepare themselves in order to manage the virtual libraries of the future.

In contrast to the obvious advantages of technological developments, Frances Kaiser brought us full circle by presenting a paper on the virtual library in a Dutch prison. Over the past six or seven years Dutch prison libraries have undergone an increasingly successful automation programme. However, in 1995 a recently opened prison adopted a new approach to overcoming the problem of library access. In order to by pass the labour intensive process of escorting inmates to and from the library, the prison authorities decided to scan the book covers of 1,000 Dutch novels on to a CD-ROM. Prisoners therefore make their book selection in this way. Not only are inmates therefore denied the whole library experience, but they have no access to non-fiction or reference material. Moreover, typically only half the prison population has Dutch as its first language yet the only books available are 1,000 Dutch novels. Frances' paper therefore had a sobering effect upon the audience and she hoped it would act as a warning to be fully aware of the implications and appropriateness of new technology.

The organisers of this session were also proud to host the youngest speaker at this year's IFLA conference, who was fifteen year old Eivind Knudsen from Norway. Eivind who has been blind since birth, presented a joint paper with his mother Grete Knudsen, concerning electronic books for the visually impaired. Grete described a project funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Cultural affairs to investigate the development of electronic books for the blind and visually impaired. Eivind built on this by providing a practical demonstration of some of the books mentioned by his mother. Technical equipment has a habit of letting speakers down in such situations but the audience seemed more nervous than Eivind, whose youthful confidence, mental agility and inherent sense of mischief, would no doubt have saved him from any disaster had it arisen.

The success of these jointly run sessions was evident in terms of the degree of interest they created alone, with over 200 delegates in attendance. However, the merging of papers in this way in terms of both their subject and varying international perspectives, is a particularly useful approach to adopt in this context. Whilst there is an obvious need for special interest groups, it is also necessary to demonstrate that the needs of disadvantaged persons are of universal importance to all those working in library and information services. The needs of disadvantaged persons therefore cut across the boundaries of all subject divisions and should be high on everyone's agenda. The merging of groups and papers in this way therefore further served to enhance the importance of such cross fertilization.

Further information about the 61st IFLA Council and General Conference in Istanbul can be found on the IFLAnet home page at http://www.ifla.org/index.htm