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Bookworm now handicap accessible thanks to Amramp

Tracey Shafer, superintendent of the Huntington County Community School Corporation, tests the new ramp for the corporation’s Bookworm.
Tracey Shafer, superintendent of the Huntington County Community School Corporation, tests the new ramp for the corporation’s Bookworm. Photo by Jessica Williams.

The Huntington County Community School Corporation's Instructional Services Center Bookworm has been ramped up by Amramp, Pathfinder Services' newest division.
The ramp was donated to the mobile library for use by children in wheelchairs, who can now be pushed up into the Bookworm.

Amramp officials also say carts full of books can now make the trek up into the library on wheels.

The presentation was made on Wednesday, Dec. 16.

The Huntington Amramp franchise was purchased by Pathfinder Services in November. Loretta Mottram, senior director of business development for Pathfinder, says the agency tries to provide the community with services of social value and felt that Amramp would allow it to provide people access into buildings.

The ramps are manufactured in Boston. They can be bought new or rented and used for a short period of time, Mottram says. She says during a training session in Boston, she learned that the late actor Christopher Reeve used to rent these ramps for 20-minute speeches.
There are 40 distribution centers and warehouses in the United States for the ramps, but Pathfinder has the only one in Indiana.

Mottram says warehouse space has been created in the Pathfinder building at 1152 E. State St.

Mottram adds that Amramp is ADA (American Disability Act) compliant. This law states that all businesses must be accessible to wheelchairs.

"We can provide those ramps (to businesses that were built before ADA passed)," Mottram says.

She explains that Pathfinder hopes to provide the same accessibility and freedom to everyone.

"The ramps are made of durable, non-skid mesh steel ramp, grips tires and is safer than wood, allowing the weather to pass through," reads the Dec. 16 Amramp release.

"Amramp offers free home evaluations and meets with each client to custom design the ramp. All of the ramps are installed by trained Amramp specialists. Ramps are available in days, not weeks or months, and most installations take less than a day," it continues.

For more information on Amramp, call Mottram at 519-0101 or e-mail her at Loretta.mottram@amramp.com, visit www.amramp.com or call 800-649-5215.

Complete caption: Tracey Shafer, superintendent of the Huntington County Community School Corporation, tests the new ramp for the corporation's Bookworm. The ramp will allow children in wheelchairs to visit the Bookworm, as well as carts of books to be wheeled inside the mobile library. The ramp was donated by Amramp, the newest division of Pathfinder Services, on Wednesday, Dec. 16.