In 2023, the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office launched the largest grant initiative in the Association’s history—the Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities grants.
During the first round of funding, 240 small and rural libraries, located within towns with populations of under 25,000 people, received awards of $10,000 or $20,000 to improve the accessibility of their facilities, services, and programs. American Libraries spoke with five libraries that participated in the program’s inaugural year about their projects’ impact on those they serve.
Joeten-Kiyu Public Library
Susupe, Northern Mariana Islands | $20,000
Joeten-Kiyu Public Library (JKPL) is the state library of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the western Pacific comprising 14 islands.
JKPL’s new Sensory Corner, paid for with a $20,000 LTC grant, includes sensory equipment, devices, assistive technology, toys, and supplies for children who require assistance for disabilities that may be physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional. The library officially unveiled the Sensory Corner at its National Library Week proclamation signing event in April.
“I was inspired by Beth [B. Demapan, technical services librarian], who has a daughter [Alexandra] who is autistic,” says Library Director and State Librarian Erlinda C. Naputi. “When Alex would come to the library, there wasn’t much that we had to offer besides the computer screen.”
JKPL is one of the few places on Saipan, the commonwealth’s largest and capital island, to offer free, autism-friendly services, Naputi says. Demapan adds that because of the remoteness of the island, the price for sensory items there could be triple the price in the mainland US. Items in the space include tablets with cognitive aid applications, fidget spinners, noise-canceling headphones, braille talking books, wheelchairs, and more.
“A lot of families, if they want to buy something sensory-wise for their child, they have to either go abroad—which it’s so hard to travel—or they have to order it online,” Demapan explains. “And it might be defective when it comes here. It may take forever to come here.”
For those who are unable to visit JKPL, the library bookmobile brings Sensory Corner resources directly to them. Staffers are also able to help kids with special needs and their families participate in and enjoy seasonal library programs, such as the spring Easter egg hunt and summer reading events.
“Families can come together and have a support system and place where they can feel comfortable bringing their kids,” Naputi says.
Burlingame Community Library
Burlingame, Kansas | $20,000
Inspired by her experiences with her teenage son who has autism, Brandi Shaffer, director of Burlingame (Kans.) Community Library (BCL), used $20,000 in LTC funding to create a more accessible and inviting library for patrons with disabilities.
BCL added an accessible entrance with an automatic door, an ADA-compliant help desk, and sensory-friendly furniture and lighting for patrons who deal with overstimulation. Shaffer purchased audio-enabled hardcover books from Wonderbook and VOX Books, life skills items like visual schedule boards and dental hygiene kits, and resource bags.
With her son, who is now 13, Shaffer says she was used to feeling isolated by the lack of local places they could easily go to as a family.
“As I sat and thought about the fact that I’m not even comfortable bringing my own child in here, as the director, how would I expect anyone else to be?” says Shaffer. “I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to apply [for the grant] after that. I just started daydreaming about being able to give that to somebody.”
The idea to have loanable, try-before-you-buy resources came to Shaffer after her own family’s experiences with investing in life skill and comfort resources that sometimes didn’t work for them. Items now available also include weighted lap pads and vests, potty training kits, a transport pushchair, exercise balls, wiggle feet, and seat cushions. She says she wanted other families to avoid starting from “square one with every single problem.”
Creating a more accessible library “enriches the lives of not just people with [disabilities] but their family members who love them,” Shaffer says. “Everyone benefits.
Algona Public Library
Algona, Iowa | $20,000
After undergoing a full-scale interior renovation in 2021, Algona (Iowa) Public Library (APL) wanted to extend its makeover to the outdoors—and eliminate barriers to enjoying it for those with disabilities.
The $20,000 LTC grant is going toward creating an outdoor garden and activity space for community members with mobility issues. The outdoor space will have smooth walkways, raised garden beds for wheelchair-friendly use, and accessible seating.
APL purchased ADA-compliant swivel seats and a tandem face-to-face swing that lets two people, such as a caregiver and a child or hearing-impaired adults, play and communicate nonverbally because they can see each other’s facial expressions. Both were recommended by Exceptional Opportunities, a local nonprofit that provides children and adults with disabilities with opportunities to take active roles in their communities. Many of its clients attend and participate in library programming, says young adult librarian Sonya Harsha, who applied for the grant.
“The Exceptional Opportunities staff was also excited about the [possibility] of offering another way for their clients to be able to give back to the community, by helping to maintain the gardens and do light maintenance by cleaning tables and walkways,” Harsha says. “So, the development of the garden space is not just a one-way project. It includes the ability to give back.”
Through additional donations and capital project funds, APL is purchasing plants and adding a drinking fountain. In 2024, APL also received a second round of LTC funding for additional accessibility improvements, including updating its automatic doors and railings and purchasing accessible seating for APL’s STEM classroom space.
Creating the outdoor space has brought together the community, from Exceptional Opportunities, which shared its ideas; to Chips Off the Old Block Woodworking, a local group that is building the garden beds; to the county’s Kossuth Area Garden Club, which is helping with planting, growing, and harvesting.
“The garden space is an extension of what we do here: inviting people in to be a part of our community,” Harsha says.
Orford Social Library
Orford, New Hampshire | $20,000
At Rivendell Interstate School District in Orford, New Hampshire, a high school engineering class decided to rebuild the ramp leading into Orford Social Library (OSL) as its capstone project. It was a project that had been discussed by the library for nearly two decades.
“The ramp was rotting, and the brick pathway would get covered with water,” says OSL Director Laina Warsavage. “In the summer, you’d step in these puddles. In the winter, it would freeze, and it was like ice skating.”
In 2019, students completed an engineering plan to rebuild the ramp, but the project stalled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased costs of construction materials. The $20,000 LTC grant allowed OSL to finally complete the project.
The new ADA-compliant ramp and pathway, which was raised to prevent drainage from soaking the walkway, help a variety of visitors, Warsavage explains. This includes patrons who use wheelchairs—who couldn’t access OSL during winter months when the ramp would freeze—as well as older adults, parents with strollers, and an employee from New Hampshire’s Interlibrary Loan Program who transports shared library materials to and from OSL in large bins. Staffers also received a second round of funding that will, in part, pay for the installation of an automatic door opener.
“Every single person should be able to come into the library,” Warsavage says.
Lewistown Public Library
Lewistown, Montana | $10,000
With its $10,000 grant, Lewistown (Mont.) Public Library (LPL) is bringing outreach services to cancer patients and caregivers.
The funding went toward providing materials to Helmsley Cancer Center Infusion Services at Central Montana Medical Center, located just a mile away from LPL. These include arts and crafts kits, audiobook players with preloaded titles, and The Flower Letters, a subscription service that sends stories in installments through the mail. LPL staffers ordered the letters in bulk, and staffers at the infusion center addressed and sent them to patients.
The library’s goal is to help the facility’s visitors creatively and emotionally process their medical experiences, says director Alissa Wolenetz. Between June 2023 and June 2024, Infusion Services had more than 2,400 visits, including both local patients and patients from neighboring counties.
“When you are connecting with people in a really difficult time of their lives, it’s really nice to be able to know that the materials and those extra outreach services that you’re providing are the highest quality they can be because of this grant,” says Wolenetz.
Since it’s difficult to sterilize and wipe down physical books, the handheld audiobook devices, purchased from the company Playaway, have been a successful alternative for Infusion Services. People can listen to the audiobooks during treatments or take them home with them. LPL also purchased padded headphones for patients to keep.
For the arts and crafts resources, LPL partnered with local stationery store Paper and Grace. Patients and caregivers are given watercolor kits and calligraphy sets as well as diversions such as roll-up chess and checkers and mystery boxes—games in which players must uncover clues and solve various puzzles.
“We’ve had so much fun with this,” says librarian Sue Standley, who collaborated with Wolenetz on the grant project. “It gave this freedom to be creative.”
Through this project, the library has built stronger connections with the health care community. For instance, some cancer support groups now meet at LPL. Staffers are also working on developing more wellness programs for patrons.
“We’re trying to look more holistically at working with partner organizations, like all of our local education and health care providers, to look at what could make this area of Montana its own little blue zone,” Wolenetz adds, referring to regions of the world where people live longer and healthier lives.
