Assistive technology and libraries

I recently attended a Palomar Library and Information Technology program field trip to the Downtown San Diego library. It was absolutely incredible since I had never been there before. Two of the highlights were the I CAN! room and the Maker Lab. There were many other highlights but the significance of these two spaces in our San Diego downtown public library is significant for the potential to increase breakthroughs in assistive technologies. On my libguides site I recently recommended that all libraries include Make magazine into their collection for this very reason. Many among our youth are resistant readers geared much more heavily towards working with their hands, using physical objects and problem solving. Just because reading books bores some of these children does not mean that they cannot be involved patrons at the library. A community of ‘makers’ is flourishing around the globe. An excellent study by Patrick Timony can be found in Advances in Librarianship. Timony explains that “The maker movement is a cultural trend toward creativity, and the disability community can gain both accessibility and innovation solutions from the maker movement.” This community has a popular jargon word, ‘hack’, usually referring to improving an existing technology to better suit certain needs. This insatiable thirst to hack everything about life is ideally suited to those who need help with their special needs. The SD Public Library in particular offers access to 3D printers and scanners, electronic cutting machines, computer programmable sewing machines, and other smart devices makers can use to ‘hack’ life. The best example of the maker community coming together for the specific purpose of helping push assistive technology is the Bay Area Makeathon. The video highlighting the event is incredible. Seemingly impossible assistive technologies have been pioneered here such as a device for carrying a drink while using crutches, a wheelchair accessory to kick a ball allowing participation in games, a device allowing people with limited hand movement to feed themselves as well as many more. The most impressive technology I have found however is seen in the video below by Intel Labs collaborating with Dr. Stephen Hawking to create assistive technology that allows Dr. Hawking to communicate only using the movement of his cheek. The expansion and support of makerspaces is making the future for assistive technologies look very promising and the library can continue to position itself at the forefront.