Between Fences was a phenomenal success

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While the Between Fences exhibit at Princeton Public Library was a phenomenal success as gauged by record general attendance numbers for programs and tours, the story that most resonates with me took place during one of the programs with the lowest turnout. The event, called “Beyond Fences: A Conversation about Disabilities, Inclusion and Empowerment,” was designed to highlight metaphorical fences and obstacles that handicapped and otherwise physically disabled people deal with on a day-to-day basis. It was a panel discussion in front of a group of only 40 audience members in which the conversation focused primarily on discrimination and various social coping mechanisms that had allowed for the speakers to achieve as close a sense of normalcy as possible throughout their lives.

The impact of this group on the audience was enormous. I know that I was not alone in feeling the tremendous sense of humility (and my own pettiness when thinking of the so aptly named daily “struggles” that I concern myself with) that they portrayed; incredibly, their stories revolved around triumph instead of sorrow, gratitude instead of thanklessness, optimism over pessimism. This single event embodied the philosophy behind the Between Fences exhibit: It was an exposition of the figurative fences that we put up to separate ourselves from others who may be different, while others try to break these same fences down in order to alleviate and overcome that same difference.

Questions from the audience toward the end of the program were easy enough for the panelists; The why, what and how-style reflective of an outsider learning about something brand new constituted the majority of what was asked. The answers inevitably came back to the same point: The disabled are not so different from the able-bodied; the physical differences on the surface inappropriately lead most to believe that the fences and obstacles faced are much larger than what was actually true. One of the most important themes of the Between Fences exhibit was precisely this: It is by analyzing and discussing the fences and hurdles in our daily social, religious, physical, emotional, philosophical and epistemological attitudes toward one another that we realize that they are not nearly as foreboding and impossible to overcome as they might seem.

The “Beyond Fences: A Conversation about Disabilities, Inclusion and Empowerment” program showcased an incredible leap forward for our organization. In August of 2007, Princeton Public Library re-opened its doors to the public in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility that replaced a building that had been in operation since 1913. One of the major, underlying reasons that the old building had to be replaced was due to not meeting the standards and compliance set out by the American Disabilities Act. It was a result of the new facility that we could even host the Between Fences exhibit; this sort of project certainly would not have been able to take place in the old building.

As the director of the library, I was in a tremendously fortunate position during the programs over the course of the exhibit. More often than not, audience participants would approach me in order to comment about the event and share their feelings with me regarding how much they appreciated the fact that the library held discussions like this one. I received one comment in particular after this specific program that I will never, ever forget. A young man with a disability came up to me when it was over, and I asked him if he had enjoyed the program. As he removed his right arm from one of his crutches and extended it to me to shake, he told me that this was the very first event he had ever attended at Princeton Public Library. I asked him why, and he said:

“I couldn’t get into the old building. There were too many stairs outside, and there really wasn’t anything that I needed inside. But I wanted to come tonight. There was finally something that I needed here. Are you doing anything like this in the future?”

If we have accomplished anything by bringing Between Fences to the people in our community, it is this: We broke down barriers that deny us freedom, be it physical, spiritual or otherwise. If we did it for only this one individual, so be it. By that account alone, we were phenomenally successful.

To this gentleman’s question: Yes. Yes. Unabashedly, unhesitatingly, without reserve, yes. We did this today. Imagine what we’ll do tomorrow.

Grant C. Lynch, director of the Princeton Public Library

Princeton