Turn Your Library Into a Dyslexic Positive Literacy Hub and Help Kids Learn to Read

***BEFORE YOU REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR PLEASE REVIEW IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION BELOW***

Across the country, library workers are pouring time, energy, and heart into connecting with reluctant readers. Despite these efforts, the national data reveals a growing literacy crisis:

• 28% of adults cannot read yet (PIAAC 2023)
• 32% of 12th graders don’t have basic reading skills (NCEP 2024) 

Libraries and library workers have the power to reverse this trend. Join the Dyslexic Positive Libraries Initiative (DPLI) for an empowering webinar led by literacy specialist Emily Carley, youth library specialist Nicole Westbom, and dyslexic academic librarian Susan Whitehead.

Transform your library into a literacy hub where kids are learning to read, including:

• Science of Reading in libraries
• The disconnect between literacy privilege and unmet literacy needs
• Building empowering, productive relationships with “reluctant readers”
• Aligning storytime and PK–YA programing with reading development phases
• Partnering with literacy specialists to build decodable book collections
• Removing barriers such as spelling bullying
• Disrupting generational cycles of literacy avoidance and shame
• Weeding discrimination and ineffective literacy methods (examples: leveled readers, sight words, Fountas & Pinnell)

The DPLI is grounded in literacy expertise, research, and dyslexic lived experience.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Articulate that reading is a complex cognitive process and that most children require explicit, systematic, Science of Reading (SOR)-aligned instruction to become proficient readers and writers;
• Identify two or more signs indicating a child needs your allyship;
• Implement a SOR-aligned literacy activity in their library (e.g. DPLI storytime or programming, setting up a decodable storywalk, adding SOR-aligned literacy handbooks, or building a decodable book collection for developing readers); and
• Use the DPLI’s weeding criteria to remove books with discredited literacy methods or dyslexic discrimination from their libraries (and replace them with effective literacy materials and neurodiversity-valuing books).

Who Should Attend

This webinar is intended for public library directors and trustees, literacy and reading advocates, youth and YA library service staff, adult library service staff, and MLIS faculty and students.

Panelists

With more than twenty years experience in public education, fifteen as a dedicated early elementary classroom educator in Vermont public schools, Emily Carley is a master educator PK–12. She's an Orton-Gillingham Classroom Educator & Associate Certified instructor skilled in structured linguistic literacy. Emily teaches graduate courses, supports fellow educators with joy, connection, and persistence so all can learn to read. She is founder of The Literacy Spark, LLC and a full-time public school district literacy specialist. Emily is a certified Educating Children Outdoors (ECO) educator and published author, trained in RULER (Brackett, Ph.D.) social/emotional intelligence, and is a neurodiversity and inclusion educator. Emily's instruction is scientifically-based, systematic, explicit, multisensory, and emotionally sound for all ages. She is an unwavering advocate for dignity and the right to read in education.

Emily enjoys seeking her own new experiences: watercolor painting, pruning untamable fruit trees, and finding world’s best coffee in little-known shops when travelling.

Nicole Westborn is a youth library specialist with thirteen years of experience in busy public library settings, including a year driving a bookmobile with Americorps. She has a master's degree in library science and a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, so she loves to talk science anytime. She has served on the board of the Vermont Library Association and the Golden Dome Award committee. Her ongoing summer program, Shakespeare Camp, is entering its twelfth year.

In her spare time, Nicole loves to create original crocheted pieces and play board games. She is an amateur musician and a Pokemon enthusiast.

Susan Whitehead, MLS, is the business, math, and technology liaison at the Community College of Vermont and the Vermont State Colleges System Libraries. Her professional interests include open educational resources, universal design, and educational equity. She is a cofounder of Dyslexic Positive Libraries Initiative, and in 2025 presented at the Vermont Library Association and the American Library Association conferences.

Outside of her professional work, Susan enjoys exercising, meditating, gardening, attending theater, reading, relaxing by fires, and solving New York Times puzzles.

Important Registration Information

Log into or create your ALA eLearning account

An ALA eLearning account is required to register. Don’t have an account? Create one for free by going to the “Log in” menu located at the top right corner of your screen. No membership is required to create the account. If you encounter any issues registering for this webinar, then please email ce@ala.org for assistance.

Redeem your signup code to complete your registration

Once you’ve registered for this webinar, a signup code will be added to your ALA eLearning account and emailed to you. Find the signup code on your signup code page, then redeem it on your account’s dashboard to complete your enrollment in this live webinar.

• Need to purchase registration on behalf of a colleague?
• Need to register a group of 3 or more?
• Need to register with a purchase order?

Review the ALA eLearning FAQ if you need more information.

Accommodations

This live webinar will be captioned in English (United States). Zoom desktop client or mobile app is required to access captions.

Attendees using screen readers are advised to turn off speech prior to joining the Zoom event because PLA webinars make extensive use of chat functionality. Attendees who find chat distracting may wish to disable it in the Zoom event, as PLA moderators will verbally highlight important topics raised in chat and chat transcripts will be provided post-webinar.

If you have a physical or communication need that may affect your participation in this webinar, please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752) at least two weeks prior to the webinar. Without prior notification of need, we may not be able to provide appropriate accommodations for the live event.

Archived Recording

If you're unable to attend this live webinar, an archived recording will be available to all registrants typically within 1–3 business of the live event. Access to closed captions will be provided in the webinar recording.

Tech Requirements

This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. Please review Zoom technical requirements and support information, and test your connection.

Once you've joined the webinar, there are two ways to connect your audio: via computer (VoIP) or via telephone. No microphone is required. PLA works with its webinar platform provider to assure the highest quality audio is being delivered to attendees. However, variables over which PLA has no control—such as the speed of your Internet connection or traffic on your local network—can affect the end quality of the webinar audio delivered by your computer. Each webinar’s audio is also available by telephone via a toll number, so we recommend you have access to a long-distance enabled phone as a backup in case you experience audio issues with VoIP. If you do encounter any problems during the webinar, you will receive a link to its archived recording within a week of the live event and can review anything you missed.

Contact

This webinar is presented by the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

Questions about this webinar? Please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752).