The City of Sundown Library has been selected as one of 240 libraries to participate in Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities, an American Library Association (ALA) initiative that provides community engagement and accessibility resources to small and rural libraries to help them better serve people with disabilities.
The competitive award comes with a $10,000 grant that will help the library ensure the newly renovated library space is user friendly for accessibility needs. Library Director A’ndrea McAdams expressed how grateful she is for the funding and its timing in the renovation project.
“We want our new library space to be welcoming and our spaces to be comfortable for all of our community members.”
As part of the grant, the library director will take an online course in how to lead conversations, a skill vital to library work today. Staff will then engage in conversation with residents about accessibility topics and use the grant funds to assist in enabling safety and universal design implementations.
Since 2014, ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative has re-imagined the role libraries play in supporting communities. Libraries of all types have utilized free dialogue and deliberation training and resources to lead community and campus forums; take part in antiviolence activities; provide a space for residents to come together and discuss challenging topics; and have productive conversations with civic leaders, library trustees and staff.