Special Needs and Inclusive Library Services (SNAILS)

The Illinois State Library (ISL) has received an IMLS  Leadership Grant to explore how libraries across the state can best serve people affected by autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The goal is to develop an action plan for libraries to increase autism awareness, education, and support services; establish sustainable partnerships; and improve access to information about autism. Some of our very own SNAILS members will be participating in the Targeting Autism forums this year. The exciting news is that everyone can participate in the project by taking the Targeting Autism survey .   According to ISL Associate Director Suzanne Schriar, "the purpose of the survey is to better understand your needs, priorities, and interests around ASD in order to guide the development and delivery of ASD information services by community libraries across the state. Please share the  survey  [which is available in English and Spanish]  with your patrons, friends and all I...

The Illinois Library Association's IREAD Committee wants to know how libraries can make summer reading inclusive to children of all abilities, and they've reached out to SNAILS for suggestions! Since you already have summer reading on the brain, won't you take a few minutes to submit your special needs or inclusive strategies to be considered for the  2016 IREAD Resource Guide ? Don't worry if you haven't tried out the idea yet. We are all still in the learning process! What we want to do is get in the habit of designing our programs with different abilities in mind before the reading club/program starts so that we don't have to make last minute accommodations. How would you design your summer reading club/program to be accessible to all? How could you apply universal design to the following components?  Registration and Recording  Programs and Events Inclusive Programming Strategies Crafts, Makerspaces & DIY Partnerships Decorations and Dis...

This guest post was written by Cate Loveday, Youth Services Associate at Helen Plum Memorial Library .  She will graduate in May, 2015 with her MLIS from Dominican University.  Cate recently attended the 2015 ALA Midwinter Conference in Chicago, Illinois and shares her takeaways from that learning experience.  Thank you, Cate, for sharing such a valuable message! We are Accessibility Advocates for all of our patrons.  Everyone who comes into the library should be able to have access to the materials and programs they need. I realize we understand this, but sometimes it can be challenging to put into the right words.  While I was at ALA Midwinter and attended the Leadership & ALSC meeting, I was able to hear Jenna Nemec-Loise from Everyday Advocacy speak about the benefits of using VBL (Value Based Language) when talking about the services we provide. The idea around VBL is that it shifts the focus away from the program and puts emphasis on th...