Batavia Couple To Be Recognized For Contribution To Library, People With Disabilities

BATAVIA, IL — A Batavia couple will be recognized Sept. 2 for their contributions to the Batavia Public Library and people with disabilities.

Ken and Terri Mate are the 2025 recipients of the 10th Library Leader award. The Board of Library Trustees created the award in 2003 to honor those who have made "outstanding contributions" to the library.

Ken, a magician and caregiver, and Terri, a special education teacher with Mid-Valley Special Education Cooperative, are receiving this award for their work to create the popular Inclusion Game Night program, the first of its kind when launched in 2014 at the library.

"Ken and Terri have touched so many lives and are an inspiration," Library Executive Director Josephine Tucci said in a statement.

Inclusion Game Night was born from Terri wanting to provide free opportunities for social interaction among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including the couple's daughter Amanda, now 33, according to a news release from the library. Through the monthly program, teens and adults meet once a month to play a variety of games and win prizes.

"Ken and Terri saw the need in our community for a program where individuals with a range of disabilities — and their families and friends — could meet to have fun and make friends in a supportive space," Tucci said. "Inclusion Game Night helps individuals of all abilities make those connections and feel a sense of belonging."

The Mates will be celebrated at 6 p.m. Sept. 2 in the library's Founders Room, 10 S. Batavia Ave. The celebration will feature a brief ceremony and light refreshments, and the community is invited to attend. Inclusion Game Night is scheduled to succeed the event.

Recipients of the Library Leader award will be recognized in the Book of Library Leaders, displayed at the entrance to the Library Leaders Reading Room, also known as the Quiet Reading Room.

"We were surprised," Ken said in a statement about the nomination. "We didn't know this was happening. We appreciate people paying this honor to us, but we definitely couldn’t do it on our own. We couldn't do it without the library."