16 % of the population have mild to severe hearing loss. 308,746,000 Americans-12,831 Illinois citizens. 3% have hearing loss in the severe to deaf range (2,052,960 Illinois citizens).
While access to libraries has always been less clear for patrons with these issues, the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as the requirement of masks in most public places, have made such access even harder. While lip-reading is a skill that some in the deaf community may have, it has limits-only 30-40% of speech sounds can be lip-read, and that is under the best circumstances and contexts-something the pandemic is not.
As part of my practicum at Dominican University, I am working to create a resource for Indian Trails staff containing frequently used words, phrases, and questions in each department. Once completed, the resource will be uploaded to a GitHub repository that will be accessible through the staff site.