Special Needs and Inclusive Library Services (SNAILS)

There's going to be a whole lot of learning going on this week at at the 2018 Illinois Library Association Conference  in Peoria, Illinois, and this year's theme "Libraries: All Inclusive" includes many programs of interest to our SNAILS community. There is so much to explore from the Diversity and Special Populations conference track in relation to serving patrons with disabilities: from assistive technology to accessible catalogs, databases to employment, programs to physical space, and ideas for volunteerism. With many other inclusive sessions offered concurrently, it's going to be challenging to decide which programs to attend! Here's a little preview in hopes it may help you prioritize in advance... Tuesday, October 9 Sensory Friendly: Including Patrons with Autism Spectrum Disorder into the Library One in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). How do you make sure these patrons, including ASD adults are welcome in your l...

Looking to learn about outreach and serving patrons inclusively and accessibly at this year's state library conference?  Join other public, school, academic, and special libraries at this year's conference " A Library State of Mind " where we will connect, network and learn together about serving ALL of our community members. Getting Started with Outreach In Your Community  Thursday, October 22 at 10:45 am This interactive class will provide a background in cultural competence and outreach skills as librarians make outreach efforts to underserved and minority populations in their communities. The goal of this course is to offer concrete ideas to enable librarians to initiate outreach programs with minority communities. Topics to be covered include resources for locating community demographics, the importance of developing relationships, the basics of building and developing community-based partnerships, recognition and acceptance of cultural differences,...