Cumberland Public Library sensory room offers an ocean-themed retreat

Deep blue walls greet visitors to Cumberland County Public Library Headquarters’ new sensory room. A projection of a scuba diver and fish illuminates one side. Fake jellyfish glide in a colorfully lit tube resting on a shelf.

The ocean themed-design was curated by library officials for the library system’s first sensory room on Maiden Lane. Sensory rooms, also called multi-sensory rooms, are designed to stimulate a person’s senses without overwhelming them.

Now officially open by reservation, Faith Phillips, library director and assistant county manager, encouraged the public to try out the room by reserving it on the Cumberland County Public Library website.

“A sensory calming room is a space where individuals of all ages can come in, interact and control their environment in different ways,” explained Phillips in a video from earlier this month previewing the space on the library’s Instagram.

Funding for the sensory room came from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that supports public libraries and museums. A recent $44,680 grant from the Cumberland Community Foundation will help maintain the Library Headquarters’ sensory room. The grant is also allowing Cumberland County Public Library to open a sensory-inclusive play space at West Regional Library on Century Circle. The goal is to open the play space before August 2025.

Sensory rooms were developed in the 1970s for those with sensory processing difficulties. This includes people with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The rooms allow those with sensory processing difficulties to remove themselves from overwhelming environments and enter a space where they can control how much they are stimulated.

Visitors to Library Headquarters’ sensory room can decide how intensely their senses are stimulated. They can turn on and change the colors of lights or they can silence the world by wearing the noise-canceling headphones provided in the room. They can look at and listen to the room’s tall, bubble tube in one corner or gaze at it from the over a dozen mirrors surrounding it. 

They might go to another part of the room and play with the waterfall of color-changing LED fiber-optic strands hanging from the ceiling. They might sit in one of the rocking chairs strewn about the room, close their eyes and rest.

“Someone may need a quiet, low stimulation space to relax or calm down,” said Phillips. “Our spaces allow for that engagement. They also provide the ability for a high stimulation experience — a customer can come in and turn on all of the elements in the room — and get the experience that they need.”

Research suggests people with dementia may also benefit from sensory rooms, according to a review of several studies on the effectiveness of multi-sensory rooms. The Headquarters Library sensory room, in addition to memory kits provided by public libraries across the county, is part of Cumberland County Public Library’s ongoing initiative serving those with memory challenges.

The idea for the sensory room came from community members. Through surveys, focus groups and informal conversation, Phillips and other Cumberland County Public Library employees heard a need for spaces that can be tailored for different people’s sensory processing needs.

“We have had so many requests from parents, caregivers and others for more sensory inclusive spaces,” said Phillips.

Anyone can benefit from time in the Library Headquarters sensory room, library officials said. At the Oct. 21 county commissioners meeting, Phillips described the room as a “retreat from the daily hustle and bustle” that “encourages relaxation and rejuvenation” for all residents.

CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.