Including Families of Children with Special Needs should provide the necessary impetus for those librarians who want to become proactive in the delivery of resources and services to pre‐school children with special needs and their families. It is written in clear, non‐technical language and provides all the information necessary to move from simply providing a welcoming and accessible service to pursuing outreach opportunities and developing strategies to encourage children with special needs into the library. There is no doubt that the library and its resources and services play an essential role in the development of all pre‐school children, and this should be no different for those with special needs.
The book is separated into three parts. The first outlines inclusive practices, and works on the premise that unless libraries are proactive in encouraging children with special needs into their programs, they may, in fact, be excluding them. Part one also includes information on federal US laws relating to people with disabilities. While this information is specific to the USA, it may encourage readers from other countries to investigate similar local legislation that is relevant to their own situation. Library services to younger children have, for some years, focused on working in partnership with parents in order to encourage children to read and use books, and this collaborative method is integral to the authors’ approach (outlined in Chapter three of part four) to providing services to children with special needs. The work also contains an excellent list of resources for designing developmentally appropriate services.
One of the particularly useful aspects of this book is that it provides practical advice on adapting existing services, as well as creating new ones, to provide an inclusive library service to all pre‐school children and their families. Part two focuses on modifications that can be made to a library’s existing resources and services to make them more available to children with special needs. The scope is wide ranging, covering staff training, working with parents, and collaborating with other professionals and organisations that are working with children with special needs. Information on necessary adaptations for children with specific disabilities is also given.
The final part covers the development of collections and services that are diverse enough to meet the needs of children with a range of developmental abilities. Chapter nine outlines a range of suitable multisensory resources, while Chapter ten provides excellent practical and comprehensive advice for any librarian setting up a toy library. There is also a useful chapter on establishing a resource collection for parents and interested professionals. This includes lists of organisations that provide catalogues and other useful resources; however, it is only useful for US readers.
The appendices provide further helpful information, including a bibliography of print and non‐print resources for adults and children, as well as an excellent guide to developmental milestones for children aged from birth to five years.
This excellent and unique manual can be read from cover to cover by anyone wanting a general overview of this subject or can serve as a useful reference for librarians needing information about a specific area. Not every children’s librarian will feel comfortable implementing some of the far‐reaching programs outlined; however, this manual should raise awareness of the needs of pre‐school children with disabilities and give all library staff the confidence to introduce inclusive programs and services for all pre‐schoolers.
