The Child & Teen Library Accessibility Interest Group gives library professionals a forum to connect and share resources to improve library services for children and teens with disabilities. The group provides a welcoming space to discuss and collaborate on library activities and literacy support and development for kids with print and other types of disabilities. 

Vision:   

Share knowledge and experience providing library services for children and teens with disabilities in libraries. Support for all disabilities, including those with print disabilities, with the aim for inclusion and equitable library service for all users. 

CELA will facilitate and support the group through coordinating an email list, including developing a code of conduct, and scheduling meetings twice a year.  

Goals: 

• Connect professionals in library, educational and rehabilitation sectors with an interest in improving library services for children and teens with print and other disabilities.  

• Create an informal community for library professionals to consult each other on services concerning kids with disabilities. This will be done through a Google Group. 

• Explore best practices for libraries, including activity/craft ideas, collections, and reading technologies. 

Potential tools and outcomes: 

• Ideas will be collected and developed by CELA into an online guide or other media as decided by the group.  

• Other potential outcomes include conference presentations, articles in peer-reviewed paper, webinars, etc. 

• Opportunity for consulting children and teen library patrons to develop lived experience-led best practices. 

Group engagement: 

• Ask questions, provide responses and share resources in the Google Group.  

• Promote the group to cultivate a wealth of knowledge and experience. 

• Optional attendance at two online meetings a year. Next meeting:  TBD

• Other: find guest speakers such as a parent of a child with disability or subject expert, contribute to CELA’s Resources page, collaborate on presentations, etc. 

How to join: 

If you are interested in joining the group, please send a message to members@celalibrary.ca and we’ll send you an email inviting you to join.  

Code of Conduct 

We encourage all members to post questions, share articles and information, and tell the group about your own library’s efforts while respecting your patrons’ privacy (no patron names).  While the group is intended to provide a space for sharing diverse ideas, expressions and thoughts, any member who makes comments that could be interpreted as being discriminatory or derogatory towards people with disabilities, racialized people, women, sexual orientation or religious beliefs may be removed from the group. Any member who includes inappropriate images in a message (demeaning, pornographic, vulgar, etc.) will be removed from the group immediately as will the message(s). 

Members may contact members@celalibrary.ca if they feel they have been harassed or object to messages posted in the Google group.