Willmar teacher expands library inclusivity with NEA Disability Visibility book grant
At Kennedy Elementary School, students are guaranteed to find themselves represented in a library book.
The bookshelves have an impressive array of titles that reflect the diverse makeup of the school’s students, including selections in Native languages such as Dakota and Ojibwe, books in Somali and an entire section of Spanish language books. For the 40% of the student body that are Spanish speakers, this creates a level of access that students don’t often have.
Kennedy students will soon see a new selection of books on the library shelves, thanks to a grant from the National Education Association that provides educators with funds to purchase books featuring protagonists with disabilities.
Janey Walquist, an English language teacher who applied for and won the grant for Kennedy, said the idea came to her after working in her school’s library. Kennedy Elementary does not have a dedicated librarian, so teachers split their time between classroom teaching and working in the library. Walquist, then a science teacher, worked half-time in the classroom and half-time in the library, where she saw students’ excitement when they found something in a book to connect with.
“Once the kids figure out where the Spanish section is, or the Somali language section, if that’s something that is important to them, they will gravitate towards it every single time,” she said. “The kids get excited about seeing themselves in the books and it helps them enjoy (or at least tolerate) reading.” Walquist said the students also use the books to connect with classmates from similar cultural backgrounds.
While the library does an excellent job of offering a wide range of books that reflect the school’s culturally diverse student population, Walquist said staff are always looking for ways to create a more inclusive library. “We have a lot of books that show [racial and cultural] diversity, but we don’t have a lot that celebrate students with disabilities,” she said.
Expanding the library’s collection to include disability-focused books is especially timely because Kennedy has recently introduced a program for students with developmental cognitive disabilities. For many Kennedy students, this will be their first time interacting with students who have higher support needs.
Walquist’s goal is that these books will help foster empathy and understanding among students. “Kennedy students have been very open to having [DCD] students in their classes, but further understanding of those things takes education,” she said. She felt that the books from this grant would not only provide the students with a good opportunity to learn, but they would provide teachers with a tool to use in their classrooms to help students understand their new classmates.
Walquist hopes this experience instills kindness in students that follows them into adulthood. “Now is the time to teach this so that, as adults, when they come across people in the community [with disabilities], they understand more about those people’s experiences. Kids at the elementary age can soak in so many things and if they see people with disabilities in a positive light, it’s more likely to carry over to the rest of their lives,” she said.
For students who want to learn more, the plan is to put QR codes on the covers of the books. Those codes will link to resources from disability-focused organizations so that parents can do activities at home, and teachers can use the resources in the classroom even after the books have been returned to the library. Walquist said she hopes these resources allow the conversation to continue and provide students with further opportunities to learn about disabilities.
Once the books are settled in, if the QR code system is successful, Walquist said the long-term plan is to expand the QR-code links to include more Spanish and Somali language resources, because there are not as many options for disability-focused books in those languages. “We have a few books from this grant that are in different languages, but a lot of them aren’t available in hardcover and the paperback books simply aren’t as durable,” she said.
Walquist encouraged members to take advantage of the opportunities and events available through the state and national affiliates. She first learned about the grant while attending the NEA Representative Assembly, where NEA representatives provided detailed information about the grant and were available to answer questions.
“You get to step outside of your bubble, meet teachers that you connect with and learn about things like the Disability Visibility grant,” she said. “This is what will keep me going as a teacher when the monotonous day- to-day becomes difficult.”
Education Minnesota offers several grants through the Education Minnesota Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. You can learn more and apply for 2025-26 grant opportunities at edmnfoundation.org/overview.
The National Education Association also offers many grants through the NEA Foundation. Information about some of the grants they offer is available on their website, neafoundation.org.
