Northampton Disability Commission outlines Disability Pride Month story‑time series, seeks regional partners

The Northampton Disability Commission spent much of its meeting planning Disability Pride Month events for July 2026, settling on a series of accessible story‑time options and assigning commissioners to reach out to neighboring towns and libraries to coordinate dates, venues and publicity.

The commission chair said past efforts have included a screening of the documentary Crip Camp, an online resource fair and coordinated movie showings with Amherst and East Hampton. “Three years ago, we did Crip Camp at the senior center in the month of July,” the chair said, noting past in‑person turnout around 20 and smaller Zoom attendance for the resource fair.

Commissioner Amy proposed a focused “disability family story time” that would include sign‑language interpretation, sensory‑aware lighting, books by disabled authors and an effort to keep events scent‑sensitive. “But if we could also, like, promise, like, it’s gonna be scent free,” she said, adding she would be “very involved” in planning.

Forbes Library staff told the commission the library is renovating a new children’s programming space intended to better meet those needs and said local staff would be eager to take part. “We will be all in and be thinking about how to make it as good as possible,” the library representative said.

Members discussed two planning paths: (1) form joint planning with neighboring commissions and rotate story times regionally, or (2) plan primarily in Northampton and invite other towns to adopt the model. Ideas included weekly or biweekly sessions, rotating age groups across libraries, and limiting total events to avoid “scope creep.” One practical concern members raised was lead time to secure ASL interpreters and other accommodations.

The commission set a planning timeline designed to finalize details by May so flyers, interpreting and scheduling can be secured. Specific outreach assignments were made: Counselor Debs agreed to contact Holyoke, the chair will contact Amherst and East Hampton and outreach leads will also attempt to contact South Hadley and Hadley. Jenna volunteered to help with a group flyer; the commission plans to share a common blurb to present a uniform request to potential partners.

Votes at a glance: The commission approved the minutes from Dec. 9, 2025 (moved by Counselor Dubs; Jenna Perna Elias abstained because she did not attend the prior meeting). At the end of the meeting, Emma Cornwell moved to adjourn; the motion was seconded and carried.

Next steps: commissioners will report back on outreach in subsequent meetings, with a goal of producing a calendar and a shared flyer to publicize July events and secure ASL interpreters and other accommodations.