VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – The Fayetteville Free Library is putting on a series of programs geared toward local adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their mentors.
The series, which had its first installment in March, is made possible by a 2024 Catalyst Grant the library obtained from the Central New York Library Resources Council (CLRC). Those grants get innovative programming up and running that’s new to a library on the receiving end, hence the word “catalyst” in the name, while also advancing or expanding that given library’s mission and meeting a particular need in its community.
From the start, the goal was always to host programs for adults with developmental disabilities alongside their mentors, but to get down to the finer details of what that program series would look like, the Fayetteville Free Library sought further input through a survey that was sent out to area agencies, kept in-house at its 300 Orchard St. building, and included in its general electronic newsletter.
Leah Kraus, the assistant director of the library who helped it secure the grant, said the series is still getting going slowly but surely but that it’s been a “huge hit” so far, with each session filled to maximum attendance capacity. Each time, there have been about 20 individuals with disabilities to start with who sign up, and that number doubles once those attendees bring along their mentors, said Kraus, who also creates the flyers for each event.
The free programs have been taking place the first Wednesday of every month from 2 to 3 p.m. in Community Room AB of the Fayetteville Free Library. Some sessions this summer may be taken outdoors depending on what the activity is that month as long as the weather cooperates, but in case of any inclement weather if the intention is to be outside, there will be a backup plan in place.
The first session brought in dynamic yoga teacher Helena Zera, the founder of the Manlius studio Vyana Yoga & PolariTea. For her therapeutic class meant to be relaxing and centering, Zera led everyone through gentle breathing exercises, incorporated props like sound bowls and yoga mats, and made proper modifications to make her lesson entirely approachable for all levels of yoga experience.
The program in April was a grounding, hands-on arts exploration with Pamela and Iver Johnson, local teachers who have spent 50 years guiding and inspiring creative artists of all ages, including at the alternative, interactive pre-school Jowonio that accommodates a diversity of learning needs.
While emphasizing their philosophies that art is for everyone and that a finished product isn’t always what’s most important, those two set up four stations for the participants of their program at the library. Each with a different art form to explore, from clay and spin art to collage work and paper sculpting, the stations allowed the attendees to rotate as they wished or stay in place if they were particularly intrigued by one medium over the others.
“It ended up being quite self-guided,” Kraus said. “The participants could kind of just move freely and spend as much time as they wanted at the various stations.”
The most recent session, which took place on May 1, was a karate introduction and demonstration led by Hanshi Rande Lawrence of the dojo Lawrence World Class Karate, located on East Genesee Street. Lawrence, who possesses a 10th degree black belt and has practiced and taught martial arts locally for more than 50 years, has been operating his karate school in the Syracuse area since 1980.
With most everyone going barefoot for that program, which like the others included a visual demonstration repeated step by step by the participants, Lawrence showed his attendees fundamentals like kicks and jabs into the air as they followed along, including one person in a wheelchair ready and willing to take part.
Described as a “low-key” event, that class was meant to show how karate can be empowering and a way to protect oneself in cases of self-defense. Lawrence had with him his student Matthew Killian, who is blind, autistic and epileptic, to show off certain moves.
Kraus has been coordinating the different monthly programming with Randi Ludwig, the former board president for the library who has been taking the lead organizing the series as a volunteer. Both said the turnouts up to this point have “far exceeded” their expectations.
Kraus said that the library has routinely been a spot for adults with disabilities to frequent, but she said this program series acts as a bonding experience for those patrons and their mentors while linking them with people in the community they can relate to and get to know.
Ludwig, who has a background in teaching special education, said a structured, specially tailored program series like this can be—and so far has been—consistently fun, joyful, engaging, educational, accessible, respectful and rewarding. She said it also meets an untapped need that the library’s patrons with not only disabilities but more specifically varying levels of independence, physical mobility, sensory processing and verbal communication were searching for, adding that it gives those visitors a chance to socialize, build bonds and become exposed to recreational activities they haven’t familiarized themselves with or even pursued before.
“We’re looking to have the library be more than just a place to go,” said Ludwig, who was the FFL’s board president for six years, up until last November. “We’re trying to get the message out that the library is providing inclusive programs for all.”
Kraus said the enthusiastic response from community members validates that the program series is necessary and something that fulfills that need.
“It’s always the goal of the library to look out into our community and see where and how the library can meet certain needs,” Kraus said. “Everyone that we’ve had partner with us so far has been wonderful, and we’ve been able through the grant to offer them compensation for their time, which we’re happy about. We’re so lucky to have so many talented people in our community.”
Since she watches on in addition to coordinating the sessions, Ludwig said she sees the programs as learning opportunities for her own life too.
“It just makes you feel so good, and everybody has been participatory and excited,” Ludwig said. “To stand there and watch everybody having such a great time and learning something and being so enthusiastic, it’s just wonderful.”
The program series is for those 18 and older, and space is limited, so registration is required. Mentors can participate too if they wish, in which case they would need to register themselves, or they can just sit back, observe and assist if needed.
Next up will be a balloon-tying workshop led by Jeff the Magic Man on Wednesday, June 5 from 2 to 3 p.m. After that, because the first Wednesday in July is the day before Independence Day, that month’s program will instead be on Wednesday, July 10 from 2 to 3, though the guest instructor for that afternoon has yet to be announced.
Any instructors looking to book ahead of time to present on their talent or expertise for an hour-long session can either contact the library at 315-637-6374 or reach out to Randi Ludwig at [email protected].
Community members are also encouraged to share ideas for topics and activities to cover and what they’d personally like to see.