State Library Partners with the Ohio State School for the Deaf
August 2007
State Library of Ohio
It started with a phone call in June 2006 and continues today as a “win-win” partnership between the Ohio State School for the Deaf (OSD), Center for Outreach Services, and the State Library of Ohio.
The OSD Center for Outreach Services had grant money to purchase a collection of professional development books, videos and DVDs related to deafness, but had no way of making these materials available to their members throughout the state.
The State Library had the infrastructure in place to catalog and provide access to these materials, but limited funds for purchasing new materials.
“This is an excellent example of how state agencies can work together to pool their resources to improve services to Ohio citizens,” said Margaret Murphy, Lead Interpreter Educator for the Center for Outreach Services.
The collection contains over 400 titles and is targeted toward interpreters, American Sign Language (ASL) students, parents and other professionals working with the deaf community.
“It’s incredible to see such high usage of a relatively small and specialized collection. Obviously there was a need to make these materials more readily available,” said Jim Buchman, Head of Patron and Catalog Services, State Library of Ohio.
Since starting this partnership, State Library staff has registered over 1,000 new users. The collection has 658 circulations to date.
Materials in this collection are available through the State Library’s on-line catalog
www.library.ohio.gov
Questions about obtaining a library card or requesting materials may be directed to Jim Buchman at jbuchman@sloma.state.oh.us or by phone at: 614-644-6954.
