CURRENT POSITION Access Services Librarian, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, VA DEGREE MSLIS in Law Librarianship, Catholic University of America, 2019  FOLLOW @legitnowl; linkedin.com/in/bazarin; researchgate.net/profile/Babak-Zarin Photo by Stephen Gosling

Access Accelerator

Babak Zarin has expanded Access Services at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL) to include accessibility in all forms, developed and conducted an accessibility audit, and shared information and insight through presentations for other library systems and one-on-one conversations with library staff. The Deaf Culture Digital Library is the culmination of two years’ work reviewing and developing a program to meet the needs of the Deaf and hearing-impaired community, not just within CRRL, but throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Zarin says, “The Deaf Culture Digital Library is a resource well-needed for a marginalized community that deserves far more.”

CRRL is also one of only 97 libraries across the entire United States serving as a National Library Service Subregional Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. Zarin works to provide books, magazines, musical scores, and more that can be read aloud through the use of a no-cost machine and downloadable mobile app for library customers experiencing visual or physical impairment, whether temporary or permanent, as well as those with print disabilities. Library customers utilizing these services have access to over 100,000 titles, including Braille and foreign-language titles. Access Services also reaches customers who cannot visit the library owing to mobility, health, or transportation-related challenges.

As 2020 co-chair of CRRL’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Zarin works with a team of librarians from various backgrounds to increase understanding, improve services, and further establish CRRL’s library system as welcoming while ensuring that the library’s collections, resources, and programming serve the diversity and inclusion needs of the community. His dedication and knowledge provided CRRL with the structure necessary to ensure that materials could be accessible to everyone, including blind, homebound, and nursing home residents, as CRRL moved into virtual services during COVID.

CRRL Manager Ingrid Campbell says Zarin is “knowledgeable, relatable, informed, generous with his time and resources, and clearly possesses the ability to attract and lead teams toward a common goal and purpose.”