Disability Network Southwest Michigan Awards KPL the Community Inclusion Award
Each year Disability Network Southwest Michigan honors individuals and organizations in the community who have made a significant contribution to the disability community and to the mission of the organization. This year, Kalamazoo Public Library received the Community Inclusion Award on July 23rd during Disability Network’s ADA Celebration. The Community Inclusion Award recognizes and celebrates the initiatives, policies, and practices of a community organization or business in Southwest Michigan that embraces disability and works to ensure inclusion for its employees, community, and customers.
Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL) received the Community Inclusion Award this year for their ongoing efforts to be welcoming to people with disabilities in the communities they serve. KPL has been working with Disability Network staff to ensure that they are accessible both in their physical presence and in their programming.
“Kalamazoo Public Library is honored to be recognized by Disability Network Southwest Michigan with the Community Inclusion Award,” said Kalamazoo Public Library Director Ryan Wieber. “We appreciate their guidance as we continuously work to improve our library spaces, services, and programming to meet the needs of everyone in our community.”
In the past year, KPL partnered with Disability Network to host a nationally known disability rights activist and author Judith Heumann in an online book discussion group. After attending Disability Network’s Ableism training, KPL produced a training video focused on ableism and being welcoming to people with disabilities which they now use when onboarding new employees.
Community Education Coordinator for Disability Network, Miranda Grunwell, said, “We love to see companies and organizations request our trainings so that they can provide more inclusive and accessible services to their customers, but the library went a step farther when they developed a training video for all of their staff. We can only hope other organizations will follow their example of inclusiveness.”
Founded in 1981 by a small group of disability advocates, Disability Network Southwest Michigan educates and connects people with disabilities to the community resources they need to live independently and advocates for social change. Disability Network’s advocacy work is focused on creating communities that value disability as human diversity, free of attitudinal barriers, where all people benefit with full access and inclusion. For more information about Disability Network or the ADA Celebration event visit www.dnswm.org.