Disabled residents fume over lack of library access

Disabled residents of Herzliya are furious that the city is advertising its municipal library as accessible to the disabled when it most decidedly is not.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Disabled residents of Herzliya are furious that the city is advertising its municipal library as accessible to the disabled when it most decidedly is not, reports www.mynet.co.il. And the residents say they are even angrier that the city has promised for years to make the third-floor facility accessible to the disabled, but has done nothing to act on its promises. According to the report, the long-festering issue erupted when the city advertised Rosh Hashana events at the library and pointed out that it was accessible to the disabled. Residents were furious, saying that the library - located on the third floor in a building with no elevator - was blatantly inaccessible to the disabled and the elderly. They said the city kept promising to make the facility accessible, but never did anything about it, and the very people who needed a public library the most were being prevented from using it. But the city's response may set the flames burning even higher. A municipal spokesman said the city was legally entitled to advertise the library as accessible to the disabled because it was accessible to the hard of hearing. The spokesman added that the city was "in the process" of seeking a permit to construct an elevator.