Purpose & Goals

This poster describes the process of designing a DEI-inflected space audit and the space rubric we developed. The poster will communicate

1. the design process for the audit (research, rubric drafting, testing-by-doing, revision, data collection, analysis) as well as
2. next steps (expansion of work to other locations, space projects/priorities, and further assessment).

I hope to show how this process brought together two lines of library work: (1) routine space audit work and (2) our commitment to ground all library work in DEI principles.Design &

Methodology

The space audit has

1. research (theories of space evaluation design that center inclusion; also existing space rubrics)
2. development of a local rubric that would encompass both a checklist and a method of recording affective attributes of our library spaces
3. Space audit of our main library
4. (revision of rubric based on experience of audit)
5. What we learned (as of early fall '24)
6. Recommendations (what questions need further investigation?; what space projects, including remediation, should be high priority?; etc.)
7. Plan to run audit in other library spaces (with additional stakeholders/context-specific changes/etc.)?

Practical Implications & Value

We spent a lot of time developing our rubric and trying to anchor it in relevant research about inclusivity and library spaces. It's still a work in progress, but we hope our model will encourage other libraries to engage in ongoing space evaluation with inclusivity in mind. Rubrics are endlessly adaptable! Space audits are routine—but in the context of DEI work, they are a powerful tool in re-seeing our library spaces. Space rubrics are often tied to ADA compliance—ours attempts to go beyond compliance and capture how our library presents itself. The rubric is completed by staff and needs to be followed by methods aimed at gathering feedback from our students (in particular), but it's an important exercise even if a first step.

View Poster (PDF)