named programs · 4 · from sources
What they call their work
Accessibility in Libraries: A Landscape Review
Comprehensive review of literature and best practices on disability inclusion in libraries, supporting the development of accessible services and programs.
Community Conversations Research
Study of how community dialogues help libraries identify and address accessibility barriers for older adults with disabilities, leading to more inclusive programming and facilities.
Evaluation of Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities
Research and evaluation of an American Library Association initiative to improve accessibility in small and rural libraries for people with disabilities and older adults.
Serving Patrons with Disabilities: Practitioner’s Guide
Development of a practical guide to help small and rural libraries improve accessibility for patrons with disabilities.
activities · 10 groups
What they do
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Financial Literacy Education Programs 2 activities
- Distributes financial literacy games and resources to public librariesDistributed Thinking Money for Kids resource kits containing five financial literacy games to 300 public libraries and made the games and educational materials available online as free digital and downloadable resources for use in youth financial education programs.
- Researches the use of games in libraries for youth financial literacy educationConducts research on how games can teach children about budgeting, saving, investing, and spending in library settings, including evaluation of the Thinking Money for Kids resource kits through analysis of library applications, reports, focus groups, and online conversations.
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Youth and Community Research Initiatives 1 activity
- Conducts interdisciplinary social science research to support community wellness and equityConducts research in psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, education, culture, health, media, and wellness to generate data-informed insights that advance individual and community wellness and a just society. All human-subjects research is submitted to a federally registered Institutional Review Board for oversight.
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Grief Support Groups and Counseling 1 activity
- Conducts research on childhood bereavement and supports children's museums in serving grieving familiesConducts research on bereavement support in children's museums through literature reviews and interviews with families and staff, publishes case studies and the ACM Trends Report series, co-publishes practical guides, and releases foundational and follow-up reports identifying actionable steps for supporting grieving children through play and community resources.
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Data & Technology Capacity Building 1 activity
- Develops digital tools and data resources to build capacity in children's museumsDeveloped the "Healing with Play" website to share tools for supporting bereaved visitors, created the ACM Trends Data Hub to enable museums to benchmark their data against field-wide averages, and provides data-informed insights using fieldwide datasets and impact reports to the Association of Children’s Museums.
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Nonprofit Sector Research & Data Analysis 1 activity
- Evaluates accessibility initiatives in small and rural libraries and disseminates best practicesConducts research and evaluation on accessibility in small and rural libraries, publishes reports, guides, and practical resources based on findings, produced a landscape review synthesizing literature and best practices, and developed a practitioner’s guide covering universal design, communication, and accessible environments.
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Library Staff Professional Development 1 activity
- Produces capacity-building content on disability inclusion for librariesDevelops and shares blog posts offering recommendations and strategies for disability inclusion in small and rural libraries to strengthen service to patrons with disabilities.
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Nonprofit Capacity Building Services 1 activity
- Provides capacity-building support to partner organizations through collaborative learningOffers capacity-building assistance to partner organizations by fostering listening, reflection, and collaborative learning to deepen their impacts and advance their missions.
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Annual Impact and Evaluation Reporting 1 activity
- Publishes evaluation reports and project summaries for partner initiativesReleases evaluation reports for projects such as Science Journeys (Year 3), STRIVE (Year 1), B-SEAL for Multilingual Learners (Cohort 3), and publishes summaries for initiatives like Law for Librarians (L4L) and the USDA Contingency Rule, often in collaboration with external partners.
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Open Research Infrastructure & Publishing 1 activity
- Shares research data and methodologies openly to promote transparency and reuseMakes anonymized raw research data available to external researchers in alignment with National Science Digital Library principles, shares quantitative data via public read-only Google documents with personally identifiable information removed, provides access to data collection protocols and analysis methods within six months of publication, and archives both raw and analyzed data for at least three years after project completion.
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Uncategorized 4 activities
- Conducts collaborative research to improve representation in children’s mediaGenerated strategies to improve the representation of Black communities in children’s climate media through collaboration with multi-sector partners, contributing to more equitable and inclusive media content.
- Conducts research on trust dynamics between leaders and staff in cultural organizationsGenerates actionable insights on leader-staff trust through literature reviews, news analysis, interviews with museum professionals, and surveys of non-managerial staff in nonprofit arts, culture, and leisure sectors. Publishes strategies focused on integrity, benevolence, and sincerity to resolve workplace conflicts.
- Facilitates community conversations on difficult topics to bridge social dividesFacilitates and researches productive, respectful discussions on challenging topics to support institutions in becoming more responsive to community needs and to build age-friendly, inclusive libraries. Develops and shares facilitation methods grounded in research.
- Researches community conversations to improve institutional responsiveness to older adults with disabilitiesConducts research on how community conversations help institutions better respond to the needs of older adults with disabilities, including case studies on aligning library programs with older adults' preferences and evaluating dialogue programs through interviews and survey analysis.
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$1.92M
Contributions & grants$132K7%
Program service revenue$1.44M75%
Investment income$16K1%
Other revenue$333K
expenses
Total expenses$1.60M
Program expenses58%
Admin / overhead30%
Fundraising12%
Salaries & benefits$1.18M
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$1.33M
Cash$633K
Investments$0
Liabilities$477K
Net assets$850K
Liquid reserves4.8 mo
3 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue +33.4%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 4
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHRISTINE REICH | FORMER CEO | 40 | $224K |
| JOHN VOIKLIS | EMPLOYEE | 40 | $111K |
| JENA BARCHAS LICHTENSTEIN | EMPLOYEE | 40 | $104K |
| JOANNA LAURSEN BRUCKER | INTERIM CEO & COO | 37 | $94K |
board members · 8
- ANTOINETTE LA BELLE — CURRENT CHAIR
- BERT DAVIS — TRUSTEE
- CAROLYN GRAY — VICE CHAIR
- DIEDERIK TIMMER — TRUSTEE
- JACK SANDERSON — TRUSTEE
- JENNA HAYES — SECRETARY
- LISA KAMM — TRUSTEE
- TOM GRAHAM — TREASURER
relationships · 22
Who they work with
- American Alliance of Museums Partner — Partners on research related to organizational trust in museums, with findings published in Museum magazine.
- American Anthropological Association Network — Adheres to the ethics code of the American Anthropological Association.
- American Evaluation Association Network — Adheres to the ethics code of the American Evaluation Association.
- American Library Association Partner — Collaborated to document the impacts of community conversations on challenging topics at rural libraries.
- American Library Association Partner — Collaborated with KNOLOGY LTD on the Thinking Money for Kids initiative, including co-developing resource kits and supporting library programming.
- American Library Association Partner — Collaborated with the American Library Association by analyzing reports from libraries participating in the Libraries Transforming Communities initiative.
- American Library Association Partner — Collaborates on the Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC) project to evaluate community engagement strategies in libraries.
- American Library Association Partner — Collaborates with ALA as researchers and evaluators for the Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities initiative.
- American Library Association Partner — Partnered with ALA as evaluators for the Libraries as Leaders in Bridging Divides project under the Libraries Transforming Communities initiative.
- American Psychological Association Network — Adheres to the ethics code of the American Psychological Association.
- Association of Children's Museums Partner — Collaborates on publishing the ACM Trends series, providing research guidance on supporting bereaved children in museum settings.
- Association of Children's Museums Partner — Collaborates on research, evaluation, and publication initiatives including the ACM Trends Report series and the ACM Trends Data Hub.
- Association of Children’s Museums Partner — Collaborated on developing strategies for building and repairing leader-staff trust in museums.
- Association of Children’s Museums Partner — Collaborates on publications related to child resilience and museum-based learning.
- Association of Children’s Museums Partner — Provides data-informed insights on emerging trends through fieldwide datasets and impact reports.
- Association of Science and Technology Centers Partner — Collaborated on developing strategies for building and repairing leader-staff trust in museums.
- DonEMoore Consulting Partner — Collaborated on publishing survey results for the USDA Contingency Rule.
- FINRA Foundation Partner — Partnered with KNOLOGY LTD and the American Library Association on the Thinking Money for Kids project to expand financial education in public libraries.
- Ford Foundation Funder — Funded the Libraries as Leaders in Bridging Divides project, which KNOLOGY evaluated in partnership with the American Library Association.
- Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources Funder — Provided grant funding to support the Cultures of Trust project.
- National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation Partner — Collaborated with NCDD as part of the American Library Association’s Libraries as Leaders in Bridging Divides project, which KNOLOGY evaluated.
- PBS News Partner — Collaborated on research to establish new journalistic standards for presenting data to the public.
strategies · 5
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Collaborative Learning and Critical Friend Approachmethodology: critical_friend_approachBy using listening, reflection, and constructive feedback as a "critical friend," we support partner organizations to improve effectiveness, because sustained, trust-based collaboration fosters deeper learning and adaptive growth.
- Experiential Trust in Complex Adaptive Systemsmethodology: experiential-trust-complex-adaptive-systemsBy applying Experiential Trust and Complex Adaptive Systems frameworks, we understand how small-scale interactions build organizational trust over time, because trust emerges iteratively through repeated, meaningful engagement within dynamic systems.
- Participatory Co-Design for Equity and Inclusionmethodology: nothing-about-us-without-usBy involving marginalized communities—such as disabled patrons and older adults with disabilities—in the design and implementation of programs, we produce more effective and responsive outcomes, because direct participation ensures services reflect lived experience and build authentic ownership.
- Research-to-Action Partnership Modelmethodology: research-to-action partnership modelBy partnering with on-the-ground organizations and grounding research in their needs, we produce actionable insights that drive real-world change, because research informed by practice is more relevant, adoptable, and scalable.
- Research-to-Practice Translation for Field-Wide Impactmethodology: research-to-practice translationBy translating research into practical tools and guidance, we improve institutional outcomes across sectors, because shared learning enables broader adoption and systemic improvement in areas like museum sustainability and library accessibility.