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As recipients of a $10,000 grant through Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities, one library is learning that becoming more accessible for some means better serving ALL.

Located in Dixon, Missouri (pop. 1,226), staff at the Jessie E. McCully Memorial Library have found that regardless of where patrons are on the disability spectrum, accessibility upgrades can improve everyone’s experiences. Lacey Rollins is the library’s director (and only full-time staff member), and when asked what made the library’s upgrades successful, she credits the input provided by the community. The LTC grant, she says enthusiastically, “has turned my library around in a complete 180. I have a completely different library because of it. Completely different.”

After receiving the grant, Rollins thought it would best be spent on additional mobile internet and other services for older adults who require access from home. But patrons identified other needs as more pressing. To gather community feedback (which is a grant requirement), Rollins hosted a day at the library where the community could share their thoughts on the grant and what the money could be used for to improve the library experience. Several ideas were shared that day and other days throughout the grant period. The conversations were positive for the library, and helped Rollins discover that disabled and neurodivergent youth—including those from the large number of homeschool families who rely on the library’s resources—had unmet needs. The library “lacked supplies needed to make our patrons with disabilities feel comfortable and able to enjoy our facility to its full potential,” she admits. “There was a lot of room for improvement.”

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Having learned that patrons with disabilities were “completely underserved,” Rolllins knew that “it was our duty to step up and help with this grant.” Focusing especially on those with sensory processing disorders, she and colleague Lizzie Dufresne purchased alternative seating, sensory items, imaginative and interactive play materials, and new books that feature characters with disabilities. They also reimagined and redesigned the entire children’s section. This made the main area of the small, rural library more useful for tutoring to reduce distraction for those utilizing the facility for this purpose. Some of the most popular new items are the yoga ball chairs, which Rollins describes as having “the same properties as fidget toys in a way, allowing youth to redistribute their energies.”

“We learned in discussions that our patrons with disabilities in our community were completely underserved and it was our duty to step up and help with this grant.”

The library’s accessibility upgrades extended outside its four walls. After hearing from community members about the lack of hands-on educational experiences for local youth – and especially, neurodivergent youth – Rollins began to seek out opportunities for creating non-traditional learning environments. A patron whose son is autistic suggested a community garden as one such opportunity, and by combining a portion of their LTC funds with support from the community (which came in the form of donations and labor), Rollins and Dufresne were able to make this happen.

The garden will be located right in front of the library; once complete, Rollins plans to engage homeschool families and others in garden education classes. “I feel like our neurodivergent kiddos don’t have a lot of places they can go that aren’t completely overwhelming,” Rollins says. It's hard, but you know, a community garden is a great place where they can have activity without being completely overwhelmed.” Importantly, the garden will also be physically accessible for patrons with mobility limitations.

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Even with all of the improvements the library has made for neurodivergent youth and patrons with disabilities, Rollins has not lost sight of her initial plans. Indeed, some of the library’s grant funds have been set aside to better serve those who require services at home because of mobility issues or other disabilities — for example, by increasing the library’s collection of large print books that can be delivered to people at their homes.

“We also learned that there weren't places for [disabled youth] to go in our community that served them well; places they felt welcome, comfortable and safe. We were it! We had to do better.”

Rollins is convinced that her library’s accessibility upgrades have improved patron experiences across the board. “I've been trying to make it a comfortable and accessible place for every single person,” she says. “That's been my goal this entire time.” Through use of their LTC grant, she and Dufresne have learned that increasing accessibility for some patrons has positive consequences for others as well. “It has caused a lot of buzz and created a lot of excitement around the library,” Rollins says. “We have created such an inviting place for ALL patrons.”

People are certainly noticing the library’s efforts. “I have people stop me a lot,” says Rollins. And they'll even say, ‘Oh, I love what you're doing with the library. Oh, I saw that article in the paper the other day.’ … It's been overwhelmingly positive. It's exciting. People in this community are extremely supportive. … You know, people have a lot of negative things to say about small towns, but that's one good thing about small towns, especially mine, is that they're very supportive.”

Written by Knology. Knology is a nonprofit research organization that produces practical social science for a better world. The organization pursues this goal to help professionals in a variety of sectors build inclusive, informed, and cooperative societies that can thrive together with the natural systems on which we all depend. As a transdisciplinary collective of over 30 social scientists, writers, and educators, the organization's work process is built on equity, transparency, and deliberation.