Resources for Serving Special Populations

One of the things that I love about librarianship is that it’s a dynamic profession. It is an evolving field that challenges us to continuously learn and grow in our professional development to better serve our communities.  As a member of ALSC’s Library Service to Special Population Children and Their Caregivers Committee, we have a specific goal to advocate for special populations children and their caregivers.  We strive to discover, develop, and disseminate information about materials, programs and facilities that are available at the library for these groups of patrons.  One of the things that we suggest is that library staff at all levels participate in continuing educational programs and classes about serving these special populations.  Here is a current list of online resources available through ALSC, ASCLA, YASLA, and Webjunction for you to help you grow in awareness and competency in this area.

• Children with Disabilities in the Library online course
• “City Librarian, Country Library” student session
• Using the Every Child Ready to Read @ your library® Toolkit with Spanish-Speaking Communities webcast
• What’s After Storytime: Programming for Children and Tweens With Autism webcast
• Sensory Storytime: Preschool Programming That Makes Sense for Kids with Autism webcast
• YALSA’s Beyond Booklists online course
• Webjunction’s Serving the Underserved: Children with Disabilities at Your Library archived webinar
• Webjunction’s Rainbow Family Connections: Embracing LGBTQ Families at Your Library online course
• ASCLA’s Going to Jail: How Juvenile Books Portray the Prison Experience online course
• ASCLA’s Improving Library Services to People with Disabilities online course

Be sure to also check out ALSC’s list of Professional Tools for Librarians Serving Youth.  You’ll find a lot of great information about access, advocacy, diversity, public awareness, and more.

Renee Grassi, LSSPCC Committee Member