We share the quotes above as a way to point towards where our minds are as we draw this year to close, both reflecting back and thinking ahead. All of you, the humans who run and work at the libraries across our state, are the people that we at DLD are always thinking about and working to serve, support, and uplift. We do that as we, too, are ultimately working to enrich the lives, resources, and access to the many communities that we collectively live in, work with, and care for. It feels especially right this year to exclaim that “it’s been quite the year,” for it has; 2023 has been marked by high notes and challenges, tensions and bright spots, and, always, change. We continue to believe in libraries and all that they stand for, and so, the work goes on.

Across the state and nationally, the work of DLD continues to be recognized. DLD was honored that the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) extended our Transformation for Libraries: The Futures School (TFSX) project for an additional two years to explore a new goal of “Reframing Library Organizations: Implementing Strategic Foresight Tools to Create Future Ready Library Operating Systems” with TFSX’s Natural Foresight Think Tank platform. DLD’s Digital Navigator Pilot Project (2021-2022), also supported with ARPA funds from the IMLS, resulted in an IMLS National Leadership Grants for Libraries (FY2023) to develop a replicable model for regional sharing of digital navigation services to underserved residents in collaboration with eight Connecticut public libraries from Hamden, New Haven, Bridgeport, West Haven, Woodbridge, Wallingford, Derby, and Naugatuck. This model framework will directly inform the rollout of the Digital Equity Act and related activities across the state. On all fronts, DLD never stops exploring and opening doors to new partnerships, new opportunities, and new ideas – all with our “North Star” of helping CT libraries enhance their ability to deliver high-quality library services to their communities.

Yet in the wake of all the positive work libraries do, our profession is coming under fire. Coordinated book challenges leave librarians fighting for intellectual freedom even as they are threatened with arrest, loss of their jobs, and more. We can push back on these disruptors and attempts to curtail the fundamental right for individuals to decide what they and their families want to read by coming together as a profession to support our fellow librarians. Our hope for 2024 is that the CT library community continues to come together to lift each other up when we are faced with external forces intent on infringing the rights of CT residents. As the above quotes express, may we all uplift those in our community with compassionate empathy, simply by letting them know we have their back.

With that, I wish you all the happiest of holidays!

Dawn La Valle

Director, Division of Library Development

Towards Integrating Social Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (SJDEIA) 

DLD Diversity Plan

With the start of the new LSTA Plan, DLD got right to work on one activity towards its new goal: creating and sharing its first DLD Diversity Plan. As described, “the CT State Library Division of Library Development (DLD) acknowledges that past and present inequities exclude many people, including Black people, indigenous people, people of color (BIPOC), individuals with accessibility needs, and many other people with marginalized identities, from the wide range of benefits provided by libraries.” With this living document, “our goals are designed to effect change in the knowledge, behaviors, and actions of the Connecticut library workforce and ourselves, resulting in better outcomes for all residents.” 

Transforming Libraries and Museums: Collaboration for Accessibility with Perkins Access

Beginning in 2022, the CT State Library connected with Perkins Access, a division of Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts, America's oldest school for the blind and visually impaired founded in 1829, with a mission to help make the world more accessible to people with disabilities. In summer 2023, we together conducted a pilot program with 13 Connecticut institutions, with input from the CT Office of the Arts (COA) in Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and CT Humanities, that included four public libraries, four art museums/galleries, three historical museums, a children’s museum, and an aquarium based on input from the CT Office of the Arts (COA) in Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and CT Humanities.

The pilot objective was to teach participants how to write effective descriptions of images and objects for museum/library tours and digital assets. The process began with a survey of the institutions on their existing capacity, followed by a virtual meeting to review survey results and share further feedback and discussion. On September 27, 2023, the pilot culminated in a full-day hybrid workshop, led by Perkins Access staff, where the participants learned not just how to write descriptions, but also what to think about when writing or speaking image descriptions. 

Growing Equitable Library Services (GELS)

Growing Equitable Library Services (GELS) had quite the year, not the least of which was launching the new GELS LibGuide! We built out the emphasis on trauma-informed services and over the year offered six sessions of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, four for youth and two for adult, with our partner Hartford HealthCare. We are proud to say that 119 library staff members earned their three-year MHFA certification! In December, we turned towards data for equity, welcoming back DataHaven to share their 2023 Connecticut Town Equity Reports. This year, we also delivered a number of GELS series.

GELS | ADA and Beyond

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990, with additional amendments in 2009. This landmark civil rights law prohibits discrimination based on disability and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations, including libraries. Within the library world, immediate thoughts that may come to mind with regards to ADA tend to revolve around ramps, elevators, and spacing between bookshelves to accommodate wheelchairs. However, making sure that library spaces, programs, and services are accessible requires more than compliance.

From February through May, GELS had its first thematic mini-series called ADA and Beyond, created to ensure that libraries are aware of and planning to support accessibility holistically. We had sessions on accessible programs, the basics of disability and accommodations in libraries, as well as digital accessibility and accessible documents. The series culminated in an assistive technology petting zoo at the Middletown Library Service Center (MLSC) with partners from across the state including the CT Tech Act Project, the New England Assistive Technology Center (NEAT), the State Education Resource Center (SERC), and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Eastern CT.

GELS | Building Capacity for Community Led Libraries

In February and March, Dr. Audrey Barbakoff, CEO of Co/Lab Capacity, delivered Building Capacity for Community Led Libraries, a four-part interactive series where libraries learned how to apply the fundamentals of community-led planning. The evidence-based strategies covered three types of change – inspirational, transformational, and operational – with real-world scenarios to understand the necessary shifts in mindset, culture, and structures to equitably center community, regardless of a library’s size, type, or readiness. Community-led planning helps increase equity, creativity, and engagement in library programs and services.

GELS | CT Libraries and the LGBTQ+ Community

In the late spring months, Rebecca Degnan, founder, owner, and manager of Prism Counseling and Support, LLC., designed a program with library needs in mind. CT Libraries and the LGBTQ+ Community worked to educate the CT library community about LGBTQ+ identities, the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth and adults, and how libraries can best support and affirm LGBTQ+ individuals as patrons and employees in the library setting.

Digital Inclusion in CT Libraries

Through CT Libraries & Partners for Digital Equity (CTLPDE), the CT State Library continued to publicize programming and discussion space for public libraries looking for a way to increase their involvement in digital inclusion work. CTLPDE brought together public librarians with practitioners from the AmeriCorps VISTA programs for digital literacy, with Digital Coordinators from a large provider of services to people with disabilities, and with “The Undivided Project,” which carries out projects to increase climate resilience in underserved communities via digital solutions.

Overall, CTLPDE focused on providing resources and best practices regarding library-community partnerships to implement digital navigation programs, offering several DLD professional development workshops. DLD worked with the CT Education Network (CEN) to develop the second stage of a funding effort to enhance internal connections, essential for broadening digital inclusion work, with libraries who had received Fiber to the Library grants between 2016-2023. To help libraries contribute in a deeper way to CT State planning for the Digital Equity Act, in May CTLPDE hosted a presentation on models for free device distribution in a state or town.

Connecticut State Libraries: A Statistical Profile

With each year comes the latest Connecticut Public Libraries: A Statistical Profile based on your CT Public Library Annual Reports. Armed with the data, we are able to note the trends and map out our strategies for the year ahead. The data is in and FY2023’s report is coming soon. As always, we offered sessions on how to complete the report and we will share lots of support once its published, from new visualizations to resources and trainings all in the service of showing and growing your library’s services and impact on your communities.

Creative Aging in CT Libraries

Toward the end of last year, the CT State Library connected with Lifetime Arts and the CT Office of the Arts (COA), and a partnership was born – Creative Aging in CT Libraries. Following a spring information session open to all CT public libraries, 25 public libraries submitted applications and 10 were selected to participate in this pilot program. Over the summer, library project leads received hands-on training and support from Lifetime Arts to assess community needs for older adults around arts and creativity. Libraries then worked with COA to identify local teaching artists within a library’s region who met the community’s interests. With support from Lifetime Arts, libraries were able to hire local teaching artists trained in the Lifetime Arts Creative Aging work to design and lead their local program.

This fall, all ten libraries ran eight-week programs, each of which concluded with a public-facing culminating event. From the community needs assessment to the early participant feedback, feelings were strong and positive in that the program contributed to learning (or revisiting) artistic skills, to overcoming social isolation, and to connecting with community. At the October DLD/CLC Open House, one library shared that they already have interest from a local funder to explore supporting the program beyond the pilot!

Professional Development and Continuing Education

We are always finding new ways to learn together, and this year was no different as reflected on the robust Professional Development and Continuing Education LibGuide. In January 2023, we conducted an annual survey to assess the training needs of CT libraries and inform our work. We offered 102 virtual, and 14 in-person workshops on a variety of topics with over 2,500 registrations. We continue to offer self-paced tutorials for all library staff through the CT State Library Niche Academy, seeing over 6,000 views of 350 different tutorials. We continue to support a subscription to Northstar Digital Literacy for 50 public libraries and their branches. In the fall, we began an 8-part Augmented and Virtual Reality series with more coming in 2024. What else? Here are some stand outs.

In preparation for the October 2023 Annular Eclipse and the April 2024 Solar Eclipse, DLD hosted a special one-day, in-person event at the Middletown Library Service Center (MLSC) with facilitators from Space Science Institute to talk about and demonstrate Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries (SEAL). SEAL Kits are available for CT libraries to borrow and contain all the materials and gadgets one needs for solar eclipse programming.

In 2023, we launched Pathways to Leadership, a subset of the Leading from the Future series, with Andrew Sanderbeck. The series kicked off with two in-person workshops and followed-up with virtual sessions geared specifically towards middle managers and supervisors. On the Professional Development and Continuing Education Leading From The Future LibGuide page, a section for Pathways to Leadership highlights both live and self-paced training opportunities for all library staff interested in furthering their leadership goals.

The Giant Room came to CT libraries! In fall 2023, DLD partnered with The Giant Room for a three-part series of professional learning workshops on innovative new ways to engage children and family in our communities. The series culminated with a large in-person event at the Killingly Public Library facilitated by The Giant Room demonstrating all the creative approaches and enriching programs. All workshop attendees joined ongoing monthly meetups with The Giant Room, and five lucky libraries were chosen as pilots to receive direct facilitation training with The Giant Room for community engagement programming at their libraries.

Those are some of the highlights, and there is so much more. Like you, we never stop learning!

Libraries Without Borders

In collaboration with Libraries Without Borders (LWB), DLD oversaw a pilot project with six CT libraries, modeled on other LWB initiatives and customized for CT. Each library shaped their initiative with LWB around their target communities’ needs and how those needs intersect with the library’s goals and capacity. Projects began with community data collecting that, in turn, informed the project development and the implementation that is currently underway. We look forward to sharing more in 2024!

Connecticut Library for Accessible Books

In January 2023, the CT State Library announced that the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH) changed its name to the CT Library for Accessible Books (CTLAB), complete with fresh branding and updated promotional materials designed with accessibility in mind.

After nearly a year of outreach and laying the groundwork, CTLAB announced its partnership with nine public libraries across the state to create a CTLAB hub library system – Bristol Public Library, Darien Library, Danbury Public Library, Killingly Public Library, Otis Library in Norwich, Simsbury Public Library, Slater Library in Jewett City, Stratford Public Library, and the Weston Public Library. CTLAB hubs are regional access points for CTLAB services complete with a display featuring CTLAB equipment and promotional materials.

What’s in store for 2024? Here are just a few sneak peeks.

More on accessibility and creatively aging. CTLAB sees more outreach and growing partnerships on its horizon, including more with Perkins Access. Creative Aging in CT Libraries seeks to build from the pilot year. The ADA and Beyond series, originally housed within GELS, spins off to bring libraries more professional development, more resources, and more opportunities.

More digital inclusion. In 2024, CTLPDE will continue to provide a space for discussion for libraries attempting to prepare community projects that will advance the overall effort to close the digital divide.

More resource sharing. The eGO CT program will expand, no doubt, sharing the Palace Project app with more academic libraries and the Community Share Program with more school libraries, thus working towards increasing overall digital circulation.

More communications. We are always looking to enrich DLD communications from our monthly newsletters and Weekly Wrap-ups to social media and our LibGuides. More accessibility? Yes. Enhanced design? Yes. Boosted infographics? Yes.