Special Needs and Inclusive Library Services (SNAILS)

What if I told you that some of the most amazing people who visit our libraries are also the most underserved patrons? Warren-Newport Public Library is trying to change that by developing programs for children and adults with special needs. On October 19, 2016 Adult Services Librarian Amy Longwell and I presented a session entitled "Special Needs/Special Programming: Engaging Children & Adults with Special Needs" at the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference . Here are highlights of our presentation: Librarians at Warren-Newport Public Library have developed and presented programs for children and adults with special needs. Programs for children and their families include sensory storytimes, sensory playtimes and sensory movie matinees. These are welcoming and sensory inviting programs that engage children with music, stories, STEAM activities, crafts, movies and more. Special Mondays in the Library (SMILE) is for adults with intellectual/developmental dis...

Our very own SNAILS group members Renee Grassi from Glen Ellyn Public Library and Sue Parsons from Plainfield Public Library presented an engaging program at the 2016 Reaching Forward Conference . This annual conference, hosted by Illinois Library Association, is a premier day of learning designed for library support staff. An audience of 40+ attentively learned a combination of theory and practice. Click here to download Sue's Sensory Storytime Favorites handout, which includes themes, books, songs, albums, and activities she has used in her program.  And don't miss this extremely useful resource list of articles, books, and websites on the topic of serving children with disabilities. If you're as captivated by Sue's approach as we are, don't miss her demo of Sensory Storytime from one of our previous SNAILS meetings.  You can find the video here ! What are some of your favorite resources for Sensory Storytime? Share them below in the comments!!

Since SNAILS began in 2013, we have hosted a variety of knowledgeable guest speakers to provide training and learning for our members.  What makes the SNAILS networking group unique is that we go the extra mile to record parts of our meeting and share them online to provide opportunities for professional development to those that can't be with us in person.  You don't have to be a youth services librarian to learn something from these presentations--library staff from any type of library serving any age group can learn from these guest speakers.  Whether you weren't able to make the trip to one of our Illinois library meeting locations, or you're from out of state and want to see what you can apply to your own library community, we have something for everyone! Here's a short list of links to videos featuring guest presenters: Giant Steps : Music therapist Kylie Kirksey from Giant Steps shares tips for using music in library programs to engage children on t...

This has become my mantra. Connecting positively with patrons brings libraries into their hearts, and when we touch hearts, we succeed. This is especially true for families with children who are not typical. No other group has shown as much gratitude to me for connecting with them as sensory storytime patrons.   Connecting with Barbara Klipper, Veronica (Schwartz) Defazio, Renee Grassi, Holly Jin and a host of others online has also been the answer for me in acquiring the models and courage I needed to offer a sensory storytime program at the Plainfield Public Library.  Perhaps some of the following sensory storytime practices that I use will suit your program. SIGN whenever it’s easy and clear – for example, hello and friends – because visuals help children comprehend, and it’s beautiful, like a dance. ( Italics = a word that I sign)   SING! It holds children’s attention better than simple speech. Here’s my Hello song to the tune, “Goodnight Ladies:” ...

Sensory Storytime Presentations The fall meeting of SNAILS featured Sensory Storytime presentations by Renee Grassi of Glencoe Public Library and Sue Parsons of Plainfield Public Library. Renee and Sue covered: the what and why of Sensory Storytime three different models of Sensory Storytime what we can learn from offering Sensory Storytime Because Sensory Storytime is a relatively easy way to accommodate children with special needs at your library, we recorded the presentation for you! In addition to the main presentation, Sue demonstrated a mini Sensory Storytime including her welcome comments, the use of her little bird, Pájaro, songs, crafts, and games. A video of her demo will be included in Sue's upcoming post, so be sure to subscribe to the blog in order to receive an alert when it is posted! Sensory Storytime Ideas from the Group After the formal presentation and demonstration, we used the group sharing time to talk about our favorite Sensory Storyt...

If you want to begin developing a Sensory Storytime program at your library, start here at the ALSC Blog.  In fact, that's where I started.  When I first started developing Sensory Storytime at the Deerfield Public Library, I began with researching what models already existed at other libraries around the county.  At the time, there weren't that many other librarians who had been leading special needs storytimes and writing about their experiences in library literature.  Thankfully, I managed to connect myself with two pioneers in our field.  The first blog post I remember reading was Tricia Bohanon Twarogowski's Programming for Children with Special Needs .  She put together an amazingly comprehensive programming model and wrote about her experiences in a five-part blog series.  Tricia later shared her experiences developing programming for older children in  Going Beyond Sensory Storytime: Sensory School-age Programming.   Then, there was...