School Librarians of the 21st Century: Using Resources and Assistive Technologies to Support Students\u27 Differences and Abilities

Having a child come into the library--whether on his/her very first visit or one of many visits--means that school librarians have the incredible privilege--and responsibility--to make that child feel welcome and to support his/her learning process in every way they possibly can. Whether a child is officially labeled as being differently able (having one or more characteristics that society labels as a disability) or whether he/she is perceived as typically able, each of the students needs for librarians to be on the cutting edge of information resources and access. Moreover, the students need librarians to help them understand how their differences make them specially able. It is through this process that school librarians also discover the child\u27s gifts and abilities, and can use his/her differences to help him/her develop the information literacy skills and multi-literacies necessary for lifelong learning. In this article the author discusses how to use resources and assistive technologies to support students\u27 differences and abilities