Increasing access to public libraries for children with special needs and their families

This paper detailed a special session for children with special needs and their families advocated by the Adelaide Hills Council Library Service. In comparison to most studies that focuse on adults with disabilities, this article argued the importance of paying attention to children with disabilities. Literature on public library for disabled people often focuses on adults with sensory disabilities, few has been put forward regarding children and with other disabilities, such as psychiatric and intellectual disabilities. This article filled this gap. In the session trail, while children were able to bring with them their own communication devices, but no technology was involved in the program resesearch design. The program showed positive results. It started from 2011 and continued to run since then. In 2012, it received a national Friends of Libraries Australia Award for innovative programs for children. The dropout rate of families attending the program was considerably low.