Jenny chats with The Labs' own Allie Genia about how they make library programs more accessible, navigating an invisible disability, and dream projects they'd love to do with The Labs.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
labs, people, 3d printers, library, disability, laughing, excited, pandemic, tactile, fabrication lab, absolutely, sewing, hear, learning, piece, dc, turkeys, reasonable accommodation, programs, accessible
SPEAKERS
Allie Genia, Jenny C
Jenny C
You're listening to the DC Public Library Podcast, recorded from The Labs recording studio in the historic modernized Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in downtown Washington, DC. I'm Jenny and welcome to "Access This," our series on disability culture and community brought to you by the Center for Accessibility at DCPL. My guest today is Alexandria Genia, a Library Associate at the DC Public Library's Creative Labs, housed here at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. When they're not crocheting cats or wrestling 3D printers, they like to help kids learn how to build robots. Welcome to the show today, Allie.
Allie Genia
Thank you. I'm really excited to be here.
Jenny C
I'm very excited to talk with you today. And to be clear, you don't crochet onto live cats.
Allie Genia
[Both laughing] No, I have a cat who has taught me that that is not the way, no/
Jenny C
You crochet very sweet little- what is the name for that type of crochet art?
Allie Genia
Oh, yeah. So commonly referred to as amigurumi. Usually like, oh, very round, cute little things. So The Labs is rife with little round cats.
Jenny C
Yeah, if you come into The Labs here, and you see some little, little fun friends, that's the handiwork of Allie right here. So yeah, thanks for chatting with me today. Can you tell me and our listeners a little bit about your background and how you came to work in libraries?
Allie Genia
Yeah, absolutely. It's been- first of all, I guess I should say it's been kind of a long and weird, winding road.
Jenny C
Which I should say, it often is-
Allie Genia
Yeah.
Jenny C
-for people in the library field, often we come to it from many places. So that's great.
Allie Genia
Yeah, okay. Yeah, I've been able to sort of, like learn that. And it's been really, it's been nice.
Jenny C
Yeah.
Allie Genia
It's reassuring. But yeah, um, gosh. So I've always had actually a really deep interest in history, like, you know, telling stories, learning, you know, learning about people, places and things. And that actually took me to a Bachelor's in History from the University of Michigan. So I was convinced that I was going to work in museums right away, and I'm just gonna, you know, be a curator of dusty, old things. And then, you know, shortly I found myself in a factory for a while. So, you know, things didn't quite work out the way I thought. But one thing that sort of stuck with me, up until 2017, when I joined DC Public Library, was that I really liked helping other people more. There's something really magic about the moment of like, [snaps fingers] understanding, you know, and it's especially special when it comes from a kid. That's one of my favorite things. So yeah, prior, prior to moving, I used to work at a children's Science Center. So it was a lot of that. And libraries seem to be sort of a natural fit when my husband and I moved to DC.
Jenny C
That's great. Yeah, it's like you had all this different experience and an interest in your personal life, too. And they all kind of came together. And now you get to make cool things and be creative and teach people things here at the library. So that's great. And like me, you're a member of the disability community too. Can you speak to what it's like navigating your life either personally, or professionally, as someone with an invisible disability?
Allie Genia
Yeah, absolutely. So when it comes to my disability, I have type two diabetes. And that has come with a whole host of challenges that I'm still learning about, sort of every day. So, I was first diagnosed back in 2015. And it wasn't necessarily a surprise, because, like many of these things, you know, there's a significant family history of diabetes. And so I grew up knowing that this was something that I was probably going to have to sort of adapt to as I got older. So, you know, like I said, you know, everyday is sort of a learning process and how, you know, how that's- how I navigate that here, I should say, is that, like, you know, I found that it's best to sort of speak up when I need something. And so thankfully, it doesn't happen very frequently. But, you know, my coworker, I've been very open with my coworkers about what symptoms may look like, you know, um, you know, where to find something in an emergency. And, you know, usually I'm the snack person in my department too [Jenny laughs].
Jenny C
That's a great role to fill. For practical and,
Allie Genia
Instant popularity.
Jenny C
Yeah, instant friends [Both laughing].
Allie Genia
But yeah, so, you know, like, it's, like I've said too if I haven't already, it's, everybody's been really kind about it. And, you know, it may mean that like, certain things with my body or the way that I have to, you know, sort of interface with medications may add a, an unexpected element to my day. But for the most part, I found that, you know, everybody here has been extremely accommodating. And that's, you know, that's been huge. And it's nice to be able to say, I have a disability and I do this job. Like, yeah.
Jenny C
Yeah. And you do it well.
Allie Genia
I'd like to I think so.
Jenny C
Yeah. Yeah and I think it's great to hear about people living with a disability, or a chronic illness, or what have you, you know, able to navigate the life that they want to lead, and to be open- as open about it as they're comfortable with, or as open about as they need to be. And to show that, like, we're in the world, we exist, we're great members of society. We just have some additional needs, right?
Allie Genia
Yes, absolutely.
Jenny C
Yeah. And everyone has an additional need at some point, so.
Allie Genia
Yes, oh my gosh.
Jenny C
Yeah. Well, that's great. And you also, you work here in The Labs, which we're recording in The Labs. So we're like, this is like, very meta, like, we're, we're in The Labs talking about The Labs, talking to a team member of The Labs. And that is, we're in the Studio Lab right now, which is our podcast recording space, which is great. And can you give, uh a general overview for those who aren't familiar? I know, things have changed. We reopened our building about a year ago. But of course, with the pandemic, there have been some adjustments to what we've been able to do safely. We're here recording with masks on of course. So what is what's going on in The Labs right now? Can you let everyone know what the different areas are, and what all people can expect, if they were to come for a visit?
Allie Genia
I would absolutely love to. So The Labs comprises a couple of different- is comprised of a couple of different things. So of course, we have the Studio Lab that we're recording in right now. That is one of the things that you can do here. In the future we'll also have access to like editing spaces, and some of like the Adobe Creative Cloud stuff that makes editing those things a lot easier. Now, I've heard tell there is supposed to be a green screen in here at some point as well. But part of you know, part of the challenge of the ongoing pandemic, is that getting new equipment that we are hoping for has, you know, symied some of those things.
Jenny C
Yeah.
Allie Genia
But, that is one thing we can do here in the future. And also housed here is the Memory Lab, which is a personal archiving space. That's probably like, secretly my favorite because, you know-
Jenny C
[Laughing] Uh oh, this isn't a secret podcast.
Allie Genia
Oh no! Don't tell my 3D printers I said that.
Jenny C
Oh, they're, they're in the other room, it's okay [Laughing].
Allie Genia
But yeah, um, gosh. When it comes to the Memory Lab, that one's really cool just because we have a bunch of, like, sort of older technologies in there. You know, we have several different types of like VHS decks. And we have the ability to like, scan negatives and slides. So it really like brings a new life to some of these old pieces of media that people haven't seen sometimes in decades. And that's, that's pretty special. That's really cool.
Jenny C
Yeah, that's really special and so many things, like, I know, the VHS tapes of me from childhood, I think so many of them are lost, because they wore out, the tape stopped working or, you know, we just didn't keep track of them. But this way people can convert them and share them with their families. And they get to do it for free at the library.
Allie Genia
Exactly. And oh, man, I can't tell you like that's one of the biggest and best pieces of feedback that we get is that like, people can't believe that it's free.
Jenny C
Yeah.
Allie Genia
That's the best news I get to deliver.
Jenny C
Yeah! [Laughing]
Allie Genia
All day, it's my favorite.
Jenny C
Not only do we have all this awesome equipment, but you don't have to pay us any money.
Allie Genia
Yeah! Oh my gosh, and that's the case too for the Fabrication Lab, which is sort of like the the biggest and flashiest piece right now- I say turning to look at it, like...
Jenny C
[Both laughing] It can hear you for sure.
Allie Genia
Yeah, so the Fabrication Lab is sort of the third, third piece of our Creative Labs. And in there, we focus on three emerging technologies. So, I sort of joked about our 3D printers, but we have three of those that we try to teach classes on. We also have laser cutters and sewing machines. Although of course, the pandemic has stymied our ability to get the classes on those ones rolling. So in terms of what is actually open for right now for the public, we have the Podcasting Studio that you're sort of hearing us in now. We have our Memory Lab, and then we have our 3D printers. We do also have some virtual classes still, although with the upcoming holidays, they're taking a break for right now. But they are basic introductions via Zoom to 3D printing and to sewing.
Jenny C
Oh cool.
Allie Genia
So we talk a bit about the technologies and about what you would need to know in order to get started here.
Jenny C
Very cool. So even if you don't know anything about using those types of machines, you could come to the class and get familiar.
Allie Genia
Exactly, yeah.
Jenny C
Very cool. Now you're someone who sews as well too, right? What sorts of- in your, in your dreams, what sorts of sewing projects would you do programming around? Like...
Allie Genia
That is such a good question [Jenny laughs] .
Jenny C
Wildest scenario like, obviously, we can't get huge groups of people in here right now to do ssewingclasses, but like if there was like a collaborative something, what would you do? Dream big!
Allie Genia
I can't even- oh, this is so funny that you're asking me this because genuinely, just earlier today, I was starting to think about what we might do for MLK week or Black History Month, and/or Black History Month. And a couple of years ago, I had the really amazing ability to go to this quilting workshop, which focused on like, kids and teens being able to sort of tell their stories in quilt block format. So these kids had like a 12 by 12 inch square. And they were able to, you know, sort of talk about whatever was most important to them by cutting out pieces of fabric and pasting them on. And the coolest part was that after that, they were sent off to volunteer quilters who would put them together, embroider them, and they would send back this really beautiful completed quilt full of these kids' stories.
Jenny C
Wow.
Allie Genia
Um, yes, I....Okay, off the top of my head, the name is the Social Justice Sewing Guild, and I gotta tell you, like, in terms of like, my dream program, it would be hosting one of those workshops here and having quilts to display telling people's stories.
Jenny C
That sounds amazing. And that totally ties into like our, you know, our People's Archive department where they collect local histories. And that could be an awesome, like, like engaging the whole library staff, like multiple floors of the library working on this project. So that's exciting, I like that. I always like to ask people what you know what they're excited about. Because I think sometimes, you know, we're thinking about, "Oh, I wish I could do this right now," but the pandemic, w got to be careful, we got to be safe, you know. Which is very, so important but it's nice to also think ahead and think, "Okay, what's something I could get excited about doing down the line?"
Allie Genia
Absolutely.
Jenny C
So something else that you're- oh wait, was there something else?
Allie Genia
Yeah, there is actually one more really cool project. But it's not one of mine, it's one of my co workers-
Jenny C
Oh, cool.
Allie Genia
-who has graciously allowed me to help out with it. But Molly, he's actually acquired some of the internal funding that we have, that we offer to people, to start making take home sewing projects-
Jenny C
Oh!
Allie Genia
-like take home first time craft kits. And I'm so excited about that. Because we want to get the sewing stuff out to people. And this is one way to do it for people who are still uncomfortable.
Jenny C
So do those require a sewing machine? Or is it hand stitching?
Allie Genia
It's hand stitching only. And the beautiful thing about it is that you know, normally like things like needles like or you know, thimbles, they can be tough to give out because you're not going to get them back.
Jenny C
Right.
Allie Genia
But the whole point of the funding is that we can give people these things, they don't require a machine. And then later after the materials are purchased, we're actually going to film videos, with tutorials on how to do these things.
Jenny C
Oh, cool.
Allie Genia
Yeah.
Jenny C
I love that. Yeah, it's a great way to reach people where they are, for right now. So that's great. And for those who, you know, maybe otherwise wouldn't be able to come to a library program.
Allie Genia
Absolutely.
Jenny C
That's great. Something else that you're really interested in, which speaks to you know, what I do is making Labs programs more accessible, and welcoming to all users. What is- so what does that process been like? What does that look like? What sort of modifications or adaptations have you been able to include?
Allie Genia
Yeah, so it sort of started when we first started offering virtual programs, because we were able to connect with the Center for Accessibility, to start offering ASL interpretation for all of our virtual programs. And of course, we love Zoom's ability to caption things, like that automatic captioning is, I can't explain it, but it's like, far and away better than a lot of the other platforms?
Jenny C
It's gotten really good. I feel like over the last year, it started out being kind of okay, and now more recently when we've done programs, I've noticed how accurate it is even with multiple speakers, so that's great. Yeah.
Allie Genia
Yeah, we, we love that around here. But yeah. Um, so like, another big part of it, of course, was sort of in step with like the rest of the library in terms of like, making sure that our videos that we were producing, were captioned properly, and not just left to sort of that auto generated caption stuff. And, you know, in the past, and now, what we're kind of doing, like to try and make this space more accessible, is offering one on one appointments. Now previously, that was sort of like a specialty thing we would do it for, like families with children or people who were unable to make it in, or people who did need a reasonable accommodation, like an ASL interpreter or something else. But now, that's sort of been the rule de regueur and that's been really great, because making things accessible means like, adjusting sort of my own teaching style to what folks are telling me either verbally or non-verbally, that they need, so.
Jenny C
Yeah. Yeah, and it can be really different, depending on the individual, even if some people with the same disability can have different needs. So offering them a one on one option is great. Yeah.
Allie Genia
Yeah. You know, and it's been really great. Because, you know, personally, maybe a little selfishly like, diabetes is, of course, one of the comorbidities that can really impact how COVID affects you if and when you get it. So it's not only safer for our patrons, but it's safer for me and safer for my co-workers too.
Jenny C
Yeah. Yeah, it's important. We always want to keep everyone safe, and keep them engaged in learning and make sure that people know that the library really is for everyone, so.
Allie Genia
Absolutely.
Jenny C
And of course, if anyone ever needs an additional reasonable accommodation, they can contact us at the Center for Accessibility, I will plug our email at the end. So what are you, you mentioned the the sewing kits that Molly came up with, and sort of your dream projects. But what are, what are you most excited about that you have coming up that's in the works right now?
Allie Genia
Oh, man. Okay. So there is some stuff that we have coming up that I cannot yet talk about-
Jenny C
Oh no! [Laughing]
Allie Genia
-which I'm very excited about,
Jenny C
That's okay, well stay tuned, stay tuned.
Allie Genia
Yeah, keep an eye out!
Jenny C
Yeah.
Allie Genia
But um, I know, one of the things that I am actually really excited about is that we are going to start opening up the 3D printers more widely.
Jenny C
Great!
Allie Genia
So currently, it's super duper limited, and we only have one machine available during the week. But we are looking at adding more time slots, especially with the expanded hours of a library now. And it looks like we're going to open up a second machine. And it may not seem like a lot, but I'm really excited about that because one of the things that we've gotten pretty consistent feedback about is that our users miss the sense of community that they got when they ever- whenever they would come into The Labs. And so not only was that really gratifying to hear, but you know, I'm eager to sort of like help build that in this new space.
Jenny C
That's great. Speaking of the 3D printers, you've also been printing some things in Braille on those, snf experimenting with Braille type, right? What kind of things have you been printing out?
Allie Genia
So mostly, what I've been printing on that front is stuff that's useful in The Labs. So you know, a lot of our stuff is like, tactile but like it's not really well labeled for people who are blind or print disabled. So a lot of it is just that- so it'll be like "3D printer," and then we name our 3D printers, so you know which one you're using. So "3D printer, Jughead," "3D printer, Veronica."
Jenny C
I see [laughing]
Allie Genia
Yeah, yep.
Jenny C
I see.
Allie Genia
That show was really popular when we got them [both laughing]. But yeah, so stuff like that.
Jenny C
That's great, yeah. And you also recently made a tactile logo for the library, which was very cool. And also a tactile map, right? What was the tactile map of again?
Allie Genia
Yeah, so the tactile map was actually the Grand Canyon. So this was one of the things that like, I've actually never been. And so you know, it was one of those things where it's like, it's a little piece of it. Quite literally.
Jenny C
Yeah. Yeah, that was very cool. We had that out on our table at the Mayor's Disability Expo that happened here a few weeks ago, and everyone wanted to touch it.
Allie Genia
Yeah, perfect! It's fulfilled its mission.
Jenny C
Yeah, yeah. And the tactile logos are very cool. I have one on my desk, too. So well, anything else you want to add? Or, you're also I will say, on a personal note, you're finishing grad school, very soon, you're going to be eligible to be a librarian in a matter of weeks. So congratulations!
Allie Genia
Thank you. I am- with you know, with a lot of, a lot of love- I am very ready to be done.
Jenny C
Of course!
Allie Genia
But you know, that's, that's actually been another place where I've been lucky to have a lot of really accommodating professors too. So, you know, one of the things that I sort of tried to stick to, in terms of like, what I do here at the library and elsewhere is that when you make things accessible, it makes it better for everybody, not just people-
Jenny C
Absolutely. Yeah.
Allie Genia
Yeah. And that's absolutely been true in grad school. Like, and it's been nice to sort of like, be on the receiving end of that kind of care.
Jenny C
Yeah.
Allie Genia
So yeah, but yeah, still very ready to be done. My goal is to play Stardew Valley after I finish until my eyeballs fall out, so.
Jenny C
That's a great goal [Both laughing]. We love that for you. Congratulations. Anything else that you want to add today?
Allie Genia
No, um mostly just that if you, you know if you're ever curious and you want to come by MLK and take a look at The Labs, please do not hesitate. We would love to show you around and tell you about our services. And if you do have any appointments that you want to make or any technologies that you want to learn, please let us know. Call, drop by, email us, and we will be happy to help you get it set up. We will happy, we will be really happy to help you actually use this space.
Jenny C
Great, and what is the email address for those who don't know?
Allie Genia
So that's going to be Labs.DCPL@dc.gov
Jenny C
That's Labs.DCPL@dc.gov and that will be typed out in our transcript.
Allie Genia
Yes.
Jenny C
You can also find all that info and details about what kind of appointments you can make by going to our website and it is under..."Services"? Is that correct?
Allie Genia
Yep, should be under "Services."
Jenny C
Services, The Labs at DCPL. Well, thank you so much Allie. This has been great, I'm excited. I've never 3D printed anything actually. So I'm excited to try something out. I think it would- you're printing turkeys today I heard?
Allie Genia
[Jenny laughs] Yep, we are printing little turkeys.
Jenny C
Now are they turkeys like with feathers, or like a little Thanksgiving turkey?
Allie Genia
No no, these turkeys still have their feathers. And they have two little feet. They are extremely cute.
Jenny C
Aww, I have to, I'll have to go see. They're happy little turkeys here at the library. We love it [Allie laughs]. Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today.
Allie Genia
Thank you!
Jenny C
You just listened to "Access This" on the DC Public Library Podcast recorded from The Labs recording studio in the historic modernized Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in downtown Washington, DC. You can reach out to the Center for Accessibility at DCPL by emailing DCPLaccess@dc.gov. Everyone stay safe, and stay accessible.