Library welcomes disability rights speaker

ROSEBURG, Ore. – Roseburg Public Library invites the community to a virtual presentation by disability rights activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16.

Attendees may participate in person at the library or on the library’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/roseburglibrary. A Facebook account is not required.

Keelan-Chaffins joined the disability rights movement at age 6, and at age 8 she participated in the famous “Capitol Crawl” protest to support the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In 1990, she received the Americans with Disabilities Act Award from the Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities.

She also wrote the forward to her picture-book biography, “All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything,” written by Annette Bay Pimentel and illustrated by Nabi H. Ali.

Today, Keelan-Chaffins is an educator, motivational speaker and the proud owner of Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins LLC, established in May 2020. She teaches audiences about the importance of the ADA, the “Capitol Crawl” and the disability rights movement and its place in American history, with an emphasis on education, advocacy and empowerment.

This event is made possible by Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities, a grant initiative by the American Library Association in collaboration with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries.

Contact the library at 541-492-7051 or library@roseburgor.gov for more information.