For those who are unfamiliar, social stories are a social learning tool first developed by Carol Gray in 1989. As per her website:

A Social Story accurately describes a context, skill, achievement, or concept according to 10 defining criteria. These criteria guide Story research, development, and implementation to ensure an overall patient and supportive quality, and a format, “voice”, content, and learning experience that is descriptive, meaningful, and physically, socially, and emotionally safe for the child, adolescent, or adult with autism.

Our children’s librarian Gina Elbert worked in conjunction with other Westchester librarians to develop three social stories for the library: one for children, one for teens, and one for adults. Each one is meant to guide patrons through a typical visit to the library to check out materials. In the future, we hope to add social stories about attending programs, too.

Click on the links below to access the stories. They were last updated in March 2022 and reflect the way the library looked at that time. We will try to keep them as up to date as possible. Printed copies are also available at the library.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for improvement, please email Gina at gelbert@dobbsferrylibrary.org.