Access to information by visually and hearing-impaired patrons at the selected public libraries in Drakenstein municipality

Abstract

Access to information by all, including the visually and hearing-impaired people, is a crucial service to unlocking opportunities, as it can contribute to nation-building, economic growth, and good governance. In South Africa, access to information is also a fundamental and socioeconomic human right for all citizens. Libraries are considered to be the main drivers of access to information, and this must also include the visually and hearing-impaired patrons as they have the same human rights as other citizens. However, various studies divulge that visually and hearing-impaired patrons are often excluded from access to information due to many factors ranging from inadequate facilities, resources, or trained library employees. This study explored access to information by visually and hearing-impaired patrons at the selected public libraries in Drakenstein Municipality, that is, Paarl, Drakenstein and Groenheuwel public libraries. The three public libraries within Drakenstein Municipality were selected as they are collaborating with the South African Library for the Blind (SALB) mini library project to cater information services for the visually and hearing-impaired patrons. This study used purposive and snowball non-probability sampling to select the participants within targeted public libraries and Drakenstein communities respectively. Qualitative data were collected within the interpretive paradigm through interviews with visually and hearing-impaired patrons, SALB project coordinators, sign language interpreters, library assistants and librarians responsible for providing service to visually and hearing-impaired patrons, as well as document analysis, and observation guided by a conceptual framework that includes constructs from the International Federation Library Association and Institutions, Social Model of Disability and literature. Data were analysed using content analysis and the thematic data analysis method. The study revealed that all three libraries did not have specific policies or guidelines designed to cater to the information services for visually and hearing-impaired patrons. Furthermore, when it comes to hearing-impaired, there are communication barriers as librarians do not understand the South African Sign Language. This study established that the visually impaired have limited braille resources and Afrikaans audiobooks collection. It is concluded that the SALB mini-library project and public libraries have significant work to do in marketing the SALB mini-library services to the target patrons, introducing skills development programmes for visually impaired and hearing-impaired patrons. Moreover, the policies and legislative framework need to be drafted, reviewed, and debated to ensure that visually and hearing-impaired impaired receive all support and their information needs are prioritised like other South African citizens. The study recommends that the three libraries establish and develop a policy addressing information access issues for visually and hearing-impaired patrons. This policy should address insufficient facilities, budget and funding, skill development, library marketing, user need assessment, and the need to learn basic Sign Language by librarians.