State Library Partnership with the Ohio State School for the Deaf Continues to Thrive

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.

Today this unique collection, which is targeted toward interpreters, American Sign Language (ASL) students, parents and other professionals working with the deaf community, contains over 600 titles.  To date, the collection has had over 1,200 circulations and State Library staff has registered over 1,000 new users.

“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.

Access to this collection is available through the State Library’s on-line catalog http://www.library.ohio.gov.

Questions about obtaining a library card or requesting materials may be directed to Jim Buchman by e-mail at jbuchman@sloma.state.oh.us or by phone at: 614-644-6954.