Telephone Help for Hearing Impaired

A new TTY telephone for deaf and hard of hearing people is available at the public library, thanks to the support of Friends of the Library. TTY technology allows people with hearing disabilities privacy in their communications.
 
The TTY telephone, also known as Text Telephone Device or Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD), is a special device required at both ends of the conversation that enables people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired to use the telephone to communicate in real time. TTY works by allowing people to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. The machine has a keyboard, a monitor and a printer. The letters that typed into the machine are transmitted along the telephone wires, and then are converted into letters for viewing on a monitor or printing at the other end of the line.

The TTY at the library is available for use at the public courtesy phone. The phone is another step in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities.

The library offers various programs and services for people with disabilities. Library staff visits the Mullis senior center and the convalescent center each week with large print books for people with low vision and audio books for those who cannot read print. The library also rotates a portion of its large print collection with the Washington Talking Book and Braille library in order to offer more titles. A computer is available for those with special needs, featuring a magnifier and foreign languages. A wheelchair is also available to use within the building for people who cannot stand for extended periods.

Friends of the Library is a non-profit, membership supported organization that provides the library with financial support and enhances programs to stretch the use of tax dollars. Friends of the Library wrote the application for the TTY machine. TTYs are made available to organizations serving hard of hearing and deaf people via State grants.

The collection at the library includes both fiction and non-fiction books for very young children, for grade-school aged children and for adults. In addition to its collections of books, audio books and videos to loan, the library also provides computers for the public to use for email, Internet searching, and working in word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations.
 
Library hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 AM to 8 PM, Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday from 1 PM to 5 PM. Library cards are free to island residents with proof of residency.