LME Library Receives Accessibility Grant

The Lillie M. Evans Library in Princeville has received a $20,000 Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant to start a community garden. Funds will be used to add an accessible sidewalk into the hosta garden and to start a community vegetable garden. The library is hosting a community conversation on Thursday, June 1st at 6:30pm in our large meeting room to discuss how to make our garden more accessible for all community members. Please join us—we’d love your input!

Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities grants are an initiative from the American Library Association (ALA) that offer more than $7 million to small and rural libraries to increase the accessibility of facilities, services, and programs to better serve people with disabilities. For this grant round, 240 funded proposals represented 43 U.S. states and the Northern Mariana Islands. Of the selected libraries, 65 percent serve communities of less than 5,000 people.

“Congratulations to the libraries selected for the first round of this important award,” said ALA President Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada. “With projects ranging from ADA accessibility to strengthening library partnerships with local organizations that serve disabled community members, the impact of this grant will improve library access for thousands of library users across the nation.”

The Lillie M. Evans Library was one of one hundred libraries that received $20,000 awards. The other 140 libraries received grants of $10,000. Eligibility was limited to communities with populations less than 25,000 and that are located at least five miles from an urbanized area, in accordance with Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) definitions. A full list of funded libraries can be found at https://www.ala.org/tools/librariestransform/libraries-transforming-communities/access/libraries.

“The Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) sends our congratulations to the first round of LTC: Accessible Small and Rural Communities libraries,” said ARSL Executive Director Kate Laughlin. ”All 240 institutions are so deserving of this funding, and we look forward to seeing their proposed projects bring big change to some of the country’s smallest communities.”

Since 2014, ALA has distributed Libraries Transforming Communities funding to foster community engagement skills among library workers and support need-driven projects. Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities is offered in partnership with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) with support from a private funder.