Photo courtesy of Sara Hardy.
Items included in the library’s sensory kit are available for patrons to use to enhance their experience during their visit to the library.
The O’Neal Library recently implemented a sensory kit as a new service for patrons with sensory needs.
“It's available for in-library use and is designed to support the sensory needs of teens and adults and help neurodivergent patrons have a more comfortable time in the library,” said Sara Hardy, a library assistant in the adult and young adult departments.
The kit is located on the second floor, at the adult services desk and is available upon request. It’s not a requirement to be a member of the library to use the kit, and the goal is to reduce anxiety and frustration and increase focus for guests.
“We also have a lot of neurodivergent teens visit the library, and being more aware of the sensory needs of people led us to want to offer things to help them have a better time in the library,” Hardy said.
“They can look through it and they can take what they want for use in the library,” she said.
When they are done, we ask that they wipe down the items and return to the kit.”
Hardy got guidance from an occupational therapist in creating the kit. It’s set up like a menu for those with sensory needs to decide what items in the kit can best help them. Guests are asked to wipe down and return the items when they’re done.
“Kids with sensory needs have a lot more structure and support built into their routine, but once they become adults out in the world, there’s not as much support. We wanted to have services for them and are working on programming as well to help give space and support for adults who have those kinds of needs,” she said.
Hardy said she tried to include items for each of the eight sensory systems: vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, vestibular (the sense of head movement in space), proprioception (the sense of the body’s movement) and interoception (understanding sensations inside the body, such as temperature or hunger).
The kit includes a handout with an explanation of its contents and information about sensory needs.
“You can be over-responsive or under-responsive in each of these systems, and the handout is to help people navigate the items in the kit,” Hardy said.
The sensory kit at O’Neal Library includes:
- Weighted lap pads
- Noise canceling earmuffs
- Disposable ear plugs
- Visual bubble timers
- Blue light filtering glasses
- Scent canisters
- Filtering face masks
- A variety of fidgets
- Mindfulness cards
- Movement cards
- Mints
There is also a comment card with the kit, and patrons are encouraged to leave feedback when they use the kit to share what's useful and what's not, so the library can continue to improve its services.
