PLA 2026 Conference Presentation
Drs. Abbas and Jung assisted by Azra Holland virtually presented "Inclusive maker spaces for youth with disabilities: Best practices for public libraries" at the Public Library Association (PLA) 2026 conference held in Minneapolis, MN. (April 1-3) The presentation is available at our Resources page.
ASIS&T 2025 Conference Presentation
Drs. Jung & Abbas presented a poster titled “Designs and Strategies of Public Library Makerspaces for Youth with Disabilities: Collective Case Study” at the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) conference held in Washington DC, USA. (November 14-18) Our short paper is available here https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pra2.1320
OLA 2025 Conference Presentation
The team, led by Dr. Munyao, presented "Inclusive maker spaces for youth with disabilities: Best practices for public libraries." during the 2025 Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) conference held in Norman, Oklahoma. (March 14-16)
Library Makerspaces Research Showcase 2025
On February, 28, 2025, the research team presented “Making is for Everyone: Lessons Learned from Library Makerspaces for Youth with Disabilities” at a library makerspaces research showcase. This showcase was part of the National Forum to Connect and Advance Library Makerspaces project, funded by an IMLS National Leadership Grant. It was led by the University of Illinois and the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab, in collaboration with the American Library Association, Nation of Makers Library Makerspaces Working Group, and Library Makers. The project aims to strengthen networks, leverage expertise, and chart future directions for advancing library makerspaces. Our presentation, among others, can be found at our Resources page.
ASIS&T 2024 Conference Presentation
Drs. Jung & Abbas presented a poster titled “Investigating strategies for inclusive public library makerspace for youth with disabilities.” at the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) conference held in Calgary, Canada. (October 25-29)
ALISE 2024 Conference Presentation
Drs. Jung & Munyao presented “Public library makerspaces and maker programming for youth with disabilities: Experiences of librarians ” at the Association for Library & Information Science Education (ALISE) conference held in Portland, OR. (October 14-17)
ISLS 2024 Conference Presentation
Dr. Jung represented the team by presenting “Supporting youth with disabilities in library makerspaces: Facilitators’ perspectives” at the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) hybrid symposia held in Buffalo, NY (June 10-14). The presentation was under the “Learning Environments Designed For and With Learners with Disabilities” hybrid symposia.
AERA 2024 Conference Presentation
Dr. Jung represented the team by presenting a poster titled “Disabilities empowering tinkering: Stories of learners with disabilities at library makerspaces” at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference held in Philadelphia, PA. (April 11-14)
OLA 2024 Conference Presentation
In the OLA (Oklahoma Library Association 2024 conference, which was held in Tulsa, OK. (March 6-8), Dr. Munyao led the team in making and presenting “The prevalence of public library makerspaces and maker programs for youth with disabilities” at the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) conference held in Tulsa, OK. (March 6-8)
ALISE 2023 Panel Presentation
Dr. Jung represented the team with a panel presentation entitled “The prevalence of public library makerspaces and maker programs for youth with disabilities” in the Disabilities in LIS SIG panel at the Association for Library & Information Science Education (ALISE) 2023 conference held in Milwaukee, WI (October 2-5).
OU SLIS receives an IMLS grant
A research team (PI: Dr. June Abbas, Co-PI: Dr. Yong Ju Jung) from the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma received an IMLS grant for a research project about the current state of programming, design, and accessibility of makerspace programs for youth with disabilities and developing inclusive makerspace principles.
https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/lg-252323-ols-22