The North Liberty Public Library is set to upgrade its art gallery following a $10,000 grant from the American Library Association as a part of its Libraries Transforming Communities program. 

The gallery has long been a place for local artists to showcase their work, but with this grant, it will become more accessible for disabled adults in Johnson County.

This is the fourth time the library has won this specific grant. Kellee Forkenbrock, North Liberty’s public services librarian, said the library previously received it in 2021, 2022, and 2024. With these grants, the library hosted a series of community panels, implemented hearing loops in their meeting rooms, and increased accessibility in their bathrooms.

Samantha Oakley, deputy director of the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office, said any library can win the grant multiple times as long as they are a small and rural library and are planning to complete a project in the focus area of the grant. These guidelines are not strict, and she said that it was intentionally designed that way.

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“As long as they are serving the community that we are looking for in these grants, then they’re pretty well positioned to make a good case for it,” Oakley said.

Oakley said the Libraries Transforming Communities grant is awarded to small and rural libraries to help them improve their services, facilities, and programs for people with disabilities.

She said the association has distributed $14 million in funding to small and rural libraries. This funding has gone to 836 sites across all 50 states and one U.S. territory.

Oakley said they make an effort to focus on small and rural libraries because of their importance to the communities they are in. She said for a lot of rural areas, the library is the only social service in town, but many contain accessibility issues. 

Oakley said the association wanted to support these establishments because they do not receive much funding elsewhere.

“These grants are important to allow them to do that, not just make those changes, but work with the people with disabilities in their community to decide what to prioritize, what is needed, and really get that lived experience in what they’re doing,” she said.

Nick Shimmin, adult services librarian in North Liberty, said small and rural libraries are important resources for the communities of small towns.

“Libraries bring together families, kids, really, anybody who is just wanting to gather,” he said.

Shimmin said grants like this have provided the library and the surrounding community with many opportunities, especially concerning the art gallery.

“The art space is incredibly cool, and we have people that stop by and look at all of the artwork,” he said.

Forkenbrock said the library wanted to provide space to people living with disabilities to create art. 

She said the library is collaborating with The Village Community and Goodwill Day Habilitation on this project. These are both organizations in Johnson County that focus on assisting adults living with disabilities.

“They may be volunteering to clean, or they may even just come and hang out and get online, read some books,” she said. “They always come every week, and they are just the most awesome groups, and we go out of our way to make them feel welcome every time they come into the space.”

Forkenbrock said accessibility has been an issue in the art gallery and that this grant will fix that. She said the gallery is difficult to maneuver, and the shelves are not easy to utilize because they are made of heavy glass plates.

“I thought that creating an arts program around their needs and accessibility needs, just to center their creativity, would be a great way to not only welcome them even further into the library space, but to also showcase their work in a new art gallery,” she said.

She said North Liberty’s repeated winning of the grant shows they are a leader among small libraries.

“North Liberty library in particular has been a great grantee, and really at the top as a library leader within the field,” Oakley said. “They’ve had several other grants with us as well that they’ve just knocked out of the park, so I’m glad that you’re featuring them.”