In 1976, Alice Hagemeyer was a newly appointed staff person at the DC Public Library. As a deaf librarian, she quickly experienced culture shock and a rude awakening as she met and spoke with librarians.
Sulphur, Oklahoma, is a small town of approximately 5,000 people. Its library, Parker Memorial Library, is one out of eight branches in the Southern Oklahoma library system.
“ASL (American Sign Language) is becoming hugely popular for hearing people to learn,” says Alicia Deal, public services librarian at Dallas (Texas) Public Library. “As great as that is, I worry that it’ll end up being a passing fad.”
In May, ALA awarded its first Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant to the Milwaukee Public Library for Deaf Storyslam, a free community event, created in 2019, in which Deaf individuals of varying backgrounds share personal stories and experiences with the broader community.
