Upcoming Events
Please join ISCI 752: Diversity in Libraries and the iSchool's Accessibility Leadership Lab Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. EST for a lecture with Jane Garner, Ph.D.
Jane Garner is an associate professor with the School of Information & Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University, Australia. She researches the roles of reading, libraries and information in closed, restricted, and marginalised communities, including people living in prisons and people experiencing homelessness and other forms of poverty and disadvantage.
Garner is also interested in the impact of user behaviours on the wellbeing of library workers. Her current research projects include a study of the modes of delivery of social work practice in public libraries, a study of the attitudes of prison staff toward prisoner learning and reading, and a study of how prison libraries and reading can mitigate the harms of incarceration.
About the Accessibility Leadership Lab
The School of Information Science at the University of South Carolina established the Accessibility Leadership Lab (ALL) to conduct research, provide resources, and plan programming related to protecting access to information people need. Areas and issues of interest include:
- Universal Access and Universal Design
- Access for people with different abilities
- Digital Divide
- Freedom to Read
- Information Access Policies
- Electronic, web and mobile accessibility
- Preservice and Continuing Education
- Skills development and job training
Vision
To be recognized nationally and internationally as the place that works with librarians, other educators, people with accessibility needs, families, and communities to advocate for accessibility and solve accessibility problems.
Mission
We work together with librarians, other educators, individuals with accessibility challenges and their families and communities to equip them with the knowledge and skills required to identify barriers to information access and accessibility and to remove these barriers. We serve as an educational and research lab that empowers learners to become accessibility leaders through innovative teaching, groundbreaking research, and transformative service and advocacy. We offer resources and professional development opportunities focused on Universal Design, Universal Design for Learning, and accessibility.
A Resource Guide for Equitable Access to Information for Blind, Visually Impaired,
and Print Disabled Students
An online resource guide containing print and digital materials, tools, and resources that can be used by individuals or organizations to prepare librarians, and other library staff, and faculty/instructors to serve BVIPD students.