ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Seward County Community College Library and its staff do a lot of work every day to make sure the patrons who walk through the doors get taken care of.
Recently, the library received some grant money to help with just that, having been named one of 300 libraries picked to receive a $10,000 grant that will help the library improve key mobility accessibility areas within its facilities.
“We were selected in a competitive process to participate in round three of Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities, an American Library Association (ALA) initiative that provides community engagement and accessibility resources to small and rural libraries to help them better serve people with disabilities,” SCCC Library Director Casandra Norin said. “We'd applied for this grant in the fall of 2024, and we were notified we'd actually received it around the end of February, but we had to wait to make our announcement until the ALA's official announcement. We'd seen it promoted online, and it was also being promoted through the State of Kansas Libraries, who had sent out an email about the grant and opportunity. A lot of libraries in Kansas fall into that category of 'small libraries,' which is what this grant was for. We were just really pleased to hear about it and we ended up getting right on board with it.”
And since getting the official word about receiving the grant, Norin said there has been a lot of excitement.
“This brings not only monetary help, but also awareness to the library as a whole,” Norin said. “It puts us at a place where we can make some good changes in the library, and it's a project we're going to be working on for the next several months, so we're just really excited to be able to do this for our students and other patrons.”
However, there is some work that needs to be done before that first hammer swing, Norin said.
“The project is all about accessibility and making the library more accessible to people with mobility disabilities. When we wrote the grant, my idea was about that, but the grant can be used to help with any disabilities hidden or otherwise,” Norin said. “I thought of mobility disabilities because a few years ago, we got new carpet in the library, and we used that project to move the bookshelves around and expand the aisles to 48 inches, which makes it much, much easier for people to maneuver in and out and/or between the stacks. We had to take into consideration aspects such as whether or not people could turn around comfortably and get around the library easily. We did that, but we know there are still things we can do. Last summer, we remodeled the bathrooms so they're now single-use, which really opened up that space. My idea was continue on that work and use the money toward that. The grant says we can use the money for any disability, so something else we're going to do is talk with our students and others in the community, including those with disabilities, and get some ideas on what we can do to help improve the library and what we can use this grant money for. We're open to hearing any and all ideas, and we'll start those discussions in May.
If anyone has any ideas or thoughts about the project, they are encouraged to get in touch with Norin at
“We're really excited about the possibility of seeing more people in the library. Anyone and everyone is more than welcome to the library, and we are open to any and all suggestions about what we can do with this grant,” Norin said. “We're really excited to later on show off our progress and show people how everything is coming along. It's just an overall really exciting time for the library, and I can't wait for it all. We will have some community meetings where everyone will be welcome to share their thoughts, but if you're a little shy and maybe prefer a one-on-one meeting, come to the library and I'm more than happy to do that. This dialogue is open now, and it will remain open until all the final plans get put together. We really want everyone's input.”
With that all in mind, Norin said the timeline for the project is slightly fuzzy at the moment.
“The busiest time is obviously during the semesters when class is in session, but we'll also have to take into account the actual scope of the project, whatever that will be. If there ends up being actual construction, that will probably happen during a break when there aren't as many students around,” Norin said. “But if the project ends up being something shorter and easier, it might happen shortly before the semester starts. Again, it just depends on a few circumstances coming into play and what we'll actually be able to do. It's going to help us here at the library have a different mindset. Part of the grant also includes some training, and it was really interesting to go through that and learn everything we did. One of the statistics I heard was how 27 percent of U.S. adults report having some type of disability, and that's more than one-quarter of U.S. adults. Something I feel we really need do to in the library is remember that information and do everything we can to help our patrons as much as we can.”
Overall, Norin said, the project should end up being greatly beneficial to the SCCC Library.
“I would like to encourage anyone and everyone in Liberal to visit the SCCC Library, because we are open to everyone in the community, whether you're checking out a book or two or need one of our other resources,” Norin said. “It's a great place to be, and you don't have to be a student or affiliated with SCCC. We've also got some great things to look forward to in the future, especially next year. I definitely encourage everyone to follow us on social media, because we will definitely be talking up not only those events but also the other opportunities we'll have throughout the semesters.”
