Accessibility services

• Use the Ask Us online chat (located in the bottom right corner of our website marked by the blue “Ask Us” button) to chat directly with library staff from anywhere. Ask Us is monitored live by library staff during these hours.
• For research help, contact your subject librarian. Librarians can answer your questions via email, meet you online, or meet you in person in an accessible library space.

Users who are unable to navigate through the shelves or find searching for materials in the library overwhelming can request that a book be placed in one of the library’s pickup lockers. A library staff member will find the item and place it in the locker for you.   

Request an item for pickup 
 

Users with a print disability can request library materials in alternate formats. To use this service, students must be registered with Student Accessibility Services.

All other users can register to use this service by completing the Print Disability Declaration Form.

Submit an alternate format request

Library materials that can be requested in alternate formats include, but are not limited to:

• An entire library book or print item
• A chapter of a print item or print journal article
• An item not available in the Libraries collections
• Inaccessible digital formats
• Any other library or instructional materials
• Textbooks in the Libraries collections

For alternate format requests of textbooks you have already purchased, or if you need materials in Braille, contact Student Accessibility Services.

How to request library materials in an alternate format

• Use the “Access for Users with Disabilities” link on any item in your Library Search results.
• Request an accessible scan of a chapter of a print item or a print journal article using the Scan on demand link on print items in the Library Search. Choose “Required for perceptual disability” in the Accessibility Requirements field to receive an accessible PDF.
• Request items not found in our collection using Request from another institution link in your Library Search results; or fill out the Document Delivery Request form. Choose "Required for perceptual disability" in the Accessibility Requirements field.

• Visit any library service desk to get help from staff to retrieve books you need from the shelves and get printing and copier support.
• Arrange a tour with library staff to familiarize yourself with a library’s layout. To arrange a tour, contact the specific library location.
   

Printers and scanners are available in most library locations. 

Learn more about printing, scanning and photocopying at the library.

For UM faculty, staff and students, any print library book or journal article can be scanned and emailed in a PDF format. 

Scan on demand
 

You can designate a proxy borrower to check out books on your behalf. To do this, your proxy borrower will need to provide:

• your University of Manitoba student or staff ID card
• a piece of their government-issued ID
• A letter of authorization indicating the name of the individual who is permitted to use the ID and the date(s) for which the consent is valid.