Autism Resources for Public Libraries: Issues, Challenges, and Recommended Resources

Abstract

One of a public library’s true callings is to meet the needs of the community in which it exists. For public libraries, “community need is the dominant factor in selection” of library materials for the collection. People often think of factors like age, ethnicity, or socio-economic factors when they attempt to describe the makeup of a community. Often overlooked, however, are a community’s disabled and special needs clientele. People with disabilities exist in every age group, ethnic, and socio-economic categories in Indiana communities. According to the United States Census Bureau (2000a), roughly 8% of the 5 to 20-year-olds in Indiana are affected with some disability. Roughly 17% of Hoosiers aged 20 to 65 have a disability; and 44% of Hoosiers over the age of 65 have a disability (United States Census Bureau, 2000b, 2000c). Public libraries have a responsibility to respond to their communities with library collections that include resources which support, encourage, and educate people with disabilities and their advocates.