School Libraries Supporting Students with Hidden Needs and Talents: From ADHD to Vision Impairment

An easy-to-browse, succinct introduction to how school librarians can better serve and understand students with special needs. The author explores three major concepts throughout the text: what collaboration is and how to create different levels of collaboration, who school librarians can collaborate with and how to do so, and different types of disabilities and experiences students may encounter while interacting with the library and library lessons. The text goes beyond classroom or subject area teachers when identifying collaborators, including specialists like ESL/ELL teachers, fine arts specialists, and school nurses. In exploring different hidden needs and talents, the author includes a wide variety of representations, including neurodivergence, giftedness, food sensitivities, mental health concerns, housing and food insecurity, and chronic physical illnesses. Each chapter of the book is broken down under bold headings and subheadings with boxes to highlight “Take a Minute” points to journal or plan from and “Top Tips” to summarize highlights. This is a great introductory resource, but readers may also want to consult other resources for additional detail and alternate viewpoints. Readers implementing the ideas may also wish to be mindful of students’ choice and opinions around language such as “talent” and “twice-exceptional.” Collins does reference this point in the text by framing the concepts around being kind, flexible, and appreciative.