With the help of a nearly $20,000 grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the libraries on Northeastern’s campus will now be equipped with technology easily accessible to students with disabilities.

The new equipment will have the capabilities of converting text into speech, reading off computer applications and magnifying text for people with visual impairments, among other things.

“We really believe in providing equal access to everyone and the disabled really have certain needs,” said Dean and Director of University Libraries Edward Warro. “We hope to provide better access to members of the Northeastern community and facilitate their use of research materials.”

The technology will also target the 47.8 percent of disabled students who suffer from a learning disability.

Students will also have access to special tutoring, longer loan periods and mail-order books.

“This is a package of services that the library offers,” Warro said.

Head of the Media Center Debra Mandel has been committed since 2000 to ensuring this project was securely funded and completed.

“We had to figure out what was the real mission of the project,” Mandel said. “If they’re giving money out, you have to have very good evidence.”

Mandel and the other librarians are excited to see their hard work already paying off.

She said that “there’s always at least two or three people, if not more on a daily basis,” using the equipment in rooms 118, 119 and 120 of the Snell Library.

However, she said that “I think we need to find a way to target it to students that don’t know about it.”

Hosting events such as the Assisted Technology Open House that took place Thursday, May 8, is one method she is using to spread the word.

Mandel said that services such as enlarged text and oral books may be useful to students without disabilities as well.

“This is actually equipment for everybody,” she said. “But some people with disabilities find it more useful than others.”

Librarian and Advancement Program Manager Maria Carpenter said that “the library has definitely been committed to students with disabilities.”

“We have some really fantastic equipment,” Carpenter said. “We’ll open this room up for anybody who is interested in using [it].”

“I think one of the most common misconceptions about libraries is that we’re about our materials,” Warro said during the Open House. “Most of our time and energy and money go into showing people how to use technology and allowing them access to it.”

Part of the money from the grant was used to add closed captions to many of the videos in the library’s media center.

Warro said that the library hopes to “remove the barriers that people face in getting information”and “facilitate information in a way that they can use it.”

He said, however, that while “technology is great … it gets old fast.”

“We will continue to pursue getting the best equipment that we can,” he said.