The Library Digital Opportunity Team (LDO) at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission recently heard about a sensory non-profit called KultureCity that was working with Texas libraries to make them more accessible to patrons with sensory needs. Grapevine Public Library has been using special equipment, like headphones, weighted lap pads, fidget tools, and other devices from KultureCity. Since then, other Texas libraries that have gotten their certification including Georgetown Public Library, Amarillo Public Library, and Rita and Truett Smith Public Library in Wylie, Texas.

LDO met with Meg Raby Klinghoffer, non-profit management specialist at KultureCity, to learn more about the organization, their training process, and the tools they use. Klinghoffer is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and a neurodivergent advocate. She is also autistic.

What Are Sensory Needs?

“1 in 4 people have a sensory need. A majority of them have what we call invisible disabilities, which means their challenges aren’t easy to spot. Sensory needs could be someone living with autism, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Down Syndrome, early-onset dementia, things like that.”

“For example, someone with PTSD might have a prior injury to their occipital lobe, and now they are prone to migraines. Simple light fluctuations, or showing a movie with flickering lights, could trigger a migraine,” Klinghoffer explained.

“We often think of sensory needs involving children, but we don’t always think about the adult. Someone could acquire them [sensory needs] at any time in their life. Next year, all baby boomers will be over the age of 65. With that will come new diagnoses like Parkinson’s and dementia and so on,” Klinghoffer continued. “It’s time to invite in the adults and let them know they are safe, and their needs will be met.”

If you want to learn more about sensory needs, KultureCity also produced a video on Youtube that gives more details.

What Is KultureCity?

KultureCity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a community of acceptance for those with sensory needs and invisible disabilities. Klinghoffer said, “Eighty percent of the KultureCity team is neurodivergent. We are occupational therapists, speech pathologists, pediatric physicians, people who know every aspect of sensory needs.”

KultureCity offers training to venues, organizations, small businesses, and libraries who want to learn more about sensory needs and how to better engage with them to make their location more accessible.

Over 3,000 locations across the United States and the world are certified. KultureCity has partnered with Lego, Carnival Cruise Lines, the San Antonio Zoo, and the band Coldplay, to create unique experiences for people with sensory needs.

“We are all people on a mission. Nonprofits don’t make any money, but we are changing the world together,” Kinghoffer said.

What Does Sensory Accessibility Look Like in a Library?

“A library itself is pretty calm. It’s a quiet space, but that said, some people crave louder sounds, like music,” Klinghoffer explained. “What is calming to one person might not be to the next.”

“Personally, I love working with libraries,” Klinghoffer said. “I’m a children’s author. I wrote a book called My Brother Otto about an autistic sibling who uses a tablet to communicate with his sister.”

She went on to tell us about the differences between a neurotypical and a neurodivergent library patron. Most people know about the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, but for the neurodivergent, there are three other “hidden” senses that come into play:

• Vestibular – governs balance, where your head is in space, and how fast you are moving
• Proprioception – input to the muscles and joints that tells us where our bodies are in space
• Interoception – a sense of internal organs

Issues with any of these hidden senses can cause overstimulation, understimulation, or other types of sensory dysregulation. For patrons with sensory needs, spaces even as accommodating and welcoming as a library can be challenging.

“Friends tell me all the time, we can’t go to the library because we would be disruptive,” Klinghoffer said, “but I tell them it’s okay to come. We have areas you can go to. We have tools you can use.”

How Does It Work?

“To become Sensory certified, 50% of the library staff must take the training and then successfully complete a quiz,” Klinghoffer said. “Then we ship out 5 sensory bags from KultureCity. The bags contain headphones, fidget tools, strobe reduction glasses, a weighted lap pad, and a visual cue card for people with word-finding difficulties or Parkinson’s. There is also a feeling thermometer that can also show a patron’s emotional state to help them co-regulate.”

After that, KultureCity sends out signage to make people aware that the library is a sensory accessible space, including decals in multiple languages that can be put in windows or on doors. There is also a “Quiet Area” sign for patrons with auditory processing needs. There could be additional areas in the library where extra input is eliminated, for example, a “No Fragrance” area or a “Natural Light Only” section. The final sign sent out is for the “Headphone Zone,” a visual indication that this area could be louder than others.

KultureCity has created an app that can be integrated and has constant support. The app is calibrated to a user’s specific location and shows them how to find locations that have been certified. Using a feature called “social stories,” the user can see images from that location to prepare them ahead of their visit. “These social stories are curated specifically for each participating library. It provides the child or adult a way to understand what happens in the library and shows them where they can get the sensory bags and find the accessible areas,” Klinghoffer said. “Knowing this information ahead of time can help relieve stress.”

As the interview concluded, we asked Klinghoffer if she had any success stories she’d like to share.

“One of our biggest cheerleaders is Park City Library in Utah. And it’s not necessarily because of the set-up for patrons. Sure, they love the bags and the training, but it’s really the internal ethos in the library and how that has changed. They are sharing their own stories and building a strong, cohesive team. Now they are doing more events for neurodivergent adults, including a book club, something they had never thought of before. That’s why we are called KultureCity, because we want everyone to be part of the culture.”