We love welcoming all of our community members, and we chose the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 2025 as a challenge. We want to become a more inclusive community and workplace for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
What We Did for ADA 35
To start, we learned more about disability. We welcomed stories from community members. Library staff contributed lots of ideas. Then we increased our library services and events that focus on people with disabilities. We built new partnerships with other organizations and strengthened existing partnerships. People with personal experiences with disability were able to serve the community.
Other things we did:
- Added resources on our special web page
- Created resource lists with disability and accessibility perspectives
- Hosted film and book discussions about the disability experience
- Created 3D-printed accessibility tools
- Updated our ADA Policy
A Few Highlights from the Year
Our staff training day in January focused on mental health and disability awareness training. There were sessions on neurodivergence, inclusion, and accessibility. One speaker, Whitney Hill, explained the significance and shortcomings of the ADA. She returned as our keynote speaker in June with her public presentation Nothing About Us, Without Us: History and Impact of the ADA.
Public events featuring members from the local disability community were:
- Stephanie Boron’s All Brains Are Beautiful presentation for families
- A series on blindness, braille, and accessibility tools led by a local college student and her vision teacher
- A series of DIY support tools events for kids and teens with ADHD
- A book discussion that included the authors of I Will Die on This Hill: Autistic Adults, Autism Parents, and the Children who Deserve a Better World.
- Celebration of Disability Pride with a teen picnic and themed buttons that invited people to share stories
We connected community members to supportive resources such as the Illinois Assistive Technology Program, Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness, and CAYR Connections. Personal connections were fostered as children danced together at an inclusive concert, people with Alzheimer's and their caregivers found support at a memory cafe, and readers of all abilities interacted during Let’s Get Together Book Club. In August, we were delighted to learn that a participating organization in the book club, Jewish Child and Family Services, named the library as their partner of the year!
What's Next?
To continue the momentum that ADA 35 provided, this winter, we are borrowing a collection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities from the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and Toronto Public Library. We’re excited to showcase these books during an adapted book-making workshop and at other events.
We’re also adding dozens of supportive tools, technology, and toys to our Library of Things. We’ll continue events that began during ADA 35, such as our monthly developmental playgroup for young children, sensory-friendly family movie screenings, and expanded early entry for all ages. We hope you’ll join us at these and many other events. To stay up to date, see our accessibility page and check the event calendar.
Please help us continue creating an inclusive community by sharing your thoughts at tellus@skokielibrary.info. If you or someone you know would like to get involved by presenting an event at the library, propose an event.
