I recently visited the Bayside Special Services Library in Virginia Beach, VA.  Overall, I found the facility to be well kept and inviting inside and out.  There was ample parking including several handicap spaces and bike racks available in front of the building.  The exterior was nicely landscaped with two benches and a large planter with seasonal flowers.  Several signs were prominently posted at the front including the hours of operation, location of the book drop, voter registration, no smoking, as well as a safe place sign which I learned is posted at organizations across the country designating them as safe places for children under 18 (National Safe Place, n.d.).

I visited on a Saturday afternoon and there seemed to be a steady stream of people coming into the library.  The visitors were diverse, young and old, male and female, Asian, White, and African American.  The staff was also diverse, three women and one man.  Two of the women were African American and one was White as was the man.  The ages of the staff varied as well.  The gentleman appeared to be in his late 60s early 70s and one of the women looked to be in her early 20s.  I was a little surprised by the level of diversity because of the reading in our textbook, but it was a pleasant surprise and made me proud of my hometown to see so many of its citizens represented (Rubin and Rubin, 2020).

Upon entering the library, I noticed a wide variety of resources just inside the doors.  There was a small shelf where patrons could swap books as well as one with books for purchase.  There was a Community Forum board with information printed from the library’s website such as a calendar of events, information about book clubs, story times, and the special services offered for the visually impaired.  There was also a box to collect old eye glasses for the Lion’s Club and even one to retire old American flags. 

Walking a little farther in, there were computers prominently displayed for searching the catalog.  There was a large meeting room as well as smaller study rooms along the outside walls.  Chairs were scattered outside of each and throughout the shelves so patrons could sit and read quietly by themselves.  If they were with a group or needed a space to spread out, there was seating arranged around tables in the center of the library.  One of the tables even had a jigsaw puzzle spread over it with a sign inviting patrons to help assemble it.  There were also small desks with low carrels and multiplugs where people could sit and work using their own devices. 

Toward the back of the library was the children and teen sections.  I noticed that the books there were arranged using the Dewey Decimal System while the books in the adult section were arranged by genre and in alphabetical order.  The children’s section had brighter colored seats and rugs than the rest of the library however the colors were still muted and calming.  There were two large interactive towers with hands on activities for children to explore and literacy suggestions for parents. There were also low tables and chairs and two tablets for the children to use as well. 

In the final corner of the library, was a small computer lab with a copy machine and printer.  There were several desktop computers in that section some of which had monitors below the desk for privacy.  It was back in that corner where the door to the special services room was located.  It was locked and only library employees were permitted to go inside.  One of the staff, Lashonda Simmons, explained some of the resources that they offer for the visually impaired.  In addition to books in large print that she said all of the public libraries in Virginia Beach have, they offer talking books and books in Braille.  She mentioned a program called Scribe which she said was run through the National Library Service where as many as eight books could be downloaded onto one cartridge and mailed directly to qualifying patrons (Library of Congress, n.d.).  Another was something called Twin Vision books which could be read by the sighted as well as the visually impaired.  She brought one out for me to see and it had words and illustrations printed like a regular picture book, but over each page was a clear sheet with the words written in Braille.  It made me think of all of the times that I spent reading with my own children when they were little.  It was such a wonderful bonding time for us.  It was nice to know that the visually impaired could share this same experience with their own children.

Overall, it was a very enlightening visit.  I have used this library over the past year to check out several books, but I literally just ran in, checked out my book, and ran out.  I never took the time to notice all of the things that this library had to offer.  It makes me realize that I really need to slow down a little so I don’t miss hidden gems like I did with this library.  I can’t wait to go back now and this time I plan to walk around and learn more about what the library has to offer.  I may even sit down to read or help match a few pieces of the puzzle.

Resources

City of Virginia Beach. (n.d.). Disability services. https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/Using-the-Library/Pages/Disability-Services.aspx

Library of Congress. (n.d.). That all may read. That All May Read  |  National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled  |  Programs  |  Library of Congress (loc.gov)

National Safe Place. (n.d.). Safe place. What is Safe Place? (nationalsafeplace.org)

Rubin, R. E. and Rubin, R. G. (2020).  Foundations of library and information science (5th ed.).  ALA Neal-Schuman.