San Francisco Public Library Deaf Services Center

The Deaf Services Center provides in-depth resources for adults and children who are deaf or hard of hearing, their families, friends and professionals.

• Staff provides services in American Sign Language and English

• An extensive collection of books, magazines, videos and DVDs about American Sign Language, Deaf culture, interpreting, parenting, hearing loss, deafness and other related subjects

• Resource files of magazine articles, newspaper clippings, book and video reviews, brochures, flyers and ephemera

• Classes offered in the San Francisco Bay Area for American Sign Language, sign language interpreting, Deaf culture, deaf education and other related subjects

• For SFPL sponsored programs, assistive listening devices are available as well as the following services: American sign language interpreting, English language oral interpreting and real-time captioning in English. These services cannot be guaranteed when requested less than one week in advance.

• Information about other organizations that provide services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing

• Video/DVD viewing on televisions equipped with closed-caption decoders

• View American Culture: The Deaf Perspective, a four-part series exploring the culture and heritage of Deaf Americans, on the SFPL YouTube channel or order DVDs

• Sorenson VRS videophone is available in the Deaf Services Center during open hours

• History and Photographs

• Deaf Services: Helpful Links

• Deaf Culture: Sign language, linguistics, Deaf history

• Deaf Theatre: scripts and videos of deaf-themed plays, books on history of deaf theatre

• Hearing Loss: Late-deafness, assistive devices (including implants), hearing loss organizations, causes of hearing loss, vertigo, otosclerosis, audiology