About
This project for the University of Alabama's course "CIS-650: Diversity Leadership in Information Organizations" is a review of public library outreach to the patrons living with disabilities of the United States, and ways in which the High Plains Library District of northern Colorado addresses this community's needs. I am Greg Mahaffey, an employee at two of HPLD's member libraries. This page focuses on investigation of the quality of the High Plains Library District's accessibility and outreach efforts to people living with disabilities.
Strategic Diversity Management Framework
Mehra and Davis (2015) discuss a theoretical framework for evaluating patron outreach to marginalized communities by taking inventory of the multiple forms of outreach libraries can perform, from Information Source aggregation (e.g. collections and online resources tailored to the population of interest) to Information Policy and Planning (e.g. representation of the community within planning committees). Here I apply the matrix detailed in their work to HPLD's internal and public accessibility features. Table 1 identifies which outreach efforts are present and absent.
Table 1. HPLD accommodates patrons with diverse impairments in their collections, community engagement, news, and programs. However, the district lacks resource guides for patrons. The district's EDI committee is working to address the needs of patrons with impairments as well as other marginalized communities.
Table 2 provides details of these accessibility features in general, listing this district's programming and outreach initiatives in a broad context.
Table 2: Accessibility Features of the High Plains Library District. The district features Collections, a Diversitiy Committee, Diversity Representation, External Community Engagement, and upcoming events, but lacks Resources and Internal centers and Organizations.
As a public library district, HPLD is conscientious of making resources accessible to patrons both with disabilities and without. A recent tour of the Centennial Park Library in Greeley, Colorado for LS-530 (Public Libraries) showed that building practices in the district are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Collections and Programming are designed to facilitate patrons with disabilities, featuring a Braille collection at the Nantes Library which together with our large print collections and adjustable eBook fonts, supports the estimated 9,000 residents of Weld County who live with a vision difficulty (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.). Programming is designed with marginalized communities in mind, including a Cycling Without Age Program for older patrons with mobility impairments and LIFE (the Library is for Everyone) programs for patrons with cognitive and learning disabilities. Accommodations such as American Sign Language interpreters, Adaptive Story Time, and expectation to communicate through writing are available upon request either through the website's form or alternative methods such as calling in a request.
The website for the district shows room for improvement. A test with the WAVE accessibility tool demonstrates a number of missing elements that would complicate web navigation for users with assistive technology, and published videos lack accessibility features such as captioning and audio description. This is out of compliance with state laws which went into effect in 2024. However, the website's accessibility page acknowledges these shortcoming. A one-year grace period is available for organizations which act in good faith to correct the issues which render their websites non-compliant. Paradoxically, this means that the district has been transparent with their improvements to accessibility in physical locations and the website, with quarterly updates on the progress made towards the goal of compliance with state law.
Information Policy and Planning with regard to accessibility would benefit from greater transparency. Searching the website yielded no information regarding internal representation of staff or board members with disabilities, and no information about outreach could be located. However, I was able to reach Elena Rosenfield, HPLD's Community Engagement and Strategies Manager for information on the district's accessibility efforts.
My interview with Elena taught me that the district has a group of employees who have formed an EDI committee to discuss the district's outreach to marginalized populations. Though focus often centers around LGBTQIA+ and racial equity, accessibility is also among their areas of interest. They are a group who have a firm vision of helping HPLD become more accessible, but lack the right mix of people to move forward. A contributing factor to this may be the relative lack of accessibility and disability culture taught in the field of Library and Information science (Pionke, 2023).This e-Portfolio and the teachings of this class have the potential to help change that.
The EDI Committee has expressed an interest in the district seeking an EDI coordinator, though official actions towards this goal have not begun. Elena, however, acts as the district's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator, and works with Rocky Mountain ADA and Connections Colorado to receive guidance on the district's accessibility efforts. This outreach, receiving input from advocates and experts with impairments, lives up to the call of Jaeger (2018) to collaborate with people with disabilities.
Accessibility is one of the core values of the American Library Association. Thus, the High Plains Library aspires to be as accessible as possible. Time and budgetary constraints contribute to shortcomings in accessibility, as does the invisibility of the struggles of marginalized populations. However, voices of those who live with impairments and their advocates lead to change, and can catalyze the improvements already being made to the district.
Sources Cited
Jaeger, P. T. (2018). Designing for Diversity and Designing for Disability : New Opportunities for Libraries to Expand Their Support and Advocacy for People with Disabilities. The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion, 2(1/2), 52–66.
Mehra, B., & Davis, R. (2015). A strategic diversity manifesto for public libraries in the 21st century. New Library World, 116(1/2), 15–36. https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-04-2014-0043
Pionke, J. J. (2023). What are Library Graduate Students Learning about Disability and Accessibility? A Syllabus Analysis. Urban Library Journal, 29(1), 1–12.
U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Disability characteristics in Weld County, Colorado. Retrieved April 26, 2025 from https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2023.S1810?q=Weld+County,+Colorado&t=Disability