University of Washington

The University of Washington Information School will conduct research aimed to improve libraries' capacity to include children with autism and their families in early literacy programming. Currently, there is a lack of empirical evidence about the early literacy needs of autistic children and their families. In partnership with the Seattle children's Autism Center, the Association for Library Services to Children, Seattle Public Library, and Pierce County Libraries, they will develop the Autism-Ready Libraries Toolkit, which will include early literacy programming and training materials to empower librarians to better serve this population.