Serving & Including Community Members with Disabilities

Year of Learning: ULA members have now participated in three months of diversity training, discussions, and challenges: supporting publishers of color, serving homeless patrons, and learning about indigenous land acknowledgements.

In conjunction with the Year of Learning, the State Library is pleased to announce a grant opportunity for the purchase of current, high-quality, award winning, or well-reviewed adult books published in the past 5 years (2016 and on) which represent diverse voices and experiences. See eligible titles and apply for the grant. In addition to the books on these lists, current, well-reviewed books published in another language are eligible. Additionally, titles by publishers of color or publishers focusing specifically on diverse perspectives are eligible. Only adult books are eligible.

During the month of September, library equity partners, the Utah Library Association and Utah State Library will focus on Serving & Including Community Members with Disabilities. I hope you continue to take advantage of the monthly opportunities to learn, interact, and take action, that lead up to the ULA 2022 Annual Conference. Explore the Year of Learning Hub to familiarize yourself with the year long “United in Diversity | Unida en la Diversidad” curriculum.

Rita Christensen (She/Her/Hers)
ULA President, 2021-2022

SEPTEMBER 2021: SERVING & INCLUDING COMMUNITY MEMBERS WITH DISABILITIES

LEARN Training: Project ENABLE – The Project ENABLE training Website, provides free and accessible professional development on delivering effective, inclusive library and information services and programs to participants of all abilities. This site presents five learning modules containing information on many topics and in many formats, such as video, text, graphics, quizzes and assessments, and links to outside sources. You may choose which content you wish to access and in what order. [Access Now]

DISCUSS Zoom Meetup: Serving and including community members who are disabled – Becca Lael – Thursday, September 30, 2021 – 12:00 p.m. What have you learned about serving and including patrons who are disabled? What questions do you have? What resources can you share? [Register Now]

TAKE ACTION: Identify one way to make your library accessible. Post what you learned and how you shared it in the Slack Discussion.