Access and Agency: Welcoming the Disabled Community at Public Libraries

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

Presenter: Susan Metallo is a neurodivergent author, librarian, and Publishers Weekly contributor. Her debut novel, Reasons to Hate Me—winner of the 2022 SCBWI Young Adult Work-in-Progress Award and the 2022 Seven Hills Literary Contest for Young Adult Literature—will be released Fall 2025 from Candlewick Press and features themes of honesty, agency, and disability justice against the backdrop of hilarious high school misadventures. Susan’s fiction has also been honored by Book Pipeline and the Searchlight Writing for Children Awards, and she has given numerous webinars and conference talks on topics related to public library work and creative writing. She serves as Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in New Mexico. Find her online at www.susanmetallo.com.

The recording and handouts will be available on Niche Academy after the live event as well as our library of over 700 recorded sessions. To access Niche, go to: https://my.nicheacademy.com/floridalibrarywebinars

Register here via Zoom for the live event or through the link below.