Spooner Memorial Library Receives National Grant For Small And Rural Libraries

SPOONER, WI -- Spooner Memorial Library has been selected as one of 310 libraries to participate in round two 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 library purchase and install an outdoor book drop, increase holdings on the Bookmobile, and host a One Book, One Community read.

“We are thankful and proud to be chosen for this opportunity,” said Library Director Angie Bodzislaw. “This grant will allow our Library to get to know our residents with disabilities better. It will help us improve our services, providing better access and advocacy for community members with disabilities.”

As part of the grant, Library staff will take an online course in how to lead conversations, a skill vital to library work today. Staff will then host a community conversation centered around the book, “Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century” which is edited by Alice Wong but written by authors with real life experience.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to host another One Book, One Community event. The last one was in 2021. Bringing the community together through reading the same book can be a powerful, community-building experience. The grant will allow us to purchase multiple copies of the book to be added to our library system as well as providing free books for residents to pick up, read, and pass along. We plan to partner with residents with disabilities and organizations that serve those individuals as part of our community conversation.”

If you are interested in getting involved, taking part in the conversation, or sharing your story please contact Angie at director@spoonerlibrary.org or call 715-635-2792. The outdoor book drop has already been ordered, books for the bookmobile will be ordered soon, and the One Book, One Community event is anticipated to occur in Summer 2024.

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).”