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

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 update your library record and get you started.

Services

Selection Service

• We love to connect with people to help improve their access to library services.  We focus on providing selection service for print disabled customers where we select physical materials specific to patron’s wants and get these requests to their local branch for pick-up.  Most print disabled customers either pick-up their material themselves or they have a family member or friend pick-up for them.

Please contact Access Services for more information:

• Email – access@orl.bc.ca
• Call – 778-658-6394

Accessible Borrowing

• Extended loans are available to 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 inquire 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.
• 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.

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.

Programs

The Readers

The Readers is a place to connect with others and discuss books with fellow book lovers.  It is not done through Zoom or your computer, instead, to ensure greater access to all, we have a conference line set up - so join the phone call and share your thoughts on the themed topic or question.

The Readers is held every Tuesday afternoons from 2:00pm-3:00pm (see Calendar).

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

Books recommended by those attending The Readers this week:

• Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling (CELA)
• Harry Potter Series(NNELS)
• Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (CELA)
• Maisie Dobbs(NNELS)
• The Jack Reacher Series by Lee Child (CELA)
• The Jack Reacher Series (NNELS)
• Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (CELA)
• Sherlock Holmes (NNELS)
• In Death Series by J. D. Robb (CELA)
• In Death Series (NNELS)
• The Fargo Adventures Series by Clive Cussler (CELA)
• My Bonny Light Horseman by Louis A. Meyer (CELA)
• Wrath of Poseidon by Clive Cussler (CELA)
• Wrath of Poseidon (NNELS)
• Curse of the Blue Tattoo by Louis A. Meyer (CELA)
• Indians on Vacation by Thomas King (CELA)
• Indians on Vacation (NNELS)
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (CELA)
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (CELA)
• Braiding Sweetgrass (NNELS)

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.

Please register check our event calendar to access the Zoom details.

Financial assistance provided by the Central Okanagan Foundation.

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:

  • Contact the ORL to check that your library membership allows print disabled materials.
  • 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 from 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:

  • Contact the ORL to check that your library membership allows print disabled materials.
  • 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 online collection.
• 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.

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.
• 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.  DAISY discs can be played on DAISY readers or any MP3 compatible CD Player (can play CDs with MP3 files).These books are available to readers with print disabilities.  Contact us to apply for access to this collection.

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.