The Moorcroft Branch Library has been selected as one of 300 libraries to participate in round three of Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities, an American Library Association (ALA) initiative that provides community engagement and accessibility resources to small and rural libraries to help them better serve people with disabilities. The competitive award comes with a $10,000 grant that will help the Moorcroft Branch Library upgrade the front entrance to improve the library’s accessibility for patrons with disabilities.
“We are so proud to be chosen for this amazing opportunity,” said Crook County Library Director Bonnie Stahla. “This grant will allow our library to better serve residents with disabilities. The funds will help us improve our Moorcroft location to ensure this population feels welcome and can better access the building.”
As part of the grant, the Moorcroft Branch Library staff and the Crook County Library Director will take an online course in how to lead conversations, a skill vital to library work today. Staff will then host a conversation with residents about their mobility needs and use the grant funds to replace the front entrance ramp.
Moorcroft Library patrons facing physical disabilities, either temporary or permanent, will be the primary beneficiaries of this grant project. The library’s current entrance and building layout make access to the library difficult for community members with wheelchairs, walkers, crutches or any type of mobility issue. A large number of senior citizens with mobility challenges visit the library regularly. In fact, the majority of their adult book club members fall into this category, and they each visit the library several times per month and find entering the library to be very difficult.
If you are interested in getting involved or taking part in the conversation, please contact Serena Buckner at the Moorcroft Branch Library at 307-756-3232 or sbucknerccl@gmail.com.
Since 2014, ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative has re-imagined the role libraries play in supporting communities. Libraries of all types have utilized free dialogue and deliberation training and resources to lead community and campus forums; take part in anti-violence activities; provide a space for residents to come together and discuss challenging topics; and have productive conversations with civic leaders, library trustees and staff.
“Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) in collaboration with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL).”