According to its introductory message from Chief Librarian at the time, Jane Pyper, the TPL created its 2011 “Planning Library Programs for Children with Special Needs” guide because “the Library determined that children with special needs deserve an equal opportunity to be supported in developing early reading skills and their needs could be better served by developing collections, programs and services for them (p. 2).” The main focus of the guide is to “suggest ways in which Ready for Reading programs can be adapted for children with special needs (TPL, 2011, p.2).” A key component of Ready for Reading is storytime.
In its focus on adapting Ready for Reading, the 2011 TPL guide invokes a concept of equal access similar to that articulated in the American Library Association’s (ALA) Core Value of Access. As discussed by Kumbier and Starkey (2016), the ALA’s Core Value of Access “emphasises ready, equal, and equitable access to information for all (p. 468).” Kumbier and Starkey (2016) note that,
[The ALA’s Core Value of Access] suggests that library patrons should not have difficulty accessing information resources provided by the library, that the same information should be available to all users, and that all users should be able to access all of the library’s information resources (pp. 468-469).
Kumbier and Starkey (2016) explain that under the Core Value of Access, provision of access also involves determining how patrons with different “access needs” can access the information that the library provides. Our vision for creating neurodivergent-inclusive storytime programs involves reimagining not only the information resources that such programs provide, but questioning existing conceptualizations of what access to storytime means.
The 2011 TPL guide to “Planning Library Programs for Children with Special Needs” contains indicators that a new conceptualization of access is necessary, most critically because, as the guide acknowledges, “few families with children with special needs attend regularly scheduled library storytime sessions (TPL, 2011, p. 7).” The guide sets out to address this problem by sharing program ideas and resources collected by a “project team” informed by “experts” (TPL, 2011, p. 7). The guide also relies upon a strategy of accommodation, which calls upon individual librarians and library staff to approach individual parents and caregivers about how to adapt storytime for their child.
However, the guide acknowledges that this strategy is inherently inequitable, stating:
Some parents are strong advocates for their children, and will press for inclusion and other services. For other parents, overcoming their reluctance to be open about their child’s challenges may be the first obstacle that needs to [be] overcome. It may take time to gain the confidence of a parent who is already aware that their child is seen as different (TPL, 2011, p. 7).
Following ideas put forward by Kumbier and Starkey (2016), we suggest that reimagining storytime to be neurodivergent-inclusive should involve a shift away from the strategy of accommodation towards a new conceptualization of access, one that is social, relational and collective.
Mobilising a collective access framework to reimagine storytime involves a significant shift “from thinking about accessibility as a matter of problem solving at the “tick-box” level to accessibility as part of a larger project to dismantle ableism in our libraries (Kumbier and Starkey, 2016, p. 485).” Kumbier and Starkey (2016) build upon Titchkosky (2011) to invoke a framework of collective access that is social and relational, conceptualising access not as “something that one has or does not but as something that happens among people, in space and time, over and over again (p. 486).” It is this conceptualization of access that shapes our vision for neurodivergent-inclusive storytime programs at the TPL.
In practice, implementing a collective access framework will involve a major shift from the approach to access outlined in the TPL’s 2011 guide to “Planning Library Programs for Children with Special Needs”. Central to the new approach that we propose is a user-centred design process. Embracing an approach similar to that of the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS), we advocate for recognition that “users are the experts” (Davidson, Johnson, and Levy-Pinto, p. 127).
With respect to neurodivergent-inclusive storytime programs, the children who participate in the programs, as well as their families and caregivers, are the experts of their own needs. For this reason, the storytime program design process should begin with their ideas, and continue to incorporate their feedback in a continuous, non-linear process of co-creation and collaboration with librarians and library staff.
