The ORL strives to support patrons with diverse needs through a variety of different collections, programs, and services.

Programs

Print Disabled Memberships

Your library membership needs to have print disability status to access collections created especially for users with print disabilities.  The following forms are used to create this update:

• Individual Print Disability form
• Corporate (Organization) Print Disability form

Please complete the appropriate form and mail it back to access@orl.bc.ca so we can make the appropriate changes and get you started.

The Readers

The Readers is a new place to connect with others and discuss books with fellow book lovers.  It has been especially created thinking about those with accessibility needs, like a print disability.  We'll have a conference line set up - so join the phone call and share your thoughts on the themed topic or question for the call.

The Readers is held every Tuesday afternoons from 2:00pm-3:00pm.

Please email access@orl.bc.ca to receive the phone number and access code.

Each week’s book discussion topic is listed in our Calendar.

Books recommended by those attending The Readers this week:

• The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit   (CELA)
• The Story of the Treasure Seekers  (NNELS)
• The Walking Drum by Louis L’Amour (CELA)
• The Bone Labyrinth by James Rollins (CELA)
• The Famous Five by Enid Blyton (CELA)
• The Famous Five (NNELS)
• Zorro by Johnston McCulley (CELA)
• Tom Swift Jr by Victor Appleton (CELA)
• Cherry Ames by Helen Wells (CELA)

We’ve listed the books previously discussed on this PDF document.

American Sign Language (ASL) Programming

• ASL Story Time - Join a Deaf storyteller and a children's librarian for stories, songs, rhymes, and crafts presented in both American Sign Language and English. 
• ASL Basics – Learn ASL from a Deaf Instructor.

Both are currently offered through Zoom – check our event calendar for more details.

• Financial assistance provided by the Central Okanagan Foundation and the Community Foundation of the North Okanagan.

Collections

Online

• CELA (Centre for Equitable Library Access Collection) is a national non-profit organization that supports Canadians with print disabilities. These patrons can access media and reading materials in the format of their choice.  After registering with CELA, you can download material to a home computer or device.

  To register:

  1. Contact the ORL to check that your library membership allows print disabled materials.
  2. Complete the online registration on CELA’s website.

     NOTE: Beyond titles from CELA, titles from the American service, Bookshare, are also available with a Proof of Disability form which requires a signature from a certifying professional.

• NNELS (National Network for Equitable Library Service) is a provincially funded online collection of digital books for readers with print disabilities, available at through the NNELS website.   Once registered with NNELS, you will be able to download digital book formats including DAISY, MP3, eTEXT, PDF, and EPUB.

  To register:

  1. Contact the ORL to check that your library membership allows print disabled materials.
  2. Complete the online registration on the NNELS website (click on “Sign-Up”).

• eBooks and eAudiobooks are available for download to a computer or portable device using a valid library card and PIN code.  These can be borrowed for free through our ORL eBooks and RBdigital online collections.

Physical

• Books for Adults, Children and Teens with Diversabilities or Additional Needs - see our booklists, created by our librarians, for parents and caretakers of children and teens with diversabilities or additional needs.

Accessible Formats

• Large Print books can be borrowed by everyone with a library card.  Titles include a wide choice of popular titles, fiction and non-fiction. 
• Audiobooks are full length recordings of popular fiction and non-fiction on multiple CDs that you can listen to on your computer (with a disk drive) or CD player.  These books are available to anyone with a library card.
• DAISY discs are audiobooks on a single CD.  These books are available to readers with print disabilities. Contact us  to apply for access to this collection.

Services

Information and Reference Services

• COVID-19: Accessible Information is a page of alternative accessible formats of the charts and graphics that news sites, public health agencies, universities and other organizations are using to explain COVID-19 data in easy to understand ways. NNELS created these accessible versions so people with print disabilities or individuals with slower internet connections could access the same data. The alternate accessible formats include text descriptions and sonifications (audio versions of graphs).
• Diversability Service Provider Resource List is a list of service providers [PDF] in the Central, North, and South Okanagan regions, created by our librarians, for parents of children and teens.
• Bookshare is an American site that allows access close to 500,000 titles free for people with print disabilities. Access Bookshare via CELA.
• Librivox is a collection of free public domain audiobooks read by volunteers from around the world.
• Project Gutenberg offers over 57,000 free eBooks from the world's great literature, with focus on older works for which copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks, for enjoyment and education.

Accessible Borrowing

• Extended loans are available for customers who are homebound temporarily or on a continued basis due to illness or other disability.  An extended loan period of 42 days is applied to all eligible items borrowed. Some borrowing restrictions apply. Please enquire at your local library branch for further information.

In Branch Resources

• Friendly staff at all library branches are available to help. Most library branches are accessible, and some branches offer additional equipment such as walkers and Optelec machines.

  Home Delivery

• Some library branches partner with local organizations to provide home delivery of library materials to homebound customers. Please ask at your local library branch if home delivery is available in your community.

In Branch Programming (currently cancelled)

• The First Page Book Club

  An all-inclusive book club, welcoming everyone regardless of reading ability and encouraging adults with diverse abilities to take part in discussions about new as well as classic titles. Books will be read together in a group setting with all participants invited to read aloud. Assistance with echo reading will be provided for those who wish to use it.

  Contact the Kelowna Branch for more information.

• Audiobook Club

  The Audiobook Club is not a conventional book club. It focuses on the audio resources the Okanagan Regional Library offers now and in the future.

  Contact the Vernon Branch for more information.

• CAYA Chatroom

  Meet with others using AAC devices and learn from and with each other. 

  Contact the Vernon Branch for more information

What is a print disability?

A print disability is defined in the Canadian Copyright Act and is a disability that limits a person from reading print in its original format due to:

• a serious or total sight impairment or an inability to focus or move your eyes
• the inability to hold or manipulate a book, or
• an impairment relating to comprehension

Not sure if you qualify? Ask us.