VBPL Specialized Programs and Services

Hello Everyone! Welcome to my new blog post. Enjoy!

This week I’ve been tasked with researching the specialized programs and services that my library The Virginia Beach Public Library System (VBPL) offers, then researching other libraries similar to mine to see if they have any specialized programs and/or services that mine does not, and then proposing a specialized service and/or program that my library does not already have.

Virginia Beach Public Library System offers a lot of great specialized services. It offers assistive tech to individuals who are visually and hearing impaired, Stay & Play Tech, Take Home Tech, as well as other in library services.  

There assistive tech offered includes BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download), Jaws 14 (Job Access with Speech) a screen reader, MAGic 12 a magnification and speech program, Open Book 9, optical character recognition software, and Hearing Loop which allows hearing aid user to hear more clearly in noisy environments. Here is a link to learn more: https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/Using-the-Library/availabletechnology/Pages/Assistive-Technology.aspx

The Stay & Play Tech, tech that can be checked out and then used within the library includes some of the following, Nintendo Switch Joy-Con remote, Wii nunchuk controller, Noise-canceling headphones, Animation studio, and Osmo. Here’s is a link to learn more: https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/Using-the-Library/availabletechnology/Pages/stay-and-play-tech.aspx

With the Take Home Tech offered patrons have the option of checking out two Take Home Tech items with their library cards to bring home. Their choices are Orion Starblast Telescope, a tabletop telescope that is great for astronomy enthusiasts, Wifi Hotspots that can be used for up to three weeks, PlayAway View recommended for children ages 2-7 features digital content based on original illustrations and text from classic storybooks, Code-a-Pillar recommended for children ages 3-5 that teaches critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, a Roku streaming stick, and a Sphere Robot that teaches coding using robotics for ages 8 and up. Here’s a link to learn more: https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/Using-the-Library/availabletechnology/Pages/take-home-tech.aspx

Some other great services VBPL provides are 3-D printing and wireless printing.

VBPL also offers some really great special programs. For adults, there is the Reading Road Trip https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/adults/Pages/ReadingRoadTrip.aspx  where if you read 25 books you get a chance to win a prize. For teens, there is Teen Life https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/teens/Pages/Teen-Life.aspx which promotes crisis help for teens and also support when they have questions about sexuality and relationships, mental health and substance abuse, or just general life questions. For kids, there is Battle of the Book https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/kids/Pages/Battle-of-the-Books.aspx a game show style reading challenge that promotes reading for 5^th grade and middle school students.

When choosing libraries besides my own to research this week, I decided to choose a couple a bit closer to home. The two I chose are in Virginia, one about a 45 minute to an hour drive from me in Norfolk https://www.norfolkpubliclibrary.org/learning-research/learning and the other about a 3 to 5-hour drive (depending on traffic) from me in Richmond https://rvalibrary.org/.

Norfolk Public Library offers a program called Tales to Tails which allows children who are uncomfortable reading to people to read to therapy dogs to help build confidence in their reading skills. I love this idea, and it’s a program that I think would greatly benefit children who visit the VBPL it also supports the library's mission of promoting personal fulfillment and self-reliance.  

The Richmond Public Library offers self-publishing for e-books. I personally think this is really cool to know that someone who an aspiring author can get assistance with publishing their E-book. This service also fits right in with the VBPL mission of promoting personal fulfillment and self-reliance.

My library offers quite a lot when it comes to services and programs, but a group of people I realize I have noticed there are no programs and services for are individuals with special needs. I am a huge advocate for special needs, my oldest sister has Down’s Syndrome and I taught autistic children for 7 years of my 16 years of teaching. For this reason, I would really like to see more specialized programs and services aimed at children, teens, and adults who fall into this category. Offering programs and services to individuals with special needs is a great way to promote diverse opportunities for learning and gathering because everyone should have the opportunity to spend time in the library and enjoy their time no matter who they are.