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PCI Webinar with Susan Metallo Access and Agency: Welcoming the Disabled Community at Public Libraries Online
From Sensory Storytimes to Disability Justice Book Clubs, libraries around the country push beyond the basics of ADA compliance to welcome disabled patrons at the library. But how do these libraries reach disabled library users and determine their information needs?
In 2023 on behalf of Publishers Weekly, author and public librarian Susan Metallo interviewed librarians about their challenges and successes in serving disabled patrons. In this webinar, Susan shares best practices and lessons-learned from these proactive programs. She also recommends a framework for developing library services that empower the disabled community to engage with the public library, crafted both from her research and from her lived experience as a disabled library-lover.
Attendees will learn:
- Who belongs to the broad and diverse disabled community, how to reach them, and what language and behavior will signal welcome and respect
- Different marketing strategies for disabled patrons and for non-disabled caregivers of disabled people (e.g., parents of disabled children, family members of patrons with Alzheimers)
- How to make your collection more accessible and relevant to disabled patrons
- Strategies for giving disabled patrons agency and input in decisions about services and policies that will affect them
- Date:
- Wednesday, February 19, 2025
- Time:
- 2:00pm - 3:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Sponsor:
- Southern Maryland Regional Library Association (SMRLA)
- Online:
- This is an online event.
- Event URL:
- https://zoom.us/webinar/register/6017320151348/WN_sqSU7Vo1RfyfXdw2M-j24A#/registration
- Audience:
- Library Staff Library Staff - Public Libraries
- Categories:
- Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility General Interest
Part of PCI Webinars, sessions will be recorded and available on our Maryland Libraries Training Niche Academy archives following the session.
Library staff from Maryland public libraries only. Please register using your Maryland library staff email showing your library system's authenticated domain name. Generic gmail addresses will not have access to the archives.
This project is supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act Administered by the Maryland State Library.