An assortment of modified books, toys and sensory materials is now available at the library to ensure children of all different abilities can use the resources.<\/p>\n
The Grande Prairie Public Library (GPPL) launched its new Accessible Collection for Children last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re working on creating a more accessible children’s department, and we’re always trying to improve and make it better for the community,\u201d said Emily Rempel, GPPL children\u2019s programmer.<\/p>\n
The collection currently holds about 30 items, but it is also a work in progress that is expected to grow, says Rempel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m always looking for more materials that would be helpful for kids with disabilities,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
It currently includes items including Braille UNO cards, books that have been modified to be sturdier and more disability friendly and special toys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One item is a book that Rempel cut the pages out so a child may rearrange pages as they wish or change them to an order they prefer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor other books, I’ve added something called page fluffers, so you can use a few different materials, but I use those little sticky gems, and I basically just put them in the corner of the pages, and it makes it easier to turn the pages,\u201d they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor paperback books, what we did was we cut those apart and laminated the pages to make them sturdier, and we put them on binder rings so that they’re a lot more durable for kiddos who maybe can’t use traditional paperback books.\u201d<\/p>\n
They said the library is also working on adding high-contrast books to the collection for children facing vision loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another item in the collection is switch-adapted toys, toys that have been modified to be turned on by an accessible switch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rempel said that often toys can include a switch in the paw of a stuffed animal, which can be challenging to use for some children with motor skill difficulties or limb differences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They said the library currently only has one switch, but is working on acquiring more from FairPlay, a non-profit which donated the item and is dedicated to accessible play for children with disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The library is also developing a sensory space after receiving a $4,300 grant from Weyerhaeuser.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rempel says the space will be used as a quiet space for children with autism, sensory processing difficulties and other disabilities, where they can use sensory items such as bins that simulate being at a beach or in the forest and calming lights in the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After announcing the accessible collection on social media, a book was already being checked out on the first day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An assortment of modified books, toys and sensory materials is now available at the library to ensure children…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[2584,359,18,117,19,17,2458,27981],"class_list":{"0":"post-71896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-book","9":"tag-books","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-library","15":"tag-spare-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}