BC Library Association (BCLA)

This presentation was given at a staff training conference for about 75 staff from a public library system in the BC interior. The system includes 13 branches and one mobile library in cities and towns that range from the very small to a city of over 90,000.  The presentation was intended as an introduction to the concept and value of intellectual freedom as well as to issues currently being discussed around IF in the library community and the communities served by the system. Slides detailed procedures specifc to the system for handling challenges to materials or programs have been removed from this file.

This PowerPoint is from the Youth Services Institute 2017.

Presentation on survey of attitudes towards print and ebooks by Engineering and Environmental Studies students at Seattle University

Prendergast, T. (2015). Inclusive early literacy. In C. Rankin & A. Brock (Eds.), Library services from birth to five: Delivering the best start (pp. 183-197). London, UK: Facet.
This chapter is from a book- it's our hope that you'll read this chapter and then go read the whole book.

In this essay, Christopher Kliewer, Douglas Biklen, and Amy J. Petersen unravel the construct of intellectual disability that has dominated both policy and practice in schools and communities. The authors synthesize data from first-person narratives, family accounts, and participatory inquiry to propose a theory of human connectedness in which intellectual competence is constructed through social action and interaction. The authors trace the isolating, brutalizing, and dehumanizing consequences of the presumed “nothingness” associated with those labeled as having an intellectual disability and, by way of contrast, integrate written and video data that offer counterpoints to the notion of intellect as immutable and individual. The authors discuss the development of supports in valued arenas where the right to belong and to participate is realized without question; the provision of resources and materials based on affirmation, actualization, and empowerment; and the fostering of surrounding communities comprised of committed individuals who have stepped apart from deficit ideology and who are open to self-critique, surprise, and learning. The authors propose that in these contexts is found the end of intellectual disability.

This article is both an ethnographic and an action-based description of how excellent early childhood teachers in seven inclusive preschool and kindergarten classrooms fostered the developing literacy profiles of young children with significant developmental disabilities alongside their typically developing peers through active, engaging, social means. I have developed four broad themes, described here as currents, that support the meaning-based literacylearning of children still commonly cast as intrinsically incapable of literate citizenship, using participant observation; in-depth interviews with teachers, therapists, and parents; the implementation of increasingly responsive, systematic literacy-based themes, opportunities, and activities into certain inclusive classrooms; and the development of process-oriented portfolio documentation. Important findings irtclude the following: (a) children with significant developmental disabilities can join the early childhood literacy flow; (b) they do so through interactive mearts; and (c) spoken language need not serve as the foundation of written language learning.

Through a critical interpretivist frame, the authors use ethnography and archives to examine themes associated with society’s ongoing denial of literate citizenship for people with perceived intellectual disabilities. They link this denial to the experiences of other devalued and marginalized groups to challenge the common perception that citizenship in the literate community is an organic impossibility for people defined as intellectually disabled. The authors present four themes of literate disconnection and, in the conclusion, ponder the moral shift necessary to craft a science of literacy for all.

This qualitative study explores children’s librarianship and early literacy in the lives of children with disabilities. Informed by critical disability theory, underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological development theory, this project was constructed as an interpretive case study. Eleven children’s librarians working in western Canada were asked about providing early literacy resources for children with disabilities in their libraries, and fourteen parents of young children with disabilities living in the same region were asked about their children’s experiences in public libraries. Scans of twenty ALA-accredited institutions’ course offerings and other professional development training opportunities related to early literacy and disability topics provided additional context. Librarians commented on the relative rarity of children with disabilities at their libraries, while parents were seen to be reluctant to approach librarians to discuss their children’s needs. The parent interviews revealed a broad range of experiences, as some families found their libraries accommodating and others’ experiences were less positive. Even with the very small sample size, the study’s findings support a rationale for more responsive, inclusive early literacy experiences for, and research about, young children with disabilities in public libraries today.
Prendergast, T. (2016). Seeking early literacy for all: An investigation of children’s librarians and parents of young children with disabilities’ experiences at the public library. Library Trends, 65(1), 65-91.