Moses Lake Library story time serves special needs adults

MOSES LAKE — It’s 10:30 on a Thursday morning, and Moses Lake Children’s Librarian Zach Walker is reading a picture book to brothers David and Ray Cavazos, two non-verbal men with special needs. 

“The boys love it,” said the brothers’ caregiver Mary Lybbert. “They ask every week when they can come to the library.” 

The Adults with Special Needs Storytime started sometime before the COVID-19 pandemic, said Librarian Connie Baulne. 

“One of our staff members at the time focused primarily on adult services,” Baulne said. “She really wanted to tap into both the senior community and those who have special needs, especially adults, because there’s just not a lot going on there.” 

The event starts out with a story read by Walker, and then he’ll help them through a craft project. This morning, it was cutout drawings of unicorns. The time ends with a song or two, Lybbert said, and then they return home. 

“They take, usually, two books each time, and throughout the week we read (the books) to them,” she said. “They can't wait for the next time to come.” 

The Cavazos brothers were the first patrons to come to the story time, and they’re still going strong, Baulne said. The number of attendees fluctuates from week to week. 

“We have about five to seven attendees throughout the year that will come,” said Supervising Librarian Austin Foglesong. “Some are every other week, some are once a month.” 

Keeping the numbers small is a good way to approach the story time, Foglesong said.  

“We do like keeping it smaller because you're able to get to know the attendees really well,” he said. “We know what they like and what they don't like in terms of books and crafts and songs. We've been working with them for years.” 

Walker was a teacher before coming to the library, Baulne said, and has experience with special needs children. 

“We utilize him very heavily because it is a lot of picture books, and he knows them inside and out,” Foglesong said. “He receives bins of materials each week, and he'll set a few aside for the adults with special needs story time.” 

The rest of the staff have been trained in programming for the story time as well, Foglesong said. 

“A lot of the materials that we choose are based off our knowledge of their capacity and the developmental needs that they have,” Baulne said. 

The Moses Lake Library also has a sensory storytime for children who have difficulty with noise.

“We have a deep passion for (people with) special needs as well as sensory needs,” Foglesong said. “We're very interested in the more underrepresented members of our population having safe and fun experiences in the library.”