Assistive Technology Expo at The New York Public Library's Bronx Library Center Showcases New Products and Services for People with Disabilities

On Saturday, September 16, 2006 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., The New York Public Library will host an Assistive Technology Expo at the Bronx Library Center, 310 East Kingsbridge Road, where vendors and representatives from non-profit organizations will showcase products and services for adults, young adults, and children with mobility, hearing, and visual disabilities. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The Expo is a collaboration between The New York Public Library, Bronx Independent Living Services, and Insight for New Housing. Among the groups displaying products at the expo are Independence Care Systems, Soundbytes, Independent Living Aids, New York State Commission for the Blind, Sorenson Video Relay Services, CSD Video Relay Services, LifeLinks, New York City Workforce1 Career Center, Achilles Track Club, Baruch College's Computer Center for Visually Impaired People, Higher Disability Solutions LLC, and Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind.

As part of the expo there will be hands-on workshops with demonstrations of MAGic and JAWS, which are screen-magnifying and screen-reading computer software programs. In addition, there will be an introductory computer class taught in American Sign Language.

Throughout its 86 branches, The New York Public Library offers a wide range of technologies to make resources available to people with disabilities. Several branches have assistive devices that include personal reading machines, closed-circuit television enlargers that enlarge printed material 45 to 60 times its original size, telecommunication devices for the deaf (TTY's), assistive amplification systems, and screen magnification software on all public-access computers. In addition to the assistive resources throughout the library system there is also the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library which is a full-service library dedicated to serving those with disabilities.

Insight for New Housing, Inc is a community-based non-profit organization that strives to develop housing for the blind and visually impaired, improve their quality of life, and advocate for the issues that confront the visually impaired.

Bronx Independent Living Services is a not-for-profit community agency that serves people with all kinds of disabilities to empower them toward living independent lives. They assist individuals by providing advocacy, peer counseling, housing information, independent living training/counseling, education about civil and human rights, and work to provide access to the tools and means necessary to insure those rights.

Further information about the expo is available at www.nypl.org/events/breventsdetail.cfm?EventID=46880.732570.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers - the Humanities and Social Science Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library - and 86 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items, including materials for the visually impaired. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The Library serves some 15 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 15 million users internationally, who access collections and services through the NYPL website, www.nypl.org.

This event is co-sponsored by Bronx Independent Living Services and Insight for New Housing Inc., and is supported in part by the New York State Coordinated Outreach Services Grant.

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Contact:    Nadia Riley   212.704.8600

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