Did you know that American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most common non-English language used in the United States? ASL contains all the basic features of language–it has its own pronunciation, word order, and complex grammar system–making it a completely separate and distinct language from English. Just as we serve patrons in our public libraries who may speak Mandarin, Spanish, Polish, or Arabic, we may also serve those whose first language is American Sign Language. How, then, can we make our libraries an inclusive and welcoming place for those patrons? We can incorporate ASL into library services, library programming, and include it in staff training. Even if we may not notice (at first) any of our library users whose first language is ASL, we still have an opportunity to introduce and expose families to a hands-on second language that is engaging and fun. How do we do that? We…