Library operations manager champions accessibility

Jennifer Shipley is passionate about providing accessible library materials, resources, and services for all Miami-Dade County residents. As a library operations manager for the Miami-Dade Public Library System, she oversees ten of the Library’s 50 branches. She specializes in assisting populations with disabilities through her oversight of Special Services, which include the Braille and Talking Books Library, Connections Home Library Service and Storytime Express.

The Library’s Talking Books and Connections services offer patrons free delivery of materials with two-way postage and book recommendations that match their reading interests. Connections provide library materials, including regular and large print books, DVDs and audiobooks by mail to those unable to visit a library due to illness, disability, caregiving, or age-related frailty. Braille and Talking Books loans audio and Braille books as well as magazines, along with a player, free to those with blindness or visual, physical or reading disabilities. Storytime Express aims to foster literacy early by providing storytime kits for caregivers, parents, preschools and childcare organizations.

Both Storytime Express and Connections have garnered recognition for excellence and innovation in service delivery and enhancing community engagement, each earning a NACo Achievement Award in 2022.

“By providing materials and equipment in various accessible formats to people at home and with diverse abilities, we help bridge the gap to the outside world for those who find accessing traditional resources challenging,” said Shipley. “Through these inclusive resources and programs, we aim to alleviate isolation and enhance literacy and engagement opportunities within our community.”

Shipley also played a vital role in the successful launch of another NACo Award-winning service in 2021: Libraries @Your Door, which allows patrons to have library materials mailed directly to their homes at no charge. Books, DVDs and other items can be ordered through the Library catalog or by calling any library location.

One of Shipley’s other passions is planning events for people with disabilities. From launching the Living with Low Vision Seminar in partnership with the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in 2019 to collaborating with the Miami Lighthouse and the Miami-Dade Community Action Agency to organize three inclusive outdoor StoryWalk™ events, Shipley continues to innovate to provide accessible programming that benefits the community.

The programs have been recognized with NACo Awards in the past and in April 2024, Shipley won the Reference and User Services Association’s 2024 Emerging Technology Section Best Emerging Technology Application Award for her outstanding work in spearheading the interactive programs. The award recognizes individuals or groups who develop or significantly modify original technology for novel uses that benefit library users.

The Storywalk™ events combined Braille and QR codes, allowing participants to use their phones to hear narrated stories and activities. At the seminars, a tactile-friendly, multi-sensory POP-UP art exhibition designed for individuals with low vision encouraged touching the art and hearing descriptions through QR codes.

“It was important to me to create more library programs that were fully inclusive of families with children and older adults who have disabilities,” said Shipley. “The wonderful thing about these programs is that anyone can enjoy the activities and they raise awareness about accessibility.”

The awarded $3,000 cash prize will be used to fund additional inclusive library programming for the community.