Assistive Services

Available upon request. Please call (631) 360-2480 x216 for details or to make a request.

The Talking Books service - loaning books that have been professionally recorded by the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped - is available to Smithtown Special Library District residents who cannot hold, handle or see well enough to read regular print books. The collection of approximately 100,000 books available on audiocassettes features a wide range of fiction and nonfiction titles, including children's books, magazines, and materials in foreign languages.

Also available for lending are the special playback machines needed to listen to these books, including accessories such as extension levers, remote control devices, and breath switches for people who need them to operate the equipment. Talking books and equipment are generally sent directly to patrons' homes by postage-free mail and are returned the same way.

The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library provides talking books and magazines and braille for people who are blind, visually impaired, or are otherwise physically unable to read standard print. The library, located in Manhattan, serves residents of New York City and Long Island.

Click here for more information.

A CCTV Reading Machine is available in each of our buildings. Complete with a 20" monitor, the CCTV has the capability of magnifying from 5.5x to 50x and offers black-on-white, white-on-black or full-color imaging. The CCTV can be used to magnify any hard-to-read images from small print to maps to historic documents, etc.

A hearing loop is installed in the Smithtown Building's Community Room to serve adults, students and children with hearing loss. A hearing loop is a copper wire that is placed throughout a room's seating area, which is powered by a loop driver generating a magnetic field. A telecoil (T coil), a common option on most hearing aids, serves as a wireless antenna to link the listener directly into the facility's sound system. The hearing loop works with an individual's T coil-equipped hearing instrument or cochlear implant. The hearing loop transmits the audio signal wirelessly to the T coil allowing the listener to hear the intended signal clearly. 

Headsets will also be available for individuals who have hearing loss but do not wear hearing aids with T coils or cochlear implants.

The hearing loop system has been made available thanks to a generous donation from the Foundation For Sight and Sound.