We are committed to making your Cambridge Public Library experience welcoming and comfortable. This requires us to provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to our programs, resources and services. Our staff is empowered and expected to make reasonable accommodations upon demand, and our Administration will make every reasonable effort to address accommodation requests promptly and efficiently.
How to Start
- Providing equitable access to Library facilities and services to persons with disabilities is required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, applicable state and local statutes and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).
- You do not need prior approval from Library Administration before an accommodation can be made, nor do we require any proof of a disability.
- Our staff is empowered and expected to make reasonable accommodations upon demand, if a way to accommodate the request is apparent to them. Ask library staff for immediate accommodation when you need one.
Requirements
- To request a unique and long-term accommodation at any Library location, contact the Administration Office at 617-349-4032 with the specific accommodations you need, so that we can ensure systems are in place that will be ongoing, efficient and predictable.
- We provide assistive listening devices (ALDs) such as FM amplification systems which transmit sound from a microphone to a receiver through an FM frequency. This system can be used in conjunction with a hearing aid or earplugs.
- With enough advance notice, we can provide American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreters for programs and events. Due to the difficulties in securing sign language interpreters, the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the sole provider of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters in Massachusetts, recommends three to four weeks advance notice.