Activities of the IFLA Section on Library Services to People with Special Needs

The Library Services to People with Special Needs Section of IFLA has as its mission to serve: people who are in hospitals, nursing homes, and other care facilities; people in prisons; people who are experiencing homelessness; people with physical disabilities; people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind; people with dyslexia; and people with cognitive and mental disabilities. It does this by providing an international forum for the discussion of ideas, sharing of experiences and development of tools designed to promote and improve the effectiveness of library and information services to special needs groups, and the promotion of national and international cooperation at all levels. This paper will explore the various activities of LSN such as writing guidelines, presenting programs at conferences, and advocating for accessibility at IFLA and other conferences. It will also present the results of a survey conducted by LSN to determine international programs serving people with disabilities to share with the a United Nations Committee on how the needs of people with disabilities are addressed in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper will conclude with a discussion of future projects on the table.