Voices of Strength: A Survey of Librarians Working with Chronic Illnesses or Conditions

Abstract

This research attempts to understand the ways that librarians overcome the challenges associated with a chronic condition in the workplace. Six hundred sixteen respondents completed a survey about type of workplace, type of chronic condition, longevity of the condition, disclosure, accommodations, level of support, career mobility and advancement, work challenges, coping strategies, and perceptions on disability. Respondents report chronic illness and conditions of all sorts, both visible and invisible, with 46% having more than one type of illness. They cope by using creative strategies to supplement or replace formal accommodations, however 39% believe that their condition has negatively impacted their career advancement.

Giving a Voice to Students with Disabilities to Design Library Experiences: An Ethnographic Study

“…Inclusive library experience design is key for social inclusion, with previous research bearing out the importance of including the voices of PwD when discussing the library-user experience [4]. Indeed, one way of enhancing inclusivity in libraries and other educational settings is by giving a voice to PwD [5][6][7] and librarians [8][9][10]. Interestingly, there has been a recent cascade of academic literature on the design of inclusive library spaces [11][12][13] and inclusive experience design [14,15], particularly exploring the use of new technologies as tools for stepping up inclusivity for PwD in libraries [16].…”