Special-needs resource center to open at library

A resource center will open in Scotts Valley Branch Library next week to provide information to parents of special-needs students in Santa Cruz County.
The center is funded by a $15,000 grant from the Area Board VII of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities.
Scotts Valley residents Susie Christensen and Peter Mclean are the local representatives on the Area VII Board and helped secure the grant.
Mclean and his wife, Maureen, donated more than 70 resource publications to start the collection, giving the library a foundation of materials for the special-needs community.
The center will open June 2 at the new library, 251 Kings Village Road, in Scotts Valley.
The collection will include reference books, legal manuals, video cassettes and DVDs that deal with a wide spectrum of issues.
Addressed by the fledgling collection — the only one of its kind in Santa Cruz County — are conditions including autism, attention deficit disorder, ADHD, Tourette syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, pervasive developmental delays, dyspraxia, bipolar disorder, sensory processing disorders, Down syndrome, anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Elizabeth Walch, president of the Friends of the Library Scotts Valley Chapter, wrote the grant.
“We are so pleased that the library’s commitment to providing resources and education to the community now includes the special-needs community,” Walch said. “We hope to obtain similar grants in the coming year so that we can continue to build on the special-needs resource collection and provide even more support to our special-needs community.”
For information: www.fsvpl.org.