Many a Slip.

It's easy to feel daunted as you try to make your library a more accessible place.

"9:55." The dark-haired librarian noted the time on the clock with approval. Five minutes before opening and all was ready for the start of a new day. The carpet had been vacuumed, the books and magazines were all arranged in their proper places, and the morning's newspapers were all on the display rack. As she continued to look around the room, the librarian went through her mental checklist. The copiers and laser printers had full paper trays and all the computers were on, their screens glowing with the library's home page. Suddenly, she frowned in disapproval as her eyes fell upon the chair, and she sighed as she crossed the room. The offending chair had been drawn up to a table clearly labeled for use by library patrons in wheelchairs and, in its present location, was blocking their access to the computer terminal on the table. She wondered, as she did every time she moved the chair, if there was anything more she could do to stop able-bodied patrons from dragging the chair over and leaving it there. Wha t good is it to have a table at the proper height for wheelchairs if access is always blocked? After moving the chair back to its proper place, she returned to the table and moved the sign designating it as reserved for wheelchair access further to the front so it could be clearly seen. It seemed a futile effort, for she knew she would probably have to move the chair several more times before the day was over, but she made the attempt anyway.

While the above is a fictionalized account of the opening procedures…