Libraries are for everyone! For some people this feels very obvious and for others the library community feels like a space in which they don’t yet belong. In March 2024, Emily Carley, M.Ed. VTHQT Lic. Specialized Literacy Professional PK-12, Public Education Literacy Specialist and Founder, The Literacy Spark along with Nicole Westbom, Children & Youth Librarian Specialist, and Susan Whitehead, Academic Librarian & Dyslexic, noticed a gap between dyslexic cultural competency, the lived experiences of neurodiverse people and evidence-based literacy in public libraries. The Dyslexic Positive Libraries Initiative was founded to engage and support library workers with affordable, practical and ready-to-use resources to become skilled allies to the dyslexic community and turn their libraries into Literacy Hubs so all can learn to read.
