Presentation: Creating Accessible Virtual Programs for Children with Disabilities and their Families
Please note that this presentation will not be recorded.

According to the CDC, 1 in 6 children experience disability. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, children with disabilities and their families are disconnected from their communities now more than ever before. How then can libraries connect with these families and deliver more accessible virtual library experiences that support and welcome all abilities? In this presentation, Renee Grassi will share tips and strategies for planning, implementing and evaluating virtual storytimes and other virtual programming to make them more inclusive for all.

Author, blogger, speaker, and trainer Renee Grassi is a recognized library leader and advocate for youth and families. In 2012, she was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her work creating programs and services for youth with disabilities and their families.
Renee has been a member of the ALSC Committee for Special Populations and their Caregivers and was a regular ALSC blogger for more than eight years. In addition, she was one of the founding Board Members of Illinois’s Targeting Autism Forum and also a co-founding member of SNAILS—an Illinois librarian networking group dedicated to developing more accessible libraries to children and teens with disabilities.  Most recently, she contributed as a co-author of ALSC’s Virtual Storytime Services Guide. Renee graduated from Dominican University’s GSLIS Program and has worked in public libraries for over thirteen years.
Renee is currently Youth Services Manager at Dakota County Library in Minnesota. Learn more at https://www.reneegrassi.com/.

The Sensory Story Time Support Group is a grassroots community of practice developed and facilitated by Maria Cotto at the Pawtucket Public Library and Lisa Lesinski at the Barrington Public Library, with continued support from Babs Wells at the Greenville Public Library. The Sensory Storytime Support Group seeks to empower youth services librarians to better serve children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families by expanding programming, outreach, partnerships, and resources that welcome all abilities. For more information about the Sensory Story Time Support Group please contact Maria Cotto at mcotto@pawtucketlibrary.org.

If any reasonable accommodation is needed to ensure equal access or participation, contact the Office of Library and Information Services at (401) 574-9300 not less than three (3) business days in advance of the meeting or program date. More advanced notice is highly advisable.