library workers with disabilities

From St. Nicholas vol. 31 no. 12 / edited by Mary Mapes Dodge (1904)
From St. Nicholas vol. 31 no. 12 / edited by Mary Mapes Dodge (1904)

72nd chat, Tuesday December 6 2016: library workers with disabilities
6pm Pacific / 7pm Mountain / 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern

Moderated by @schomj
Storify (pdf, html) by @jbolmarcich

Confidentiality note:

Not all people with disabilities feel safe disclosing their status or talking about their experiences publicly. We respect that. Therefore, we are providing a way for people to participate confidentially.

  1. Go to this form and type your comments: https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbwyWyihbid8kFgyc1Pu5_BTBFGZt9Ij75bA9WPjPaMu1jCgtNmQ/exec
  2. You can see those tweets posted here: https://twitter.com/CritLib_anon

Many thanks to @metageeky for building this!

Suggested resources:

Videos

Practical readings

Academic writing

Resource guide

Discussion questions:

  • Q1. Introduce yourself, what type of library you work in, and self-describe your disability/disabilities if you are comfortable doing so.
  • Q2. When you think of “people with disabilities,” what stereotypes come to mind?
  • Q3. How do you think these stereotypes impact library accessibility for patrons and (potential) employees?
  • Q4. If you have disabilities, has that influenced what kind of library work you’ve pursued? (If you don’t have disabilities, have you ever thought about this possibility?)
  • Q5. What can we as individuals do to improve library accessibility for patrons?
  • Q6. What can we as individuals do to support coworkers with disabilities?

Closing question: If you could have virtual meet-ups for other library employees who have your disability/disabilities, would you like that?