The next session of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies’ (ASCLA) valuable online course “Improving Library Services for People with Disabilities” will take place April 22 – May 19
This course includes two live online chat sessions, scheduled for Thursday, May 2, 3-4 pm Central Time and Thursday, May 16, 3-4 pm Central Time.
Registration will end at close-of-business on Thursday, April 18.
During this course, participants will identify library users with disabilities at their library and the resources and assistive technologies available to assist them; examine changes in attitudes, laws and technologies that have impacted people with disabilities; and will be able to recommend changes in personal and organizational behaviors to improve services for people with disabilities at their library. This course is truly designed for all library staff, including support staff, general professional staff, age-level or subject specialists, managers and administrators.
Act now, and register for this course.
Registration rates for this course start at $150 for division members; this rate includes the $20 fee for continuing education units (CEUs). Group rates are available–check the ASCLA online learning page for more details.
Here’s what some of our previous course participants had to say:
- Several of our staff enrolled as a group, and used the course as a launching pad to have further discussion across the library. We all agree that there is much for us to do. It created momentum for us around the library about many issues of accessibility.
- We implemented a team to begin looking at all aspects of how our library assists people with disabilities. We have already begun making recommendations for improvement to our department heads.
- We have already begun to look at programs and services in light of what we’ve learned and will be setting up a process that will prioritize new work to implement enhancements and improvements. Several recommendations have already been made in the areas of staff development and training, modifications to web pages and program statements and adoption of new technologies.
- I feel I have a much more open mind about my programming and I definitely keep accessibility issues in mind when I plan now. The most valuable thing I learned in this course is to not be afraid to offer help and services to someone different to me.
- The most valuable thing I learned was how to use “Person First Language.” Sharing ideas and having an open forum really helped my understanding of the public library’s goal of making things functional for everyone through technology, words and programming. I shared the information I learned from the course with the children’s staff at our annual meeting; as a library system we plan on doing more Sensory Storytime programs.
Are you part of a state library or a large public or university library network? We can arrange for a private offering of many of these courses for groups of 20 or more participants. Contact our web manager, Andrea Hill, at ahill@ala.org for more information. Group discounts for two or more participants from the same library are also available; links to rates and registration forms are included below.