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"The world is quiet here."
― Lemony Snicket

Thankfully, school libraries in which librarians are constantly shushing their students are more or less a thing of the past. In fact, your humble author is definitely a "no shh" school librarian. School libraries across the country-ours included-are vibrant, bustling centers of reading, learning, making, and more.

That acknowledged (and proudly, too), it must also be said that we all have moments when we quite simply need quiet time. There are a myriad of reasons why this might be so. Welcome to 2022, everyone. If this year's even a tiny bit like the past two, we might be feeling anxious or stressed at some point. We may get pulled in a million different directions and have so much on our plates that we would actually be better off with trenchers. There could well be tension of all kinds afoot everywhere you go (book challenges, anyone?), along with the Damoclean presence of COVID-19.

So, where can one go to find an oasis of peacefulness, a nice spot to be mindful and relaxed, a bastion of coziness?

Why, the secular sanctuary-the original safe space at school-the library, of course!

School librarians across the country are actualizing elements of this aesthetic, learning, and programming trend at their schools. Herein I highlight some of the various ways that school libraries can offer such places within their own spaces, with a focus on three particular varieties: the sensory room, the "Zen Den," and, to springboard off of a topic I mentioned in my last post, the "Hygge Hub."

Sensory Spaces

Currently, one in fifty-four children is determined to be on the autism spectrum; the prevalence rate has nearly tripled since 2000. What this means for school libraries and school librarians is that there are certain to be autistic students in our schools right now (or soon). Because they can struggle with sensory integration (the body's responses to sensory experiences), children often have a specific need for time away (often called a "sensory break") from the standard classroom environment. Providing such a space within the confines of the library allows students to have both the place and the time to relax and regroup.

Since various sights, sounds, smells, etc., can prove triggers for sensory discomfort and/or overload, it is important to note here that there are particular conditions, items, and qualities that should be present in a sensory space. These include, among other things, low general lighting (fluorescent lighting is not recommended; fire code-approved light covers can be found) and specialty lamps like bubble tubes or fiber optic lights in calming colors like blue or purple, or even lava lamps; soft seating; weighted blankets and body socks; a tactile center with sensory boxes, which can be filled with textured items like water beads or kinetic sand; and, if possible and space and/or structure allow, a swing of some type.

Because of the ambience that exists in a sensory space, even neurotypical students can use it to relax or develop coping skills, which can be overlooked in typical classrooms, where teachers are often pressed for time.

As the mother of two children on the spectrum (and someone who may well be autistic herself but has gone undiagnosed due to lack of awareness years ago) and as an educator, I can personally attest to how helpful and positively impactful sensory spaces can be.

Zen Dens

Zen can refer to the Japanese Buddhist sect that aims at enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation, or it may relate to a state of serene attentiveness in which one's actions are guided by intuition rather than by conscious effort. In either case, calm is key.

Elements that can be incorporated into a Zen Den include soft lighting and relaxing instrumental music; Buddha Boards and other art/coloring supplies; plants and other natural materials, like river rocks; a small indoor fountain; yoga mats, meditation pillows/cushions, and or beanbag chairs.

As mentioned above, sometimes life and school can be challenging for anyone and everyone, from the tiniest Kindergartener to the principal. Bringing elements of Zen into a library space means that students and staff will have a place in which expectations, while not necessarily lower, are at least low-key. Away from stress, they can decompress.

Hygge Hubs

Aside from being a really fun word to say (it's pronounced HOO-GAH), hygge is actually a way of life. Originating in Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Hygge is (loosely translated, since the English language can't completely capture the nuances inherent in this one word) "a quality of coziness that makes a person feel content and comfortable."

Important components of Hygge one would definitely want to introduce to a dedicated space include candlelight and/or firelight (of course, there are battery-operated LED versions that can be utilized in schools); hot beverages (such as cocoa, chai, and coffee; a Keurig is an excellent addition in this instance) and sweet treats (such as sandwich or snack bags filled with small cookies or candies); and spending quality time with family, friends, or in this case, classmates. (Electronics are not allowed.)

Hygge is all about comfort and connection. Simply said, it is a perfect example of what's needed in these trying times.

"It's times like these we learn to live again.
It's times like these we give and give again.
It's times like these we learn to love again...
times like these, time and time again."
― Foo Fighters

There are two final pertinent points to be made: first, as is the case with any special space, there are rules that should be established. While these rules vary depending on the kind of space, anyone visiting should be expected to follow the rules, whether they are a student or faculty member. Ensuring that everyone does so means that all can receive the benefits of being there, and as should be plain by now, the benefits are real. This is a valid (and, most important, accessible) form of self-care.

Second, and last but not least, guess what fits in perfectly with any and all of these special programs and spaces?

Of course you guessed it; you're librarians!

Reading and books!

I am Regina Libris.

Categories: Blog Topics, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Makerspaces/Learning Commons

Tags: autism, calm, hygge, hygge hubs, library spaces, quiet spaces, school library spaces, self-care, sensory spaces, student self-care, zen dens

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Keep Calm and Carry On: Creating Quiet, Cozy Spaces in Active Libraries -

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"The world is quiet here." ― Lemony Snicket Thankfully, school libraries in which librarians are constantly shushing their students are more or less a thing of the past. In fact, your humble author is definitely a "no shh" school librarian. School libraries across the country--ours included--are vibrant, bustling centers of reading, learning, making, and more.

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Believe it or not, the origin story of Ocean County Library's Sensory Space begins with the "Real Housewives of New Jersey." A few years back, Jacqueline Laurita, cast member of the New Jersey franchise of Bravo's hit show, posted a video on social media of her 8-year-old son with autism being asked to leave a library for having a brief meltdown.

"I wish everyone understood #Autism," Laurita captioned the video. "Time to go back and educate them! Time for inclusion." When Sara Siegler, avid "Real Housewives" viewer and assistant director of New Jersey's Ocean County Library, saw the viral video, she asked herself what she would do if something like that ever happened at her library and how she could help prevent it. That's when the idea of a Sensory Space came to mind.

I spoke with Siegler and the team at Ocean County Library who opened their Sensory Space in October 2021. Givane "Gigi" Hayes, assistant branch manager, Wendi Smolowitz, information services librarian & autism resources librarian, and Meredith Silvestri, sensory space assistant, discuss how the space is run and why every library should offer sensory-friendly programs.

Tell me about the community that Ocean County Library serves and the types of programs you offer.

Siegler: Ocean County Library is New Jersey's largest library system. We serve a population of over 630,000 people on the Jersey Shore. Many veterans and seniors live here year-round, and our population increases ten-fold in the summer months during the vacation season.

Hayes: We have a very supportive community that expects high-quality and well-researched programs from us. We offer a little bit of everything: concerts, author visits, movie screenings, story times and teen programs, just to name a few. We also have large-scale events throughout the year, like our own version of Comic Con, gospel festivals and our annual Autism Resources Fair.

Siegler: We host our Autism Resources Fair every April. It's been a wonderful way to connect with local organizations and get people connected to resources that they might have not known about before. Our service area has a higher-than-average population with autism. One in 35 in the state of New Jersey is diagnosed with autism compared to the nationwide average of one in 45.

So, what is a Sensory Room?

Smolowitz: A Sensory Room can be useful for everyone but particularly to those with developmental disabilities, PTSD, and people who have difficulty dealing with sensory issues like harsh, bright lights and loud noises. A Sensory Room is a quiet, chilled-out space with equipment made to help these individuals calm down. Sensory spaces are now becoming popular in airports and many other public facilities.

Silvestri: It's a place to relax, decompress and add some calmness to the day. For example, our room has LED lighting, a musical touch wall, a ceiling covered in flouncy fabric, and a calming waterfall feature with a mirror to promote a relaxing environment. We have beanbags and other soft objects as well.

When did you see the need arise for a Sensory Room at your library?

Smolowitz: For years we have hosted programs such as sensory story times and other similar programs. We felt the need to do more than that. The idea for the Sensory Space took off from our experiences with hosting our annual Autism Resources Fair.

Siegler: After the story of the Housewives incident went viral, I was confident that my staff would not be the type to kick a child out of the library. However, I thought that even though we provide excellent customer service, is that enough? We offer great programs like sensory story time, but all in all, it felt like it wasn't enough, but it did get the ball rolling.

A restaurant opened nearby that has a quiet area for people who might have sensory issues, and a local hospital's emergency room has a calm area. Sensory spaces are meant to take the anxiety out of stressful situations and promote a sense of safety and calm. The fact that other local institutions had areas like this really put the idea in my head that these spaces are important to offer. We want our customers to have a great library experience, so why not also have our own Sensory Room at the library?

How did you get started on the creation of your space?

Hayes: Something we often do at the library is community scans. Branch managers will go into the community, drive around, look at census data and review who is coming to the library and who is not. The first step for us was knowing what kinds of people make up our community and what they want to see from us. This led us to start the Autism Resources Fair, which eventually led to the creation of the Sensory Space.

It's evident that our community has really benefited from the space already. Because our library is in the downtown area, the room has become a calm haven for people who are attending festivals downtown and need a place to decompress. I've had families tell me they would've had to cut their outings short and go home if it wasn't for the space to regroup. Stories like that really show that we are reaching important segments of the community.

Siegler: Once we got the "yes" from the county commissioner to make the space, we decided right away that this Sensory Room was not going to take the place of an occupational therapist's office. We're librarians, right? We're not looking to play the role of an occupational therapist. We had to ask ourselves if we buy the equipment that we need to in order to make this space work, what are we then asking our staff to handle? Are they handling items that a trained professional would use, or are these things that anyone can use? It was important for us to pick items for the space that were appropriate for library staff to provide for a library customer.

You could spend a lot of money on the equipment that an occupational therapist could buy, but that's not the purpose of our library's room - nor should it be. We did have an occupational therapist come out and evaluate our equipment, and she gave us input on how to be safe and provide good experiences for users.

What types of programs are ideal for a Sensory Space?

Silvestri: In general, relaxed and slow-paced programs are great for a Sensory Room. You can host meditation and yoga classes for all ages and abilities or just leave out some coloring pages for a mindful, passive program.

Once a month, our Sensory Space runs programs with our Makerspace to combine sensory projects with Makerspace projects. For example, we've made sensory bracelets and stress-relief balls. A lot of families and groups that regularly come to the room also come to the Makerspace craft programs. It's a great introduction to the Makerspace and other elements of the library's programming.

We also do a sensory-friendly movie series. We don't watch the movie in the Sensory Room, but I bring down bean bags, soft mats and other portable equipment. We had a family tell us that their child had never sat through an entire movie until they came to our sensory movie time!

In the Sensory Space, we also offer sensory processing programs with our youth services librarian that incorporates storytelling with movement and teen programs for our YA librarians to play chill music with activities geared toward teens. We are also exploring the possibility of offering the Sensory Space to our Memory Café program which is held to support people with early-stage memory loss and their care partners.

What advice would you share with libraries that want to create their own Sensory Room but don't have the space and/or budget?

Hayes: If you don't have the immediate availability of space, you can still do sensory programs for this community. Adjust your existing programs to be sensory-friendly, do your research, and reach out to other libraries to get ideas and tips for how they do their sensory programs. We looked at Louisville (Ohio) Public Library's Sensory Space for inspiration.

Siegler: Even putting lights on a dimmer and playing some soothing music is a great program option! Sensory programs can be really cost-effective. We have a little video projector we bought for $35 that is a lot better than a $2,000 one. we passed on buying.

I would also say it's important to have all staff members come into your Sensory Room or get them acquainted with any equipment you might have so everyone on staff can explain to library users what things are and how they work.

Silvestri: Anyone can do sensory programs even without a dedicated room. I see a lot of the families and users of our room every day who offer up their own ideas for programs. Start small and then talk to the people who are coming to your sensory programs and listen to them for guidance.

Any closing thoughts you would like to share?

Hayes: Because of the role that libraries play in communities, when we do programming for the disabled community, autistic community, for anyone experiencing PTSD and other segments, we are normalizing it.

Smolowitz: This really needs to be acknowledged and recognized, not just by libraries but by society in general. When we coordinate programs for the developmentally disabled, we are reaching out to another component of the community, and it is really appreciated.

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A Place of Comfort and Calm: Creating a Sensory Space Inside the Library

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Believe it or not, the origin story of Ocean County Library's Sensory Space begins with the "Real Housewives of New Jersey." A few years back, Jacqueline Laurita, cast member of the New Jersey franchise of Bravo's hit show, posted a video on social media of her 8-year-old son with autism being asked to leave a library for having a brief meltdown.

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2.2K views · 31 reactions | Take a virtual tour of our Multi-Sensory Room! This room helps us identify clients' sensory needs so we can better serve them in a variety of disciplines! | By The STAR Center, Inc. | Facebook

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Take a virtual tour of our Multi-Sensory Room! This room helps us identify clients' sensory needs so we can better serve them in a variety of disciplines!

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Topic 3: Sensory Spaces

To provide for library users who need sensation to feel comfortable or to de-escalate an emotional state, libraries can provide "sensory rooms," of which there are many examples. The goal is to provide a variety of sensory experiences. Some ideas include:

Beanbag chairs

Rocking chairs

Toys and objects made up of a variety of textures such as sandpaper, carpet, feathers, fabrics, etc.

Fidget devices

Calming music (relatively quiet)

Dim lighting

Light shows, light patterns, color-changing ambiance

Carpet squares of different types and textures

Tactile books

Weighted vests or lap pads

Yoga balls and other chairs that allow for movement

An example of a sensory room is featured in which was created by a young man so that other people with autism could benefit from its relaxing qualities from their own computers. You will notice that he has used soothing music in a New Age style (multiple digital sounds), colored lights reflecting from crinkled aluminum foil backgrounds, fiberoptic light strings, bubble tubes, picture scenes being projected onto walls, and fingers touching all of these things.

If your library can afford an even more structured "sensory room," one that can become part of your library programs, this article and video published by Edutopia, "Sensory Rooms 101" serves as a resource. It is recommended that you get consultation from service providers, special educators, even parents and children with autism to help plan the space, equipment and use of the room. If your library wishes to use this idea, you will need to bring in an occupational therapist during special events and programs for students with autism to help guide them through the sensory room experience for a designated time period before their storytime, autism-friendly browsing time, lesson or activity. Such an experience has had a positive effect on the overall well-being of students in a school setting, including their ability to subsequently focus and manage their behavior during the lesson or activity after their time in the sensory room.

If your library can provide a computer station in a quiet location that is separate from others, this could also help minimize overstimulation for your library users with autism. For children, play areas that have minimal clutter and lighting would be ideal.

To be an autism-friendly library, consider the sensory needs of people with autism by creating designated areas that have their needs in mind; it can be done on a low budget, and the possibilities are limitless!

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professional online development for teachers

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Project ENABLE- professional online development for teachers, librarians

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Project ENABLE - provides online development for teachers, librarians nationwide deliver library services to students with disabilities

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Exploring social and sensory barriers that inhibit play in public spaces

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Chad’s talk is in regards to the widely proliferated, but completely avoidable barriers that still exist in our communities that keep large populations of children, siblings, adults and grandparents from participating in innately important play and recreation with each other. He will also provide a framework on how to address these issues taken right from an actual, on-going local inclusive park project.

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We create sensory rooms worldwide -- in schools, universities, airports, stadiums, hotels, workplaces and homes. Benefit from our exceptional quality, safety record, complimentary design and consulting services.

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. We create sensory rooms worldwide -- in schools, universities, airports, stadiums, hotels, workplaces and homes. Benefit from our exceptional quality, safety record, complimentary design and consulting services.