Libraries and low vision: my experience
Wellington’s central library recently reopened. I was happy about that — but visiting made me realise how much of it simply isn’t designed for people like me.
Libraries are a core civic space. A place that defines the heart of a city. Libraries ought to be for everyone, to connect them with their city’s past, and the wider world.
But in my experience, this isn’t true for people with low vision or blindness.
My home city of Wellington, New Zealand recently re-opened its main central library after a lengthy closure and redevelopment due to earthquake risk.
The name of Wellington’s central library is Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, which means “the window to the wider world”. But who is this window designed for?
I have vision impairment. This puts me at odds with the core function of libraries — which is printed books. I can’t even read large print books.
So, while walking around Te Matapihi, I had this awful mixed emotion: I was so happy to have our central library restored, but I couldn’t help but notice all the things I couldn’t do.
I found an amazing section of the library with books on Wellington’s history. I wanted to learn more about the history of Wellington, but the act of finding books is virtually impossible without usable vision. And when I found a book I was interested in, I’d open it and could not read the text. So much valuable local knowledge is not digitised — it’s locked up in physical printed media that my body is incompatible with. There is so much I wanted to know from the books I held in my hands but I can’t. The only truly inclusive space for me is purely digital.
This leaves me with one remaining function I could theoretically use a library for: to do some work on my laptop.
But, even this is exceedingly difficult.
My vision condition, Stargardt disease, makes me very sensitive to bright white lighting, and sunlight. Part of it is also colour temperature; I need warm, yellowish light to feel comfortable. I honestly think cool temperature lightbulbs should be made illegal.
So, I was walking around the library, trying to find a space that doesn’t hurt. Unfortunately there aren’t many spaces around Te Matapihi without retina-searing lightbulbs or large windows letting in sunlight.
The thing with laptops, is their displays do not need external light to function. In fact, external light makes it more difficult to see a computer screen as it adds glare and reflections. It boggles my mind that people choose to use computers in bright spaces.
So, I think if libraries want to be more inclusive for people with light sensitivity, and also be better for general computer use, having areas of the library which are dim would really help. I’m confident there are actually a lot of people who do not like brightly-lit spaces — when I work in shared office spaces I usually get the fluorescent lights above my desk removed, and several people flock to the area due to the improved dim lighting.
My second issue, is with severe vision impairment, I need a large screen to use a computer comfortably. I can use a laptop screen for brief periods of time, but I can’t use it for very long. I rely heavily on extreme levels of screen magnification which isn’t ideal on small laptop screens.
So, I think libraries should have a bank of large monitors that have USB-C cables to connect. This means people who cannot use laptop screens can also work comfortably inside of a library.
Libraries do often contain public computers with slightly larger displays, but these are not usable for me due to bright lighting conditions, and they lack the assistive technologies I rely upon to use a computer effectively (built into macOS). My laptop is like a carefully curated machine designed to work perfectly with my vision impairment — I can’t just use any old computer.
I don’t think working on their own personal computer in a library should be confined to people who can see a laptop screen. That feels unfair to me.
I noticed how virtually all areas where a laptop could be used, someone was there. It seems this function of libraries, as a quiet computer-use space, is under-recognised, and under-resourced. I think we are perhaps dedicating too much space to physical media storage, and not enough space for people to use their computers in a comfortable third-space environment. Perhaps the core function of libraries is shifting but libraries are in denial about it, unwilling to compromise on physical book storage. I don’t have much sympathy for that view — I can’t use physical books at all.
Te Matapihi is a window into the wider world…
…for people with vision. Not me.
— Callum