"A bridge to the world of information"

The Deaf Literacy Center began as an effort to provide quality library services to a growing Deaf community in City of Safety Harbor. LSTA grants were awarded for two years 1998-1999 and 1999-2000. In October 2000 the program was adopted by the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative. In the light of the previous year's successes and evident need facing the Deaf community, the Cooperative realized this program could be effective countywide. Since then, the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative continues to provide funding for one full time and one part time staff person, supplies, travel and some programming.

The program now recruits students from all over the county as satellite centers have been established in partership with Palm Harbor, Pinellas Park and South St. Petersburg libraries. We now serve students from local schools, technical programs and colleges.

The Deaf Literacy Center began as an effort to provide quality library services to a growing Deaf community in the City of Safety Harbor. The Deaf Literacy Center is a library-based literacy program for Deaf individuals and their families. We offer small group and individualized basic literacy instruction and support services in addition to traditional library and information services to the Deaf community.

The Tampa Bay area, including Pinellas County, is nationally known by those in the field of deafness for the array of services provided to the Deaf. Services in the area range from educational and mental health to social and vocational opportunities. The Deaf population in this area is growing rapidly as individuals from different parts of the country come searching for needed services not provided elsewhere.

The Florida Association of the Deaf indicates that Tampa Bay, Florida has one of the largest Deaf communities in the USA. The area is home to 348,000 Deaf or hearing-impaired people, the largest such community in Florida, which has an estimated 2 million deaf or hearing-impaired. According to the Florida Association of the Deaf that's the fifth-largest Deaf concentration in the nation.