• to provide the SESA staff with the information and equipment necessary to assist their client caseload;
• to provide parents, teachers and other concerned individuals with information and materials that will assist them in working with children with special needs.

Materials are loaned so that clients can review them and decide if they are appropriate to order. The SESA Library also lends out materials purchased under an Assistive Technologies of Alaska grant. These materials are available to anyone in the state.
In addition, the Library manages some long term loan items purchased under grants from DOE (Alaska Department of Education) and DHSS (Alaska Department of Health and Social Services).

Although the primary focus of the library is to provide the SESA staff and those who work with the students on SESA’s caseload with the information and materials that they need, the materials are available to other interested persons in Alaska. Assessments are only available to professionals who are licensed to administer the test. However, materials may be recalled at any time if needed by someone who has priority of use. Items are not loaned outside Alaska. The Librarian will aid you in locating the items you need at a library near you.

The Library has books, videos (VHS and DVD), software, assessments, sound recordings and equipment available. The equipment covers a variety of special needs. It includes magnifiers, sensory stimulation materials, switches, computer peripherals, braille and low vision materials, battery operated toys, games, instructional materials, tape recorder/players, braille writers, communication devices, and other items. Due to the large number of items, a complete printed catalog is not practical. However, if you call with a specific question (for example, sign language videos), a list can be generated and sent to you. There are bibliographies available online, and you may search the library catalog online.

It is important for education specialists to have access to the most current information possible in order to work effectively with their students. To this end, the SESA library has subscriptions to approximately 40 periodicals. The periodicals are only available for use in the library, but there is a photocopier available (fair use copying under Federal law only, please). The periodicals concentrate on the areas of child development, education, special education, and disabilities. The library does not have an overall index to the articles in these journals, but check SLED’s Digital Pipeline.

The library has a variety of information sources. Call if you have questions. Sometimes you may be referred to your local library or other sources, but we’ll happily try to find you an answer.

The SESA Library is now open at our new address:
3501 Denali Street, Suite 101
Anchorage, AK 99503

You may reach the library by email (Anne Freitag at afreitag@sesa.org ) or by phone (907-334-1301).

Download the SESA Library Brochure: