Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities will offer more than $7 million in grants to small and rural libraries to increase the accessibility of facilities, services, and programs to better serve people with disabilities. We are so grateful to be one of the recipients!

Testimonials~

ADHD SERIES

I have been an early childhood educator for 33years. I have a significant amount of experience working with both typically developing children as well as working with neurodivergent children. I recently attended a workshop led by Meg Hopkins at the Tunbridge Library about ADHD. I was there with my adult son who has ADHD & about a dozen local residents who either know someone who struggles with the disability or works with the neurodivergent population. Despite having a background in the field & raising a neurodivergent child I was riveted by the amount of information Meg presented & the clarity with which she delivered it to the group. It was clear by the discussions that took place within the group that the benefit of having such an informative & meaningful opportunity to learn about neurodiversity was tremendous. Coming together as a community to learn about our strengths & challenges helps build a stronger bond with others & increases our ability to understand & support each other. As both an educator & a parent I am looking forward to attending more of these workshops in the future. -Amy S

Knowledge embpowers, and understanding unites. Meg’s educational series is about fostering awareness, compassion, and support for all minds. She is helping to build a more inclusive, informed community- one conversation. at a time. Her sessions have been warm and welcoming while being practical and informative providing useful strategies to manage ADHD in my daily life. -JG

As an elementary school teacher and parent of young kids, Meg’s series has supported greater understanding and awareness as well as multiple tools to support those with ADHD. Resources like this are incredibly valuable to our community. Providing awareness and normalization of neurodiversity as well as a safe space for folks to come together in support of each other. Tunbridge Public Library strives to make our library a space for all community members.

QIGONG

I’ve heard it said that healthy aging involves staying active physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. QiGong at the Tunbridge Library effortlessly and seamlessly draws all four of these together. I am always more mindful, engaged, enlivened, and happy by the end of the session than I was at the start.- EF         

Practicing Qigong with Catherine has given me a new confidence, the promise of regaining strength and control in my legs.  The library is peaceful and inviting and I am grateful to be able to meet there.-LB

An inner energy enhanced by movement that travels through your body to heal and strengthen. Awareness of concentration, relaxation and breath to create balance and stability. That’s what qigong means to me. -LC

A selection from our application…

Our goals are to receive direct input from the neurodivergent population in Tunbridge and surrounding areas that utilize our library. We will pivot with any findings from our conversation. We hope to create a sensory friendly library with ample space for quiet and calm, opportunity for mindfulness activity and growth, help build time management skills and to offer a chance to connect with community members in a comfortable manner for all.

We have developed a preliminary plan with three major goals in mind. We have identified these goals through extensive research, conversations with our partnerships and patrons of all ages and particularly discussions with a resident studying time management skills with a focus on neurodiversity. Through these means we have tapped into these three areas of accessibility.

First we would prioritize creating quiet, accessible space with dividers, reading coves, and potential study pods.

Next, we imagine providing mindfulness programming to grow patrons abilities to gain time management skills and build resilience. We would like to offer proven mindfulness activities such as yoga and Qi-Gong that have shown to assist people who are neurodivergent in many areas. Research has proven these activities are beneficial to people who are neurodivergent.

Finally, we would like the chance to enhance physical resources such as providing assistive reading devices such as YOTO audio players and discs, purchase noise cancelling headphones and growing our graphic novel collection. In addition, we would like to create a mental health resource center to assist in the various cognitive needs. This station would include reference material, meditation cards, fidgets and other sensory material. Through casual conversation patrons have already given us multiple wonderful ideas including a sensory garden and finger labyrinths.

We look forward to a conversation confirming our thoughts or giving us opportunity to pivot from our preliminary ideas as we learn directly and intentionally from the community, particularly from those who are neurodivergent. After the conversation, with direct input from our intended audience, we would develop a plan. With our findings, in coordination with our partnerships to the school, parent child center, and the Clara Martin Health Care Center we would be able to best assist our audience.

CLICK HERE to watch a sweet video make by Tunbridge Resident,

Jen Loftus, to enhance our grant application.

What are we up to?

• Hired Home and Able Modifications Solutions to assist with design and implementation of this large scale project

• Creating 3 reading coves/study areas in addition to dealing with the acoustics in the community room

• Scheduled contractors to run series of mindfulness programs as well as educational series.

• ADHD Educational Series

• Purchased Yoto players (audio book players) that are now available for check out

• Designing a mental health station and are enhancing our collection to reflect up to date titles

  We hosted a Community Conversation back in April to get input from the voices in our community. If you missed out, don’t worry! If you have an idea or something you would like to add to the conversation? CLICK HERE to fill out a form!

CLICK HERE to see the notes from our Conversation