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Sussex County Library is a Regional Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Sussex County Library is a Regional Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
The Sussex County Library is a Regional Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This is a program sponsored by the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped. The library is the sixteenth center in New Jersey and the only one serving Sussex and Warren Counties.
As a Regional Resource Center, the Sussex County Library can loan Assistive Listening Devices to patrons and organizations. The library is able to loan a personal FM amplification system, a conference microphone, a wide area amplification system for use in large rooms, and other useful devices. Assistive Listening Devices improve the signal to noise ratio for the listener—i.e., the sound, usually the speaker's voice, is amplified while background noise is minimized. These devices can be borrowed for 14 days.
In addition to the Assistive Listening Devices, the Sussex County Library can loan a TTY device, obtain books, audio tapes, and other Assistive Listening Devices—baby cry signalers, bed vibrators—through the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped, and arrange for interpreter programs.
As a Regional Resource Center, the Sussex County Library can serve patrons who are not only deaf but hard of hearing, which refers to any decibel level of hearing loss and speech discrimination which prevents understanding of speech unaided by a hearing device. A hard of hearing person is not usually reliant on sign language or cued speech but has difficulty listening to and understanding spoken language if there is no amplification.
In the near future, the Sussex County Library will have its own TTY for patrons to call the library for assistance or information.
The professional library staff at the Main Library has received training to assist deaf and hard of hearing patrons, and they will be able to aid patrons in choosing the correct Assistive Listening Device
For more information, or to make an appointment to come to the Main Library to borrow any of the available devices, please call the Main Library at 973-948-3660.