Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance Policy
General Guidelines
The Woodridge Public Library complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (the “ADA”), and offers alternative reasonable compliance to meet its requirements. Accordingly, the Library takes appropriate steps to ensure that Library communications with applicants, participants, and members of the public with ADA disabilities are as effective as communications with others; makes reasonable accommodations in Library policies, practices and procedures when necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless fundamental alteration in a Library program would result; and operates its services, programs and services so that, when viewed in their entirety, they are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. The Library provides equal access to persons with disabilities, including those who use service animals.
The PR and Program Coordinator is the Library’s ADA Compliance Officer and be contacted via telephone at 630.487.2568 or via e-mail at ada@woodridgelibrary.org.
Implementation of this policy is the responsibility of all Library staff.
Method of Notification
A copy of this Policy is included with the Library’s other policies and shall also be posted on the Library’s main bulletin board area and on the Library’s website. If a person with visual impairment or other disability inquires about this Policy or about the Library’s ADA services, staff will offer to read the Policy and to provide appropriate ADA services.
Service Animals
The Library welcomes service animals, and service animals are permitted in any area of the Library where members of the public are permitted to go. Trainers are also permitted to accompany service animals in training in the Library. Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with post-traumatic stress disorder during an anxiety attack or performing other duties. The work or task that the dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.
The ADA has also defined a miniature horse as an animal that may serve as a service animal if it has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. To determine if a miniature horse can be accommodated in the Library, the Library will assess whether (1) the miniature horse is housebroken, (2) the miniature horse is under the owner’s control, (3) the Library can accommodate the miniature horse’s type, size, and weight, and (4) the miniature horse’s presence will compromise legitimate safety requirements necessary for the safe operation of the Library.
Some service animals may wear special collars, harnesses, vests or capes and some are licensed and certified and have identification papers. However, special identification and certification are not required by the ADA. Employees may only ask an individual who accesses the Library with a service animal the following two question: (1) whether the animal is a service animal and (2) what work or task the service
animal has been trained to perform. Employees may not require identification documents for the animal and may not ask about the person’s disability.
A service animal may be removed from the premises only if (1) the animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, or (2) the animal is not housebroken. Service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless such devices interfere with the animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using such devices, in which case the service animal must be otherwise under the handler’s control (e.g., voice control, signals, or other effective means.)
When there is a legitimate reason to remove a service animal, staff will offer the person with the disability the opportunity to obtain Library materials or services without the animal’s presence. Staff is not required to provide care, food or a special location for the animal.
Programming & Meeting Accessibility
All notices and advertising for Library-sponsored programming will contain an appropriate ADA notice (such as the following):
Any person needing an accommodation for a disability in order to access the benefits of the Library’s services, programs, or activities under the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the PR and Program Coordinator at 630.487.2568 or by e-mail at ada@woodridgelibrary.org or in writing, not less than five (5) business days prior to the program.
All notices for Library Board or committee meetings will contain an appropriate ADA notice (such as the following):
Any person needing an accommodation for a disability in order to attend a meeting at the Library should contact the Business Office by telephone at 630.487.2550, by e-mail at ada@woodridgelibrary.org or in writing, not less than five (5) business days prior to the meeting.
Accommodations to Persons with a Disability
Staff will assist a patron with a disability in any reasonable way needed, including opening doors, carrying and retrieving library materials, and completing library forms.
In addition, in order to assist persons with visual, hearing, mobility, intellectual or other disabilities, the Library provides materials in a variety of formats: conventional print, large type, DVD, electronic download, and streaming services. When materials are not available in all needed formats, the Library attempts to provide equivalent or similar items for use by patrons with disabilities.
Despite the Library’s best efforts, not all library materials may be available in accessible formats and not every Library program, service and activity can be made accessible to every disabled person without fundamentally altering the nature of the service, activity or program. However, the Library does make every reasonable effort to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities upon request.
Forms for requesting ADA assistance and for complaints under the ADA are available at the Library’s Adult Services Desk, in the Business Office, or on the Library’s web site. Library staff are available to provide ADA assistance and assist a patron in filling out the form, if needed.
Meeting Room Users
Groups using the meeting room and presenters are required to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Library offers the facility as a service to community groups, but has no responsibility for the groups using the room.
Grievance Procedure
Persons who believe they have been discriminated against based on their disability should file a written complaint with the ADA Compliance Officer, within 60 days of the alleged occurrence of discrimination. The complaint should contain information about the alleged discrimination, including the date, location, persons involved, and the name, address, and telephone number of the individual filing the claim. The complaint will include the complainant’s proposed resolution of the matter.
Upon request, the Library will provide alternate means for filing a complaint, such as by personal interviews or tape or digital recording, to a person with a disability.
Within 15 days after receipt of a complaint, the ADA Compliance Officer, Library Director, or other designated Library representative will meet with the person filing the complaint, with the purpose of receiving any additional information and seeking a mutually acceptable resolution of the complaint.
Within 15 days after the meeting, the ADA Compliance Officer, Library Director, or other designated Library representative will respond to the person filing the complaint, in writing or other appropriate format, stating the Library’s response to the complaint and proposed resolution of the complaint.
Within 15 days after receipt of the Library response, if the Library’s proposed resolution is not acceptable to the person filing the complaint, that person may submit a written appeal of the matter to the Library Board of Trustees. The Library Board will review the issue at their next regularly scheduled meeting; as long as the appeal is received in time to add it to the Board’s agenda. If it is too late to be included in the agenda, it will be considered at the next month’s regularly scheduled Board Meeting. Within 30 calendar days after the Board meeting, the Library Board will respond in writing (and, where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant), with a possible final resolution to the problem.
Individuals may also file an administrative complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of the alleged discrimination, or may file a lawsuit for injunctive relief and damages.
Any or all of these method may be pursued at the same time.
Individuals are protected from retaliation or coercion when pursuing their rights or responsibilities under the ADA.
For further information
In accordance with Section 35.106 of the ADA’s Title II Regulations, all applicants, participants, beneficiaries, and other interested persons are advised that further information may be obtained from the Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington. D.C. 20530. Telephone: 800.514.0301 (voice) or 800.514.0383 (TDD).
Approved by the Woodridge Public Library Board of Trustees on 6/20/18