05 Mar 2013

There are about 60 000 people living with disabilities in Botswana, Botswana National Library Service (BNLS) acting deputy director, Mr Jacob Sekgoni, has said.

This, Mr Sekgoni said was a significant number, as it represented approximately 3 per cent of the national population.

Officiating at the Level One Training on Sign Language for Librarians, on Monday, Mr Sekgoni said the training came at a time when government was challenged to come up with policies and programmes that were inclusive of the unique challenges facing people living with disabilities.

He said people living with disabilities were faced with numerous challenges that required both short and long term intervention such as access to information and usage of various library services.

He said deaf people were mostly disadvantaged at libraries since libraries were naturally quiet places and did not require any talking. In order to address this problem, Mr Sekgoni said BNLS resolved to train librarians on sign language since it was mandated with empowering citizens with information and preserving literary heritage.

“It remains our greatest priority that as we aim to realize the Vision 2016 pillar of: “An Educated and Informed Nation” we should do so by using programmes that do not discriminate against people living with disabilities,” he said.

Mr Sekgoni said the training was timely as it afforded participants an opportunity to understand the deaf culture and be able to meet their information needs.

He said the one week training was also a step in the right direction as it would close the communication gap between librarians and people with hearing impairment.

“While I do not have statistics for the deaf people, it remains paramount that as librarians we should be ready to assist them whenever they visit our facilities and even encourage those that do not, to do so knowing very well that we are equipped to assist them,” Mr Sekgoni said.

Being deaf, Mr Sekgoni could be a disability that one was born with or it could even occur when one was already grown up due to either an accident or illness. He added that being deaf could also occur at any time.

Further, Mr Sekgoni called upon participants to use the training to empower themselves to be creative in an effort to meet the diverse information needs of the deaf community so that they were also allowed maximum participation in government programmes. He also advised them to ensure that all the information materials ranging from signs in the library, videos and books addressed the needs of the deaf.

“For instance, taped lectures or video/DVDs should have written transcripts of their contents, virtual signs should be clear and easily seen, provide computerised card catalogue to promote individual or independent library usage skills, provide internet access and most importantly provide, amongst others, a visual fire alarm device in case of emergencies,” he added.

“Imagine what will happen if a fire breaks out in a library where you have users who are deaf,” he said. He encouraged participants to use the training to gain knowledge on how to communicate with the deaf in their facilities as well as outside of work.

Mr Sekgoni said BNLS would in the next financial year continue to train more librarians on sign language. He said BNLS had also undertaken to resource and equip two libraries for People Living with Disabilities in Gaborone and Kanye to cater for other challenges besides those faced by the deaf. ENDS