The Chapel Hill Public Library is launching the Neurodiversity & Nature initiative to support inclusion and promote environmental education through sensory friendly activities.
This program offers services and activities to those with cognitive needs like autism, memory loss, ADHD, and dementia. It will include services like sensory-friendly furniture, activity kits, and a trail through the garden.
Unlike other libraries the Chapel Hill library is in the middle of a park. Surrounding the building are trees, flowers, gardens, and walking trails. This unique asset is the inspiration behind the focus on nature in the Neurodiversity & Nature initiative.
Krystal Black helped create the program and applied for the $12,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services which funded the initiative. She is the youth and Family outreach coordinator and has been with the library since 2004.
Black helped put together the sensory kits for the initiative, all focusing on different aspects of nature. The kits use tools to help kids and adults learn through their senses.
“We had five topics. We have desert, forest, ocean, swamp, and weather. So in each kit we have a description here so people understand the purpose of the kit,” Black said.
“So you can see here that we’re hoping to promote sensory exploration, find motor skills, relaxation, and mindfulness.”
In the sensory kits are three books relating to the topic, a picture book, an interactive book, and a non-fiction book. The kits also include a weighted stuffed animal and interactive puzzles which focus on sight, touch, and hearing.
“It’s interesting because those of us who are neurotypical sort of move through space and time not really thinking about how others might process the world around them. I have a lot to learn. I think I have learned a lot, reading about how to put together sensory kits and what would be good to include and why,” Black said.
Along with the child and adult sensory kits, the library added sensory-friendly furniture including hammocks, papasan chairs, large bing bags, and wobble chairs with animals carved in the backrest.
A new garden trail allows visitors to smell, hear,look and touch plants and flowers in Pritchard Park.
The new sensory garden which includes plants visitors can smell, see, and touch!
Sarah Wagner is the adult programming and outreach coordinator at the library.
She was brought in to help with a different program called ‘Books & Belongings’ which aims to make neurodivergent people feel more welcome. The program brings together people of all abilities to explore different stories with interactive materials.
Wagner said, “We usually will take a look around the library, find some books. We might do some reading aloud, talking about the different things we’ve read- another way of getting some reading literacy. It’s really about getting familiar with the library and feeling welcome here.”
The neurodiversity program is hosting a monthly sensory story time using the sensory kits. The story times are capped at 10 to ensure everyone gets a memorable experience.
“The programming’s important because we want to reflect our community, and programming is a way to have people in our community get more involved at the library and get more involved out in the world,” Wagner said.
“That’s really where Books and Belonging comes in as a way to really encourage Neurodivergent folks to come hang out, feel welcome in the library, and be able to use it as a resource.”
The Assistant Director at the library, Meeghan Rosen, worked as the project manager for the Explore More program. The program intertwines closely with the neurodiversity program, specifically the sensory garden.
Meeghan Rosen, assistant director at the library.
Rosen said, “Explore More is about providing opportunities for people to connect with nature, with the ultimate goal of expanding awareness about the environment and how what we do impacts the world that we live in. That means everybody, so that’s how they interact.”
All the programs at the library focus on giving back to the community and including people of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities. Rosen said the neurodiversity initiative is one example of the many programs the library offers that give back to the community.
“If you ask anybody who works here at the library, they’d tell you that one of the main reasons they work here is because it’s public service,” Rosen said. “It’s a way of giving back to the community and connecting with the people here, whether it’s through shelving books or pulling weeds or designing new programs and services, or leading a story time. These are all important ways that we give back to the community.”
The next sensory story time will take place on July 27th from 10:15-10:45 am.
Photos via Chapel Hill Public Library
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