Library Media Services for Educable Mentally Handicapped Students

After the adoption of Public Law 94-142 the public schools are required to provide an education for handicapped students. These students should then be participating in the library media program in the public schools. The purpose of this study was to find out what library media programs are being provided at the elementary level for educable mentally handicapped (EMH) students. Iowa elementary media specialists were surveyed to determine if elementary EMR students used the library media cente.r and how they spent their time when they were in the center~ In the schools surveyed EMH students participated in the library media programs in 98 percent of the attendance centers. When these students come to the media center about half of them come to the center with their special education class group and about 40 percent of the EMH students are mainstreamed with other students. Most of the EMH students do participate in each of the four library media program activities; enrichment, browsing, skill instruction and location and use of information. When the library media specialists were asked what percentage of time their EMH students spent in these four activities, many of them chose the one to twenty percent range, Most of the EMH students who spent time in the library media center for the location and use of information spent between one and twenty percent of their time in each of the three elements of this activity (locating the information, using the information, coD1DUnicating the information). The final question of the survey asked the media specialists to indicate if they made some type of exception or adaption in library media activities for EMH students who are mainstreamed with other students. Forty-two percent of the media specialists stated that they did make some type of exception or adaption. This study showed that in the Iowa elementary attendance centers surveyed many of the OOI students do participate in the library media program. The information gathered in the study could be used to develop library media programs which include educable mentally handicapped students