(Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 27, 2022.)
By Lucy Maulsby
Reference Librarian Kate Tranquada, Assistant Library Director Lisa Rothenberg, and Director Bobbie Myles hold selections from Lincoln’s extensive large-print book collection.
The Lincoln Public Library’s offerings continue to evolve from the days of printed matter only, and its website has been updated to communicate the range of services available to patrons with different abilities as part of its ongoing effort to engage diverse populations within Lincoln and the broader community.
Some of these accommodations are long-standing, such as the two accessible parking spaces adjacent to the entrance, an accessible bathroom on the second floor, and an elevator to provide access to the basement and second floors for all. Service animals are always welcome.
Other offerings are more recent. The Tarbell Room (the library’s main reading room) is equipped with a hearing loop system, generously funded by the Ogden Codman Trust and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and installed in 2019. The loop transmits sounds directly to a wireless receiver in the user’s hearing aid or cochlear implant and thus limits the transmission and interference of background noise. If someone does not have a wireless receiver in their hearing aid or a cochlear implant, the library has a portable unit with headphones for people to use.
This technology is especially helpful to those who meet regularly at the library. When the Friday Morning Book Group returns to meeting in person, participants will notice the recently increased number and sensitivity of microphones that will more easily transmit group discussions to the loop.
The Ogden Codman Trust and the Friends of the Lincoln Library also split the $13,000 cost of redoing the audiovisual equipment in the Tarbell Room.
The library’s collection of large-print books, first established by an anonymous grant administered by the Boston Foundation in 2017, has expanded to include books for children and young adults. This has engaged not only younger people with visual and learning disabilities, but also allowed older patrons with visual impairments to read favorite books to a new generation of readers.
“We feel very lucky to have such an extensive youth and young-adult large-print collection,” Children’s Librarian Debbie Leopold said. “Text in large print is a wonderful resource not only for children and young adults who have visual impairments, but also for young people who struggle with reading. The extra white space and less daunting text help children feel confident in and improve their reading skills.”
The grant for the books generates funds for purchasing new books every year, so Lincoln’s collection of large-print books is quickly becoming one of the largest in the area, so patrons throughout the Minuteman Library Network (MLN) can borrow them. As a point of comparison, the library in Sherborn (population 4,400) has only 100 large-print books and all of them are for adults.
Reference librarians can also help patrons access large-print books through digital platforms and work with them to both download the books and adjust the font size on their own devices or on one of the three Kindle Paperwhites available to borrow. The library regularly adds to its Library of Things collection and purchases equipment such as a large-print keyboard to improve access to library resources.
Books in Braille are available through the network and can be found on the MLN website or the library home page by entering a keyword or an asterisk (which functions as a “wildcard”) into the search box and then refining the format to Braille. Audio and large-print books can be identified the same way. The Children’s Department also has a small collection of fiction books in Braille.
For those who are unable to visit the library in person either temporarily or long-term, a weekly delivery service supported by a small group of volunteers led by Heather Silvestro. She drops off books assembled by librarian Robin Rapoport and picks up books to be returned at The Commons as well as locations in Lincoln, and the service expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic. Any Lincoln resident who can’t come to the library in person and would like to sign up for home delivery may call the reference desk at 781-259-8465 x204 or emailing lincoln@minlib.net.
Through the generosity of the Friends of Lincoln Library, the library now owns a Meeting Owl Pro, which offers library the ability to broadcast in-library programming via Zoom so patrons who can’t come in person can participate.
“We want to make Lincoln residents and patrons aware of what we do provide, and, more importantly, let people know that we’re open to suggestions about how to make our library a welcoming place for everyone,” Assistant Library Director Lisa Rothenberg said.