Library services for people with disabilities in Greece

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate current library services for people with disabilities in Greece and their information seeking behavior and to study both libraries' and users' perspectives in this field for the first time in Greece. Design/methodology/approach - Survey methodology has been used as the basic research tool by sending questionnaires both to Greek libraries and to associations for the disabled. Findings - The paper depicts the lack of library services to the disabled and acknowledges possible barriers but also presents several, recent steps of improvement and development in Greek libraries. Research limitations/implications - Difficulty in identifying these vulnerable group of disabled users and estimating their exact figures. Originality/value - This paper is useful for information professionals who seek a greater understanding of library services for people with disabilities in Greece, since there is almost no literature and research relevant to this topic. Furthermore, it shows that effective library programs for disabled users are generally lacking in Greece.