Developing the capacity of teacher-librarians to meet the diverse needs of all schoolchildren: Project ENABLE William N. Myhill 1 , Renee Franklin Hill 2 , Kristen Link 2 , Ruth V. Small 2 and Kelly Bunch 1 1 Burton Blatt Institute (BBI), Syracuse University, USA; 2 School of Information Studies (iSchool), Syracuse University, USA Key words: Inclusive education, digital media, library services, social model, disability. US school libraries are required to ensure that schoolchildren and school staff with disabilities have equal opportunity to use and benefit from library facilities and information services under federal law. However, evidence indicates teacher-librarians (TLs) often lack the training, knowledge and skills to provide programmes and services that meet the needs of students with disabilities. Project ENABLE (Expanding Nondiscriminatory Access by Librarians Everywhere) was created to respond to this short- fall by designing, implementing and evaluating a professional development programme in New York State. The project applies a social model of disabi- lity to help 100 TLs, special educators and general educators further develop their skills and resources by teaming together to create an inclusive envi- ronment for all students. This is achieved through the use of universal design principles, appropriate assistive and other technologies, an emphasis on person-first language and sensitivity simulations, a focus on inclusive lesson planning, and by deve- loping collaboration capacity among participant teams. Curriculum development, data collection and analyses are presented. The effect of the Project ENABLE trainings was significant in terms of higher levels of skill and knowledge reported by participants for creating accessible library programmes, advancing inclusive education and building effective collaborations. Drawing from their workshop learning and resources, participant teams developed action plans to implement during the 2011–2012 school year. This project under- scores the importance of TLs in the education of all students, including those with disabilities. Higher education and local professional development programmes must place greater emphasis on preparing TLs to perform this role effectively and confidently. Introduction The disability studies perspective utilises the social model of disability to explain disadvantages associated with having a disability (Shakespeare, 1996). In 1975, the Union of the Physically Impaired against Segregation, a UK disability rights organization, first articulated the social model of disability claiming: ‘In our view it is society which disables physically impaired people. Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society’ (UPIAS, 1975). Viewed through this model, such disadvantages are a product of negative attitudes and systematic discrimination (stigma) that result in barriers to information, education, employment, public services and the physical environment, among others. Disability itself is viewed as a social con- struct rather than an individual deficit, and people with disabilities are viewed as part of a minority group with a cultural identity (Oliver, 2004). The medical model of dis- ability, in contrast, looks at people with disabilities as having individual deficits that need to be fixed in order to fit into the existing environment and society (Shakespeare, 2002). In the USA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that students with disabilities must be integrated to the maximum extent appropriate in public schools. Each eligible student is entitled to an Individua- lized Education Plan (IEP) specifying how the school will meet the child’s educational needs at no cost to the family (Myhill, 2004). However, it utilises a medical model that relies on labelling students on the basis of disability to deliver services that best assist them to fit into and succeed in the existing school environment (Triano, 2000). This includes a continuum of services that may segregate students from the general population for specific activities or services and, under certain circumstances, for most or all of the school day (Murdick, Gartin and Crabtree, 2007). The school library, however, is a place where all students can have equal access to information and education. There is a common myth among many educators that only special educators (SEs) have the expertise or knowledge of Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs · Volume 12 · Number 4 · 2012 201–216 doi: 10.1111/j.1471-3802.2012.01240.x 201 © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs © 2012 NASEN. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA