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We are proud to announce that Dawn Wlezien, volunteer and accessibility specialist, has been awarded the 2024 Alexander J. Skrzypek Award for Exceptional Service to People with Disabilities. 

Dawn has been on staff since 2007 and has worked tirelessly to increase accessibility for people with disabilities. When asked how her position came to be, Dawn remembers Carolyn Anthony, former library director, saying that she was someone who could be the “voice for the people who don’t have one.”

Rifath Khan, founder, president, and CEO of the Douglas Center, said, “Dawn has always been consistently involving our program to discuss our participants’ needs and wants.” The Douglas Center is one of the community partnerships that is central to Dawn’s work. “She has been an exceptional partner of and advocate for the Douglas Center throughout the years,” added Omar Khan, Douglas Center’s director of health and wellness. Dawn has coordinated events and programs for participants from the following organizations:

• Jewish Council of Family Services
• Keshet
• Orchard Village
• Shore Community Services
• High School District 219

The participants have developed skills, friendships, and a sense of belonging at the library.

The Let’s Get Together Book Club provides a safe environment where participants interact with individuals from several organizations. Volunteer book club leader Joanne Kempf said, “Regardless of their reading ability, all members of the book club take a turn reading, comment on what is being read, or just listen. Everyone is a part of the club!”

Dawn has also developed a successful vocational volunteer program. The young adults in this program build job skills while washing toys, keeping stations stocked with sharpened pencils, delivering books to homebound patrons, and other tasks. Dawn watches with delight as participants grow. “Everyone is committed to learning new things and takes pride in their accomplishments. The littlest things feel big to them. When they are happy, it makes me happy.” Dawn has been told more than once that a participant’s vocational volunteer experience at the library is what prepared them for a job in the community. Several participants have also become library employees. 

Dawn has seen many changes at the library over the years. “Everyone is learning how to make things more accessible. Staff are more invested, aware of what needs to be done, and doing it. Patrons are woven into our daily functions as a library. Staff are comfortable rather than afraid to interact in events and spaces. It’s not just my job.”

However, Dawn often initiates conversations that lead to greater inclusion of patrons with disabilities. As a result, agency participants engage in activities in the Teen Room during its less busy hours. Each month, patrons from multiple agencies can watch a movie, along with the general public. This year, adult participants with disabilities were able to participate in summer reading and earn a t-shirt. These activities increase participants’ integration into the community and benefit everyone.

While working with people who have developmental and intellectual disabilities holds a special place in Dawn’s heart, she is committed to making the library a place for people of all abilities. She staffs a Low Vision Support Group, facilitated by Friedman Place. She advocated for an adult changing table and played a large role in a recent Disabilities Town Hall. She is already working with colleagues to plan for next year’s 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

With her long-term commitment to people with disabilities, it is hard to imagine anyone more deserving of this Illinois Library Association award than Dawn. This honor comes on the heels of the library being named Shore Community Services’ Community Partner of the Year in June, largely due to their work with Dawn. In fact, the day after Dawn receives the ILA award in October, she will be presenting her knowledge in a workshop along with a partner from Shore.

Dawn’s passion for this work flows from love for her late son, James, who had a developmental disability. Dawn says James was the person who gave her a voice and whose memory inspires her to keep using that voice for people with disabilities. Dawn ensures that when we say “Everyone is welcome,” we include people of all abilities.