Forbes Library Accessibility Advisory Board
Date 30 Sep 2026
Time 4PM

Present: Johanna Halbeisen, Mary Jo Stanley, Barbara Black, Ben Kalish, Molly Moss, Harrison Greene

Announcements

Stipend for meeting attendees

All members participating in advisory group meetings will receive a $40 stipend for each meeting attended upon completion of a W-9. Members may opt out of the stipends.

New location for desktop magnifier

The Optelec desktop magnifier has been moved from its old location next to the Reference Desk to a carrel by the microfilm machines.

New EV charging spots coming soon

The library has added four electric vehicle charging stations. The charging station closest to the lawn has enough space to meet the requirements for an accessible parking spots, and appropriate signs and pavement markings will be added soon. Folks with a handicap placard will still have to pay a charging fee, but there will be no parking fee.

Upcoming program on history of Deaf education

The Coolidge Committee is organizing a program on Grace Coolidge and Deaf Education, on Thursday Nov 5th at 6:30 pm. The program will be livestreamed and recorded. Jan Gatty, Dr. Theodore Mason, Alan Marvelli, Joni Skinner, and Allison Holmberg will be presenting. The program is dedicated to the late late Rodney Kunath.

Construction updates

Front patio

We had been hoping to get this repaired over summer. The final plans should be ready soon, but probably not in time to do the work before the cold weather. The work will likely happen next spring.

Front doors

The front doors, at the bottom of the portico, still need replacement. They haven’t been much of a problem in the warm weather, but we anticipate them being hard to open in the winter. The automatic door openers should still work.

The entire doorframe unit (“storefront”) needs to be replaced, making for a roughly $40k project. We are hopeful this will be on the next capital improvement project

HVAC work

The HVAC work is almost complete. A few details remain, but from the perspective of a library patron the work may as well be done.

Brainstorm and Discussion: Library of Things

Question: Can we donate Things?

Answer: yes! Please talk to Priya if you are interested in making a donation

Question: Is there a place to see these online?

Yes! They are all in the online catalog and you can learn more at https://forbeslibrary.org/help/library-of-things/

Question: Is home delivery possible?

Answer: Yes! Items from the library of things can go through our home delivery service!

Barbara suggested getting Auracast devices for the library of things. She particularly recommended the library get an Auracast transmitter.

Other topics? 

What is our plan for dealing with the doors over the winter.

We will monitor the situation and take appropriate action. The facilities team will pay close attention as it gets colder.

Braille Collection

Ben confirmed that the children’s room has a Braille collection, kept behind the children’s desk and that Braille books circulate, largely through interlibrary loan. We haven’t been adding to the collection as rapidly as we once did. The collection includes board books, picture books, easy readers, and fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults. (There are about 400 items total in the collection.)