Wonderful library and community. Run two regular programs for children with special needs each week, teen night and the other is open to all ages and is a changing theme. One example is the Kitchen Skills program which runs over a seven period. This program is detailed in the Programming for children and teens with autism spectrum disorder book by Barbara Klipper. They also schedule a range of other programs for children with special needs such as 'Sensory movies' , Summer Reading Program, my fun place junior, art with Karyn, Special needs Carnival. There is a very large range of programs. Parent infirmation nights on topucal issues.The children and their families have a lot of input into the programs. The library have a very close relationship with the children and families and will respond accordingly.
The library also has a large and up-to-date collection of resources on special needs. They also have a lending toy collection for children with special needs and a kit collection of popular titles in book and audio book. This enables children with special needs to listen to the stories of the popular novels at the time and therefore able to be part of the popukar culture of their peers; for example Harry Potter. Listening to the story also assists in the reading comprehension of the book. The special needs collection also anumber of very useful fkyers: 'apps fir autism' , signs of autism, social story to visit the library etc. To create a sensory friendly movie session the library will have low lighting, lower sound and the door will be open. The library clearly communicate to parents that the provrams are not intended to be therapy and are not run by professionals in the area of special education. The library does contract people to run some programs, as well as using librarians from the library. Volunteers will be used to assist with the running of the program. Absolutely beautiful library - amazing architecture.
The children's section of the main public library is not large, however, they do have on display the original Winnie the Pooh, Eyore, Tigger, Piglet and Kanga. They also have the original umbrella of Mary Poppins, unfortunately it was not on display when I visited. I did purchase a signed copy of Library Lion. Barbara Klipper is a librarian, author and trainer in the area of inclusive library programs. Her book, Programming for children and teens with autism spectrum disorder, is a fantastic resource for developing library programs for children with special needs.
Barbara came into to Manhattan to meet with me and to share her considerabel knowledge and experience in this area. She was very passionate about the collection of books on special needs for children, youth and parents that she had developed at her last library. She also spoke of how hard it can to find titles for this collection. Barbara has also written on the topics of apps for autism, social networking for people with autism and inclusive makerspaces. Today I attended this meeting as a guest of Carrie Banks, from the Brooklyn Public Library.
The library's involvement with this Council is an excellent example of embedding yourself in the community and how to develop relevant and effective partnerships. To attend a meeting you need to meet one of the following criteria: Working in the area of developmental disabilities Have a developmental disability yourself Be a caregiver of a child with a developmental disability "Music for Autism is enhancing quality of life and raising public awareness through free, autism-friendly, interactive concerts developed specifically for individuals with autism and their families."
( http://www.musicforautism.org ) The Brooklyn Public Library partner with Music for Autism to host a concerts at the library. I attended one of these on Saturday which was amazing. The program enables children and adults with autism and their families attend music performances. Loud and unusual vocalising, as well as dancing and moving around a theatre are generally not allowed in music recitals. Music for Autism concerts is often the only opportunity people with autism have to attend music performances. Music has been found to be of great benefit to people with autism, so clearly being able to access music of this calibre, in your own community is fantastic. Word tree, inspired by current exhibition. Michelle Lopez
http://www.hablarenarte.com/uploads/proyectos/155_1314.pdf "UNIVERSAL DESIGN : Programs That Meet the Needs of All Children " The Brooklyn Public Library runs a range of inclusive programs for children with and without disabiltiies. The co-ordinator of the service is Carrie Banks. Carrie is an absolute wealth of knowledge and experience in the area of access to public libraries for children with disabilities. I will be visiting Carrie and the Brooklyn Library on a number of occasions to learn more about their programs. Some of the programs they run are: After school storytime Weekend programs Read and play Parenting workshops Class visits Hospital storytelling Garden club Teen time for all The following is a link to a brochure on the services provided: http://www.bklynlibrary.org/sites/default/files/files/pdf/childsplace/3965_FL_UniversalDesign_BR_Final.pdf On Tuesday I visited the Fanwood Public Library in New Jersey. This is a small library but wonderful library. It is inspiring to see how the size of a library does not have to dictate how disability aware a library can be.
Dan Weiss from Fanwood NJ Library and Meg from Scotch Plains NJ Library developed the project Libraries and Autism We're Connected. This is a fantastic project that aims to help libraries become welcoming places for children and adults with autism and their famiies. They have created a range of excellent resources, including a decal for libraries to use to indicate that they are autism friendly, as well as a very useful DVD. To find out more about the project I highly recommend visiting the website: http://www.librariesandautism.org |
Jo KaedingChildren's Librarian and PhD student. Interested in library programs for children with special needs. You can follow me on Twitter :
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April 2017
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