Despite being home to more than 155,000 seniors with some degree of hearing loss and more than 16,000 people with profound hearing loss, there are few Palm Beach County organizations that serve these their needs. As the library closed and developed new services to address mounting public needs, one employee’s fluency in ASL was harnessed to uplift an underserved community during this international crisis. Equipped with hardware and video-calling apps, the Bookmobile driver spent the next two months fielding calls in ASL.

The success of this new service relied on three factors. A staff member fluent in ASL with time to devote to staffing a hotline was key. Since the Bookmobile was out of service for over two months, the hotline was live for three to five hours daily. Phone/tablet technology with video-calling apps such as IMO, Facetime and Whatsapp were used to accommodate patrons’ varied devices. Branding the service with professional graphics coupled with direct marketing to organizations on social media helped boost the visibility of the hotline.

In just over two months, one staff member answered 122 calls with such questions as how to download eMaterials and how to file for unemployment. Callers used the hotline to mediate conversations with their employers and other entities. As information about COVID-19 and government directives developed rapidly and as businesses limited services or closed altogether, it was crucial that DHH individuals had access to reliable and timely information and could depend on the library to offer reprieve from feelings of isolation.