Registration is closed.

Location: Online via Zoom

Twenty percent of the US population has a disability. A growing elderly population, advances in medicine enabling people with disabilities to live longer, and other changes in society will push that number higher. Librarians need to be proactive and comfortable in serving patrons with disabilities.

Learn how to create welcoming environments for and communicate clearly with people with disabilities in academic and hospital settings. Through a hands-on activity, discussion, live quizzes, and information on resources that address the health information needs of people with disabilities, you will be better able to assist patrons with disabilities and the clinicians who treat them. You will leave with ideas for immediate improvements to your website and quick fixes to your library space, guidelines for clearly and confidently communicating with people with disabilities, and knowledge and skills for making plans for larger improvements. #MLAServingPatrons

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• explain the health information needs of people with disabilities
• describe the benefits of creating a barrier-free environment in their library spaces
• demonstrate effective communication techniques for assisting patrons with disabilities
• identify electronic, print, and other resources for creating a high-quality disability-related collection for patients and clinicians
• improve their websites and spaces to better serve patrons with disabilities

Audience

Librarians in any setting, health care clinicians, and administrators. No prior knowledge needed.

Presenter

Christine Willis, AHIP, is the director, Knowledge Management & Learning Resources, Shepherd Center, Atlanta, GA, a spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital. She has published in multiple library journals and has taught continuing education courses for local, regional, and national library associations and at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine annual meetings. She is the current editor of MLAConnect and a column editor for the Journal of Hospital Librarianship.