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Simon Technology Center Lending Library

Assistive technology (AT) is any device or service that helps people with disabilities participate more independently in life. Ranging from simple tools to highly sophisticated technology, AT helps people communicate, learn, live independently, be included, and succeed at home, community, school and work. Wondering which assistive technology is right for you or your child? Find out at the Simon Technology Center Lending Library!

With more than 1,700 items, the Lending Library lets you try out and borrow some of the newest educational and disability-specific products on the market including:

• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology that takes pictures of text for text-to-speech (audio supported reading)
• Universally designed and adapted toys for playtime accessibility and inclusion
• Communication devices for communication freedom
• Computer access adaptations for independence
• Accessible gaming technology
• Mental health devices that utilize biotechnology
• iOS Apps (for iPad) that can be distributed to personally owned iPads

The Simon Technology Center Lending Library allows you to try assistive technology before making a purchase decision. Families, consumers, educators, and professionals who become library members benefit from personalized assistance with borrowing library items.

Since 1989 PACER’s Simon Technology Center has provided services through its Lending Library to parents, professionals, educators, schools and organizations throughout Minnesota. In April 2017 we extended our membership services nationally.

Library Borrowing Options

Our current borrowing options:  

• “Pickup” or Browsing (appointment optional for browsing) - open hours for in-person browsing are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. To place a reservation, you will need to select a day to pick up your reservation.
  • During your visit you may browse our inventory, experience our hands-on display room, check-out items to borrow, and return your library items.
• “a Pickup Appointment & Curbside (Schedule Appointment)” – We have pick-up and drop-off available Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11a.m to 4 p.m., or ask for other times by appointment. To schedule a pickup appointment, select a time slot in MyTurn. For a drop-off appointment, contact us at [email protected]. Let us know if you would like a curbside appointment.
• “iOS Apps (iPad…) …” – You may borrow iOS apps to download onto your own Apple mobile device via electronic delivery. Please follow the instructions provided with this choice in MyTurn.
• “Shipping” – We can mail items to you at no cost, and then you have a choice for returning:
  • Mailing back to us. We strongly encourage you to purchase package tracking and save the tracking information. You are responsible for paying costs to return by mail.
  • Returning to Pacer Center during Library open hours or schedule an appointment to drop-off by emailing [email protected].
• *Note: You must place your reservation 3 days or more in advance. If you attempt to schedule the start of your reservation before then, you will receive this message: “items not available”.
  • *Note: Please keep in mind that some reservation requests will require one-week or more to prepare (such as iPads, communication devices, items to be shipped, and others). We will contact you regarding these circumstances as needed.

If you would like to renew your library items, please email us your request with the explanation (reason) at [email protected]. We can renew items based on availability, current loan duration, and other circumstances.

Becoming a Lending Library Member

*Note: Out-of-state memberships are not able to borrow items that are provided by the MN STAR Program. The MN STAR inventory is a smaller subset of the STC inventory available to the library members living in Minnesota. The MN STAR items are indicated with an asterisk in front of the item name and also can be found by clicking on the "MN STAR" tab under the “Status” section of the search filter options.

New Items and Special Collections

Newest Library Items

We regularly add new items to our library. To see the latest items we’ve added, you can sort the online inventory in MyTurn by “Date Added." We will also highlight various AT items that will appear first on the inventory catalog general listing.

Find our newest inventory here.

Suggest a Purchase
Suggest an AT item purchase to the STC Library by completing the STC Lending Library Form: Suggest a Purchase. Submitting a suggestion does not guarantee that we will purchase the item for our library.

MN STAR Collection

PACER Simon Technology Center Library has partnered with the Minnesota STAR Program to increase access to assistive technology for all Minnesotans with disabilities. With that partnership, MN STAR Program has placed some of their AT devices and items in our lending library to provide access to short term loans. These devices are only available to residents of Minnesota to borrow. Click here to see the MN STAR Collection.

Paul Adelman Assistive Technology Collection

Thanks to several grants from the Paul Adelman Children with Disabilities Endowment Fund, PACER was able to purchase two VGo Robots, the UbiDuo Wireless Face to Face Communicator, the Tobii Eye Mobile, the Nova Chat 8, the Accent 800, the Accent 1000, the Blaze ET, the E-Bot Pro, the VoiceMe ECU, the Pilot One, and the Relax IR Learning Remote. In 2017 PACER received additional funds to purchase a mobile technology toolkit. Purchased included apps for communication, literacy and visual support as well as a variety of tablets, accessories, and apps.

Each of these exciting technologies has the ability to greatly improve the quality of life for individuals with a broad range of disabilities. You can view all of the technology received through the Paul Adelman Children with Disabilities Endowment Fund by visiting our Lending Library’s online catalog. Simply search for “Adelman” to see the entire collection.

See the Collection about the Paul Adelman Assistive Technology Collection