American Disabilities Act (ADA)
In accordance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), the Library will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in the Library’s services, programs, or activities.
Employment
The Library does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title I of the ADA.
Effective Communication
The Library will generally, upon advance request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in the Library’s programs, services, and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.
Modifications to Policies and Programs
The Library will make all reasonable modifications to policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities. For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in the Library, even where pets are generally prohibited.
The library offers various accommodations for programming and services including:
- Home delivery of library materials
- High-visibility keyboards
- Screen-reading or screen magnification tools
- Sensory kits
- Closed Captioning for movies
- Wheelchair and walker accessible seating
- Sign Language Services
Qualified individuals with disabilities may make requests for reasonable accommodation from the Library. The Library will make all reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all Library programs, services, and activities. However, the ADA does not require the Library to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.
The Library will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing any services or reasonable accommodations and modifications.
Any persons who require reasonable accommodation should contact the Library as soon as possible but no later than 72 hours before the scheduled event.
ADA Grievance Procedure
This Grievance Procedure is established to meet the requirements of the ADA. It may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, activities, programs, or benefits by the library. The Library’s Employee Handbook governs employment-related complaints of disability discrimination.
The complaint should be in writing and contain information about the alleged discrimination such as name, address, phone number of complainant and location, date, and description of the problem. Alternative means of filing complaints, such as personal interviews or a recording of the complaint, will be made available for persons with disabilities upon request.
The complaint should be submitted by the grievant and/or their designee as soon as possible but no later than 60 calendar days after the alleged violation to:
Operations Manager
Bloomington Public Library
205 E. Olive
Bloomington, IL 61701
Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the complaint, the Operations Manager or their designee will arrange to meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and the possible resolutions. Within 15 calendar days of the meeting, the Operations Manager or their designee will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in format accessible to the complainant, such as large print, Braille, or audio tape. The response will explain the position of the library and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.
If the response by the Operations Manager or their designee does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the complainant and/or their designee may appeal the decision within 15 calendar days after receipt of the response to the Library Director or their designee.
Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the Library Director or their designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions. Within 15 calendar days after the meeting, the Library Director or their designee will respond in writing, and, where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, with a final resolution of the complaint.
All written complaints received by the Operations Services Manager or their designee, appeals to the Library Director or their designee, and responses from these two offices will be retained by the Library for at least three years.