The deaf and hard of hearing have special problems and information needs which are not well recognized among librarians. Since there are many degrees of impairment the librarian must be aware not only of the differences in hearing impairment but also of the differences in ability to communicate. The deaf use sign language, finger spelling, and lipreading, and should be taught to read standard English at an early age. Communication over distances is possible with teletypewriters. Many deaf people do not use libraries, primarily because they find so few librarians trained to deal with their special needs. Libraries can, however, provide many services such as special information and collections, specially-trained or deaf staff, information campaigns in the community, and deaf awareness week programs. Statistics on deafness are provided, as are information on hearing conservation and the hazards of deafness, pictures of the manual alphabet, and lists of information sources and special programs and services. (LS)