Libraries are often gateways to new experiences, and a growing number are now offering patrons the chance to see the world in full color—literally.
In recent years, libraries of all sizes have begun adding color-corrective glasses to their Library of Things collections. Made possible primarily through partnerships with manufacturers, patrons can test these glasses out before committing to purchasing their own pair.
Removing barriers
Color blindness, also known as color vision deficiency, affects about 350 million people worldwide, primarily males, according to corrective glasses manufacturer EnChroma. Per the National Eye Institute, the condition—for which there is no cure—limits someone’s ability to differentiate colors and see brightness and shades of specific hues. The glasses use specific light filters on the lenses that make colors easier to differentiate, primarily red and green. Red-green color blindness is the most common form.
For Dana Vocht, youth services librarian at East Brunswick (N.J.) Public Library (EBPL), the decision to offer color-corrective glasses started in 2023 following a request from a mother whose son is color-blind. “They had seen corrective glasses, but they weren’t sure if they worked,” Vocht recalls. “They were kind of pricey, but [the family] wanted to try them out.” Generally, color-corrective glasses can range in price from $100 to $400, depending on type and strength.
This led the library to purchase two pairs of glasses from the company Pilestone: one that supports milder conditions and another for more severe color blindness. Each comes with cleaner and a sunglasses strap and retails for $139. EBPL’s Friends group, which regularly supports nontraditional lending items, funded the addition. The glasses were then added to EBPL’s maker kits collection, alongside other nonbook materials in circulation like telescopes and sewing machines.
“It’s not like a cochlear implant, where you have to get surgery,” says Vocht. “It’s so easy, it’s just a pair of glasses. If we can use our budget to help people with that, that’s kind of what we’re all about.”
Expanding perspectives
At Plainfield-Guilford Township (Ind.) Public Library (PGTPL), a similar motivation led to adding a set of five color-corrective glasses to its collection. Library Director Montie Manning remembers seeing viral videos online of people experiencing more vibrant colors for the first time. The library was interested in adding more unique, forward-thinking items to its collection, Manning says, and the glasses aligned with the library’s mission to make a difference in people’s lives.
To prevent straining the library’s budget, PGTPL partnered with its local Lions Club service organization, which has historically supported vision-related initiatives. The Lions Club helped secure every pair at a reduced rate from Color My World, a color-corrective glasses company owned by a local optometrist who is also a Lions Club member.
This is very different than lending out some other technology.… There is an accessibility role here.—Adam Rogers, learning innovation librarian at North Carolina State University Libraries in Raleigh
Since the beginning, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, Manning says. The product has also surprised some patrons. “We’ve had a few stories where people didn’t really consider themselves to be functionally color-blind,” but they tried on the glasses and noticed a difference in how they saw hues around them, he explains.
At North Carolina State University Libraries (NCSUL) in Raleigh, the color-corrective glasses lending program is part of a broader focus on accessibility and wellness. Learning Innovation Librarian Adam Rogers collaborated with EnChroma and the university’s Color Science Lab to launch the initiative in 2021 with an on-campus event. Approximately 40 people attended and tried the product, and a few pairs were given away.
NCSUL has since added four pairs of glasses to its permanent Technology Lending Program and featured them in an exhibit for students and staffers to try on. Since the program began, the glasses have been checked out 81 times. But Rogers emphasizes that the value isn’t measured in the number of checkouts. “This is very different than lending out some other technology, like a camera,” he says. “There is an accessibility role here.”
EBPL’s circulation has been slow-moving so far—something Vocht hopes to increase with additional marketing and outreach—but she says the glasses have substantial emotional impact. “My colleague’s husband is pretty severely color-blind,” she says. “He borrowed [the glasses] and just spent time on the computer, just looking at pictures of autumn foliage and of the ocean.”
Rogers echoes that sentiment. North Carolina State’s university colors are red and white, and for many with color blindness, reds appear as brown or yellow. Rogers recalls seeing a student put on the glasses for the first time and, speechless, realize he was sitting at a bright red table.
“Having that impact, even with one person, is just so meaningful,” he says. “Both personally and for the library’s role in the community.”
