Understanding the Elderly Non-users with Visual Impairments - The Case of the Lithuanian Library for the Blind

Abstract

With an increasing number of the visually impaired elderly population libraries need to adjust their services to this audience which is often under the risk of becoming library non-users. The aim of this paper is to determine the profile and reasons for non-use of library services by the visually impaired elderly basing on the case study of the Lithuanian Library for the Blind (LLB). Findings of the structured interview survey have shown that most non-users don’t use libraries due to low motivation, health and mobility issues. They have few purposes for information use, get it incidentally, and apply the sim-plest and easy-to-reach assistive technology. The findings can be used in libraries to develop targeted services for this population.