In rural parts of the US, roughly 1 in 3 adults are currently living with a disability. To support the work small and rural libraries are doing to make their spaces, services, and programs accessible to patrons with disabilities, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities initiative offers these libraries grants of either $10,000 or $20,000. In the first round of grants, 240 libraries were awarded funds to assist with the implementation of their accessibility projects.

As the initiative’s evaluator, we’ve been analyzing grantees’ reports to learn about the challenges they’ve encountered in connection with these projects – and about the steps they’ve taken to overcome them. At present, most first-round grantees have finished their projects, and reports from 187 libraries have been made available for analysis. A total of 125 libraries mentioned challenges they’d faced. As the table below illustrates, these challenges have varied widely – from unanticipated costs to problems with contractors to trouble obtaining materials to weather-related delays to disruptions to library operations.

In addition to describing the challenges they’d encountered, many grantee libraries also shared how they’d overcome these challenges through a combination of practical workarounds, creative rethinking, and sheer persistence. Below we highlight some of the different strategies small and rural libraries have pursued to bring their accessibility plans to fruition.

Changing Plans

Some libraries confronted obstacles that threatened to completely jeopardize their planned projects. When faced with setbacks such as these, a common solution was to shift gears entirely – that is, to go back to the drawing board and rewrite their initial plans.

One library located near a busy, hazardous intersection began their project with a community conversation on ways to improve accessibility for blind or low vision patrons. Initially, staff had assumed that visually impaired community members would request more braille readers, but as it turned out, their priorities had to do with physical access to the building itself. Acting on this feedback, the library drafted a plan to install a crosswalk. But when approval from the local road commission was not granted, the library had to rethink this plan. As community members had said they were “open to new ideas” if the initial plan proved impossible to implement, the library decided to instead install a sidewalk – an idea that also emerged during their community conversation. Staff indicated that they “would not have considered a sidewalk a priority” without this conversation; “it simply didn't occur,” they explained, “until [we] talked with patrons.” Now installed, their sidewalk is getting “plenty of use,” as patrons who take the public bus to the library no longer have to walk through the yard outside the library (which can be unsafe, particularly when covered in snow) to get there. The library also reported that as a result of the sidewalk’s installation, “our public bus stop is gaining more of a following,” resulting in increased traffic to their site.

Another library changed plans “a few times” after learning that an upgrade to their entrance would be more difficult than originally believed. Initially, this library had prioritized two accessibility improvements: (1) replacing a wooden ramp with an aluminum one; (2) installing an automatic door opener at the entrance with this ramp. Meetings with consultants revealed that “cost was a prohibitive factor” for both of these plans. Beyond that, the library was informed that implementing these plans would require them to “comply with stricter codes” than they were initially led to believe. Faced with these obstacles, the library shifted their approach, and instead decided to make their existing ramp ADA-compliant by adding handrails. They also made their public bathroom ADA-compliant, adding new fixtures and replacing both the toilet and sink to ensure accessibility to patrons using wheelchairs. Lastly, the library decided to update its collection of disability-focused nonfiction books. Aware that its existing holdings were “outdated and under-represented,” they purchased several new books on different disabilities.

Changing plans also proved helpful when libraries faced difficulties getting sufficient community input – a condition of the grants they received from ALA. When bringing people with disabilities to the library proved difficult, libraries found alternative ways to gather their feedback. As an example of this, one library shared how the “open meeting format” they initially opted for was “uncomfortable” for many patrons. After learning about this, the library “shifted to more one-on-one conversations,” and began integrating discussions about accessibility into other programs and events. They also created a survey about library accessibility that patrons could complete on their own time. This approach proved effective, as responses to the survey provided the library with “helpful comments."

For more examples of how libraries are making it easier for people with disabilities to provide input on planned accessibility improvements, see our Building Accessibility into Community Conversations blog post. Our Good Programs Start Small blog post (from an earlier Libraries Transforming Communities project) is a reminder that attendance is not the only measure of success.

Finding Workarounds

Not all of the challenges libraries faced required an overhaul of their original plans. In some cases, libraries were able to implement their initial ideas by finding practical workarounds to the problems they confronted. For example, when one library seeking to install a more accessible door received an estimate that was “a small amount above the original grant,” they found additional financial support from a local non-profit group, which “covered the cost above the grant amount." This allowed them to continue with their initially planned project. In another instance, a library that struggled to find a local company capable of installing a door opener “within the grant period” ended up finding one in another town. Even though this company was “about an hour away,” they were “willing to drive out” to complete the project.

Some libraries sought out alternative funding mechanisms to keep their initial plans alive. One library had initially intended to tie a part of their ALA grant to a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) they also received. But doing this, they learned, would’ve required them to put the entire project (including “every aspect of the design and equipment”) up for bid. To avoid this potentially challenging, time-consuming process, the library gave its CDBG grant to another department, and began “pursuing additional funding” from local organizations, the library’s foundation, and the federal government’s “American Rescue Plan” program.

Persisting and Persevering

When faced with delays, disruptions, and other roadblocks, some libraries found they could maintain their original course of action through a combination of firmness and continued effort. After finalizing their plans, one library had difficulties lining up a contractor. “We had several no show appointments,” they noted, and “several that did come and then did not submit bids for the project.” Even after signing a contract, this library found that getting the work completed was no easy task. But by “stay[ing] on them,” the library succeeded in “get[ting] the project done in a timely manner.”

In another case, the need to comply with local regulations threatened to delay implementation of a project designed to help people with dyslexia. “Our key challenge,” this library explained, “was a state retirement guideline on when our reading facilitator (that is, someone who offers tutoring on reading strategies) could become contracted by our organization.” To prevent the project from being derailed, the library decided to use this time to conduct community outreach. By “providing information sessions at area clubs and organization meetings,” they were able to “spread the word” about their efforts.

Persistence also paid off for a library that encountered difficulties navigating its relationship with local government partners. At the beginning of their collaboration, the City Council encouraged the library to rely on volunteers to install kiosks for an accessible, large-print StoryWalk located along an ADA-compliant pathway. But after considering the average age of their volunteers and weighing a number of liability concerns, the library decided to not take this approach. Ultimately, they came to an agreement with the city’s maintenance manager “to secure a contractor to ensure the proper installation of our project.”

Libraries are also practicing perseverance when their accessibility upgrades require staff training. A library that opted to purchase eBooks and audiobooks said that staff would “need to provide additional training on using the LIBBY app” Along similar lines, another library noted that after beginning a project that enabled delivery of library materials to a senior’s center, there was “a bit of a learning curve for some long-term care center staff about learning new processes and being respectful of patron privacy for materials.” But eventually, they were able to work this out in ways that made their new delivery program effective.

Let’s Put it to Work

In the face of myriad implementation challenges, small and rural libraries are finding ways to achieve their accessibility goals. By rethinking their plans or their approaches, they’re devising innovative solutions to the difficulties they’re encountering, and are offering solutions that can be of benefit to the broader library field.

We’re curious to know about the implementation-related challenges you’re facing in your accessibility work – and about the ways you’re meeting these challenges. What’s worked for you, and how might some of the solutions created by small and rural libraries be applicable to your situation? To share your experiences, send us an email at programminglibrarian@ala.org

About this Article

This article is part of a series of blog posts exploring how libraries that received funds through ALA's LTC: Accessible Small & Rural Communities are working to better meet the needs of patrons with disabilities. In other posts in this series, we provide a general overview of the accessibility projects these libraries have launched, look at attempts to put the disability rights movement’s ethic of “Nothing About Us Without Us” into practice, consider efforts focused on neurodivergent patrons and older adults, and look at how small and rural libraries are creating accessible community conversations. For more on how libraries can become more accessible to patrons with disabilities, see the collection of resources we assembled. And for more information about LTC, see our historical overview of this initiative.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne @Unsplash