In Living Color Libraries offer corrective glasses to color-blind patrons; American Libraries, January 2, 2025

Cass Balzer , American Libraries; In Living Color Libraries offer corrective glasses to color-blind patrons

"In recent years, libraries of all sizes have begun adding color-corrective glasses to their Library of Things collections. Made possible primarily through partnerships with manufacturers, patrons can test these glasses out before committing to purchasing their own pair...At North Carolina State University Libraries (NCSUL) in Raleigh, the color-corrective glasses lending program is part of a broader focus on accessibility and wellness. Learning Innovation Librarian Adam Rogers collaborated with EnChroma and the university’s Color Science Lab to launch the initiative in 2021 with an on-campus event. Approximately 40 people attended and tried the product, and a few pairs were given away.

NCSUL has since added four pairs of glasses to its permanent Technology Lending Program and featured them in an exhibit for students and staffers to try on. Since the program began, the glasses have been checked out 81 times. But Rogers emphasizes that the value isn’t measured in the number of checkouts. “This is very different than lending out some other technology, like a camera,” he says. “There is an accessibility role here.”

EBPL’s circulation has been slow-moving so far—something Vocht hopes to increase with additional marketing and outreach—but she says the glasses have substantial emotional impact. “My colleague’s husband is pretty severely color-blind,” she says. “He borrowed [the glasses] and just spent time on the computer, just looking at pictures of autumn foliage and of the ocean.”

Rogers echoes that sentiment. North Carolina State’s university colors are red and white, and for many with color blindness, reds appear as brown or yellow. Rogers recalls seeing a student put on the glasses for the first time and, speechless, realize he was sitting at a bright red table.

“Having that impact, even with one person, is just so meaningful,” he says. “Both personally and for the library’s role in the community.”"