To the editor:

Thanks to a generous grant from the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club, the Community Room of the Bainbridge Public Library will soon install assistive listening technology to make presentations more accessible to people with hearing loss.

About 20 percent of people age 45 to 64 have hearing loss, rising to one in three at age 65 – and, with almost 46 percent of Bainbridge residents are over age 50, we have many islanders who can benefit from enhanced listening technology. And not just older folks: a significant number of high school graduates nationally have hearing loss as do many of our returning veterans.

This summer, the library’s Community Room, our largest and most used public meeting space, will be equipped with a magnetic induction loop, commonly called a Hearing Loop, that conducts clear sound directly to listeners’ hearing devices through telecoils, or neckloops with earphones. The Bainbridge Public Library looks forward to enhancing for our hearing-impaired patrons the enjoyment of the library’s popular lectures, movies, theatre readings and other programs.

It’s not too early to start thinking about your Rotary Auction donations which fund these important community organization projects.

LINDA MEIER, PRESIDENT

Bainbridge Public Library