ASCLA / KLAS / NOD Award

Did you know that Keystone Systems has sponsored the ASCLA / KLAS / NOD Award annually since 2004?

Actually, your first question is probably, "What is the ASCLA / KLAS / NOD Award?"

In 2000 the Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) and the National Organization on Disability (NOD) began providing a $1000 award and certificate of recognition for a library organization that developed or expanded its services for patrons with disabilities, specifically through a specific project or change in physical and / or attitudinal barriers to an effort to make their library services more accessible and inclusive. Originally sponsored by Aetna Healthcare, Keystone Systems assumed sponsorship in 2004.

Each year a Keystone representative attends the ASCLA Awards reception at the ALA Annual Conference in support of the recipient and to help present the award. This year the Gwinnett County Public Library in Georgia will be honored for its Removing Barriers Project.

From the American Library Association's press release:

The Removing Barriers Project mission is to strategically identify and address issues that might cause a person to hesitate using their public library. Library staff were charged with identifying who was not currently coming through their doors and then reaching out to area organizations to understand their barriers and actively work to remove them. Project results include a thoroughly updated Accessibility Center, sensory storytimes in each branch, an early opening day and time for families with children on the autism spectrum, and dedicated programs offering a social and educational experience for community members who are developmentally disabled.

The Library’s Strategic Plan for 2015 through 2018 calls for engagement of all segments of Gwinnett’s population and set the organization on a course to actively remove barriers and expand partnerships with community-minded groups and organizations. A major activity to address this goal was the complete renovation of assistive technologies housed in the Lawrenceville Branch. Adjustable height tables, JAWS software, a Prodigi reader that allows a customer to select reading with magnification or listening, an Intel Reader that converts text to digital text, then reads it aloud, high contrast keyboards, and a braille reader highlight the equipment added to the Assistive Technology Center.

The Gwinnett County Public Library’s Removing Barriers Project will be honored at the ASCLA Achievement Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 23, 2018 from 8:30-10:00am at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Congratulations to the Gwinnett County Public Library! You can see a list of all award recipients on the ASCLA Achievement Awards Page.

Francis Joseph Campbell Award

While Keystone does not sponsor this award, we do feel we have a special connection to it. Our annual Julie Klauber Award is named after the 2002 honoree who was the Librarian at Talking Books Plus Outreach Services a part of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in New York. The Francis Joseph Campbell Award is given annually to "a person or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of library service for people with physical disabilities and/or physical impairments".

The 2018 recipient is Pat Herndon, Director of Georgia Library for Statewide Accessible Services (GLASS), who was selected for her leadership in library service for patrons who need accessible books and media. We are proud to say that GLASS is a KLAS library and was the local host of the 2017 KLAS Users' Conference.

From ALA's 2018 Francis Joseph Campbell Award press release:

“Patricia has led a reorganization of the GLASS’s statewide service and implemented a new strategic plan, but it is her leadership and vision in developing an innovative training event for library staff that has done the most to advance library service for the blind and physically handicapped in Georgia”, said nominator Julie Walker.

“While awards are often given for innovative and/or new projects that garner accolades and attention (and Pat has several of those to her credit), the dedicated professionals at the Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI) who serve and train individuals who are blind or visually impaired want to recognize Pat for her leadership, strategic vision, and hard work to make library services available to all who need them regardless of geographic location in the state”, said Fontaine M. Huey, President, Center for the Visually Impaired.

Pat will also be honored at the 2018 KLAS Achievement Awards Ceremony at ALA Annual on June 23.

Other past Francis Joseph Campbell Award recipients who were staff at KLAS libraries include:

• 2013 Jill Lewis, former director, Maryland State Library for the Blind and People with Physical Disabilities
• 2012 Carole Rose, Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library (retired)
• 2010 Daniel W. Boyd, former director of the South Dakota Braille and Talking Book Library
• 2002 Julie Klauber, librarian, Talking Books Plus, Outreach Services, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
• 2001 Barbara Mates, head of the Library for the Blind and People with Physical Disabilities at the Cleveland Public Library