East Gippsland Shire Library Wins Disability Service Award

East Gippsland Shire Library’s dedication to creating opportunities for people with a disability has been recognised with a disability service award.

The library, which has supported eight local communities to access and implement communication resources, was presented with a Scope Community Partnership Award at the Telstra Dome on Friday, November 7.

The library has been a key partner in the Talking Visuals Project which has developed web based information sessions and provides online support for carers of people who have little or no speech.

Web based information enables the sharing of skills and knowledge and promotes support for people in their local community, and in turn, increases the opportunities for people with disabilities to be involved in the community.

The library was the first in Australia to make available to the community the communication software Boardmaker. This was the outcome of the Community Boardmaker Project.

This project enabled every library in the East Gippsland Shire to have the Boardmaker software, printers and laminators. Boardmaker includes a large library of pictographs and the tools and templates to create a wide range of communication aids, such as communication boards, visual schedules and prompt cards.

Scope Gippsland Coordinator Jenny Maffei said the projects supported the immediate and future needs of people with disabilities.

She said they also created further opportunities to increase community inclusion.

“The projects have created sustainable community partnerships and supported the sharing of knowledge, resources and skills that will continue to meet the needs of people with disabilities in the long term,’’ Ms Maffei said.

“The use of online training and support is relatively new and the library has displayed a high level of innovation in using this within its own service and has actively supported Scope’s learning in its use. East Gippsland Shire Library Community Information Coordinator Denece Sippo’s advocacy for the participation and inclusion for people with disabilities is highly valued.”