National Library for Children and Young Adults Introduces Barrier-Free Kiosk... "Tailored for Children"

Barrier-Free Kiosk Now Available at the National Library for Children and Young Adults
Accessible Services for All, Including Wheelchair Users and the Visually Impaired

On July 15, the National Library for Children and Young Adults announced that it has installed and is now operating a barrier-free kiosk in the first-floor lobby, allowing anyone to easily access library services.

Barrier-free kiosk installed at the National Library for Children and Young Adults. Photo by National Library for Children and Young Adults

The newly introduced barrier-free kiosk supports a variety of customized approaches tailored to different user types. It features an automatic height adjustment function for wheelchair users, a braille path guidance function for visually impaired users, and sign language video and voice-based library guidance services for hearing-impaired users.

Additionally, the kiosk offers experiential content designed for children. Features such as tactile exploration of picture book characters using a braille keypad and converting children's own drawings into braille are expected to contribute to the development of children's sensory skills and to expand their reading experiences.

Park Joo-ok, Director of the National Library for Children and Young Adults, stated, "With the introduction of the barrier-free kiosk, we hope that both people with and without disabilities will be able to use the same library services without discrimination." She added, "We will continue our efforts to bridge the information access gap for information-vulnerable groups."

After a two-month pilot operation period, the barrier-free kiosk will also provide additional services, including recommendations of librarian-selected books and exhibition information at the National Library for Children and Young Adults.