I left a comment on April's thread regarding the agenda for the upcoming SRRT meeting basically saying all this, but I think that these thoughts need to be shared more widely here as an actual post to generate some conversation on the matter.
So, I missed the deadline to provide some feedback on the agenda for the upcoming SRRT meeting, but I'd really like to see ableism be a focus of an upcoming meeting to discuss a more formal resolution to condemn disability discrimination in the library workforce. Disability discrimination is a very real and serious problem in libraries, especially right now with COVID-19 going on. I'm the founder of Librarians Unite for Equal Rights: facebook.com/librariansunite and librariansunite.org. Through this grassroots coalition, I've been working tirelessly on addressing ableism and discrimination that's rampant in libraries across the U.S. I even recently added several librarians and library workers to the Librarians Unite advisory team and almost all of them are disabled in some capacity. We are all disability rights activist and we are committed to addressing social justice related issues in libraries.
For example, Kayla L Martin-Grant, the librarian and Continuing Education Coordinator at the Mississippi Library Commission is doing a presentation on disability in libraries for the upcoming Urban Librarians Unite conference. She is consulting my team of experts to ensure her presentation touches on all the right issues that need to be addressed. I'm also really happy to announce that Kayla is a new admin to the LUFER team. I met her through her interest in participating in the Normalize Disclosure campaign I have going on. So, I'd really like to attend an upcoming meeting to enable us as a library community to more formally take action to make a serious commitment to combating disability discrimination in libraries.
I've spoken to countless librarians and library workers who have gone through this. Many of these victims have had their ADA accommodations outright denied unlawfully or have been fired for issues related their medical conditions, when in actuality they should have received intermittent FMLA, continuous FMLA, or some form of ADA accommodations (perhaps even extended leave as an ADA accommodation) to help them manage their symptoms that may interfere with their ability to do their job. In addition to SRRT formally addressing disability discrimination in libraries, I believe it's time that ALA and SRRT take a stand against mold in libraries. I recently had to quit my full time librarian job with the City of Mesa in Arizona at Mesa Public Library, Red Mountain Library branch because of an ongoing mold problem that they refused to properly address.
Also, I had every intentions of attending the SRRT meeting during the MWM but I ended up having to prepare for this presentation for a job interview (which unfortunately, I did not get). However, I am the admin of the current SRRT Facebook group (appointed by Diedre Conkling, longtime SRRT member as I'm sure you all know). This is my first attempt at really contributing to SRRT and I look forward to working alongside all of you to make the world a more ethical, humane, and kind place. If you would like to discuss these issues with me, you may contact me by phone at 630-745-7990 or reach me by email at sarah.prokop@librariansunite.org. Thank you so much.
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Sarah Prokop
Executive Director and Founder
Librarians Unite for Equal Rights
sarah.prokop@librariansunite.orgCell: 630-745-7990
She/Her pronouns
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