(via Dr. Ruth Small, Syracuse University School of Information Studies)
This is a final call for Project ENABLE impact stories, as part of our current IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grant. The purpose of these stories is to demonstrate how even small changes in the way you do your work, select your resources, redesign your spaces, or deliver your programs that can have an impact on how your patrons with disabilities perceive and use the library. Each story describes something that an individual or team of library staff has done to make their library more welcoming and useful to their patrons, staff, board or visitors with disabilities.
We are anxious to hear from librarians, support staff (including paraprofessionals, aides, interns, etc.) and administrators who are willing to describe a change you or your team have made, within the past five years, to improve accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities in your library.
We are offering $100 for each story accepted by our selection panel. If accepted, your impact story will be added to our Project ENABLE database, and we may even feature it in our blog or newsletter, PE News. All accepted stories will be added to the nearly 40 wonderful and inspiring stories, contributed by library staff across the U.S. and around the world, already in the database.
Each impact story should include (1) your name, e-mail address, the name of your library, and the location of your library; (2) what prompted your idea for change; (3) what that change was and its intended goal; (4) barriers (if any) you faced when making that change; (5) supports (e.g., people, funding) you had (if any) that helped enable that change; (5) evidence that you achieved your goal through impact, as revealed in an observation, a conversation, etc. of that change on at least one patron with a disability. Each story should be between 300-400 words in length.
So, take a peek at one or more of the stories already in the collection to get a sense if how they are written. We accept stories from staff all types of libraries, from any department within a library or from any member of the library staff, including aides and interns. And while you’re there, you might also enjoy looking at some of our “challenge videos” or printing out some of our “pathfinders” to distribute to staff or patrons. Or check out our four new workshop packages, containing all of the pieces you need to present a workshop to your staff, for use by libraries that want to offer their own in-house training.
If you have any questions or are ready to submit your story, just e-mail Dr. Ruth Small, Director, Project ENABLE at drruth@syr.edu.