Pratt Institute

Education

MLS, Queens College, CUNY, 1990

Biography

Carrie’s extensive background in serving children with special needs began in high school and has included working with children with dyslexia, pediatric psychiatric diagnoses, histories of abuse, and craniofacial differences.  She has overseen BPL’s The Child’s Place for Children with Special Needs since 1997 and serves on numerous committees that include BPL’s Children’s Steering Committee, American Library Association’s (ALA) Odyssey Award Committee, and the Universal Access Community of Interest in ALA’s Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies.  She is the past chair of the Service to Special Population Children and their Caregivers Committee of ALA’s Children’s Services Division, the Schneider Family Book Award committee, and has helped draft national guidelines for serving people with disabilities in public libraries. In 2010, Ms. Banks was one of six New York City civil servants honored by the Fund for the City of New York with the prestigious Sloan Public Service Award for her outstanding efforts on behalf of children with special needs and their families, and in 2000, she received New York University’s Samuel and May Rudin Award for Community Service for her work with the disability community. Carrie obtained her Masters of Library Science from Queens College, and her Bachelors of Science in Development Psychology from Oberlin College.