Dear Clare
There are two ID card schemes in operation at Leicester at the
moment. They are designed for the main campus Library
and branch libraries.
The first is a card which students, primarily with mobility
difficulties, use. It has their photograph on it and their
difficulty, and it is dropped off at the porter controlled entry point
every time they go into the builiding and picked up on the way out. The
idea is that if an emergency evacuation of the building should be
required the porter flees with the box of cards and hands it over
immediately to the emergency services who then know who they are
looking for and how many.
We are currently reviewing our emergency evacuation procedures (like
everyone else it seems) and we are striving towards individual plans
for each student. Thus an idea has been mooted that these cards
could be used as the students go into other buildings, but the
entrance and egress is not as carefully monitored in other buildings
with a staffed checkpoint, so the debate is going on.
The second card has come into being as a result of a request from
students with invisible disabilities. They wanted something which
would alert Library staff to the fact that they were students with
'bona fide' requests for extra help like the carrying of books or
reaching them down from shelves etc even though they looked as
though they were perfectly fit. This is a card which for all
intents and purposes is another library card with a number on it (to
preserve confidentiality if it were lost). The idea is that although
produced by the Library they would be issued by the Study Support
Centre and a list of names and matching numbers would be kept in
Study Support and the Library but no mention of special need has to
be made. This system will come into operation in the new academic
year.
Hope this is of interest.
Paula
DrPB Dobrowolski
Welfare Officer for Students with Special Needs
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