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Illinois needs librarians!  Make a difference in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) community and participate in Targeting Autism , the Illinois State Library's ground-breaking grant project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Service. In September of 2014, the Illinois State Library received a $100,000 National Leadership Grant (NLG) award to hold two inter-organizational forums to develop strategies to increase the role of all types of libraries to support their patrons and family members who are impacted by ASD. Two forums will be held on March 4-5 and September 3-4, 2015 at the University of Illinois in Springfield.   Participants will include roughly 80 individuals who represent libraries, autism organizations, educational institutions and a variety of other stakeholder groups. This is a wonderful opportunity for librarians across the state to apply to be a part of this process.  There is a limited amount of spaces for forum participants, so don't miss ...

Do you have an innovative new program or service that requires funding? Are you looking to serve youth with disabilities in your community more inclusively?  The ALSC/Candlewick Press “Light the Way: Outreach to the Underserved ” Grant is a great opportunity for your library! The Light the Way Grant was formed in honor of Newbery Medalist and Geisel Honoree author Kate DiCamillo. The spirit of the award honors the themes represented in her books.  The  award  itself consists of a $3,000 grant to assist a library in conducting exemplary outreach to underserved populations through a new program or an expansion of work already being done. Special population children may include those who have learning or physical differences, those who speak English as a second language, those who are in a non-traditional school environment, those who live in foster care settings, those who are in the juvenile justice system, those who live in gay an...

Wilmette Public Library is hosting Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, Ron Suskind . Mr. Suskind and his wife will discuss his latest book, Life, Animated: a Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism ,   which is a memoir about raising their son and learning to communicate with him through the scripts and songs of Disney movies he new by heart. Ron Suskind Wednesday, November 19, 2014 7:00pm Wilmette Park District's Community Recreation Center 3000 Glenview Road Wilmette, IL 60091 The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. Books will be available for purchase from  The Bookstall . Signing will take place after the program. For more information, see the event page .

Grab your calendar and circle Saturday, November 1 because you do not want to miss Handicap This! What started out as a friendship between Mike Berkson (who has cerebral palsy) and Tim Wambach (who does not) grew into a partnership and a passion to make minds handicap accessible. Through their comedic theatrical performances, Mike and Tim share the message of inclusion and tolerance, often bringing audiences to laughter and tears. Handicap This! is playing at North Shore Center for Performing Arts in Skokie  on  Saturday, November 1, 2014 at 8:00pm.   Tickets are $26.00 and $36.00. If you plan to go, please leave a comment below so I can share the coupons that were dropped off at Skokie Public Library and we can meet up before the show!

The fall meeting of SNAILS will be held on Wednesday, November 12 at Batavia Public Library at 9:30am. We're looking forward to seeing all of our west suburban friends and hoping library staff from the other local suburbs will join us as well. We'll be hearing a short presentation about Lekotek 's play therapy services, professional memberships, and library programs; meeting Jo Kaeding , a librarian and PhD candidate from Australia ; and learning about Batavia's library services for children with special needs.  Please RSVP to .   After lunch, from 1:00 to 3:00pm, attendees are welcome to stay for a two-hour workshop led by Lekotek play experts.   This two-hour workshop will be offered at $25 per person, if we have a minimum of 22 people in attendance.  If more are interested in attending, the cost will be less.  Please email by Friday, October 24 if you are interested in attending.  We'd love to have a great group! For an overview o...

Today's guest blog post was written by Paula Shapiro.  Paula is currently a Youth Services Librarian at the Deerfield Public Library in Deerfield, Illinois.  Thank you, Paula, for making this fantastic contribution to the SNAILS community! I always have loved working with tweens. I think they are interesting, funny, insightful and often trying to find a way to fit in.   With that said, as most of us can attest, it can be tough to be a tween! There is not a lot of programming out there for tweens with special needs and I believe that this type of programming is important and beneficial to kids of all abilities. With the help of our wonderful teen librarian, Nina Michael, we started to plan our first program: Board Game and Pizza Night For Tweens of All Abilities.     The vision was to have it be a buddy-type program where we paired up neuro-typical tweens with tweens with special needs.  Here is the   visual schedule (from Boardmaker ) that I made fo...

Don't miss Webjunction's upcoming FREE webinar entitled "Serving the Underserved: Children with Disabilities at Your Library."  This presentation shares inspiring programming and innovative ideas for libraries to serve children with special needs.  It is hosted by Renee Grassi, Youth Department Director at the Glen Ellyn Public Library. Click here to register! Date : October 21, 2014 Time: 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (1-2:30 CST) Webinar Description :  Whether large or small, rural or urban, all library communities serve patrons with special needs. Developing an awareness of and sensitivity to children with disabilities is crucial for providing top-notch library services. This webinar shares inspiring programming and innovative ideas for new services to target this special population. Learn about what online resources are available for staff to serve children with special needs more fully, and explore strategies to reevaluate and make new accommoda...