Purpose & Goals

This paper arises from the design and implementation of a DEI-inflected space audit, although that audit is not the focus of this presentation (I will submit that separately as a poster proposal). The process of designing that audit generated the question: How do libraries, and academic libraries in particular, incorporate principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into library space work at its most fundamental level? There has been a surge in assessment work focused on asking questions about whether library spaces meet the needs of patrons when issues of inclusivity are centered. Of particular significance, I think, is how asking questions about how inclusive libraries are has expanded what it means for a library to be accessible. In addition to approaching spaces with checklists aimed at ensuring physical access to library spaces, libraries are now asking questions about less easily measured but equally important criteria such as welcoming-ness and representation. (See for example, Elteto, Jackson, and Lim, 2008, “Is the Library a ‘Welcoming Space’?”). The question propelling this paper is not - How do we design an assessment to answer questions about how inclusive library spaces are/are not? The question I hope to explore is - How do we re-understand what it means to caretake, renovate, and design library spaces from a DEI-grounded mindset? “Library as place” as a construct focuses on the library as experienced by its users, but academic libraries are both “library as place” (the construct) and complex facilities requiring constant evaluation and maintenance. What remains unanswered, I think, is to what degree our day-to-day “library space work” can be grounded in inclusive practices and mindsets. And how would we go about doing that? Where would we start? How can we move from inclusive space as a project to space inclusivity as a practice?

Design & Methodology

Although this conceptual paper will not use any one assessment project as its focus, it might be thought of as a paper that explores how we can establish theoretically grounded but practice-focused frameworks that move inclusion-focused space work from checklists and design/redesign projects to “all the time” mindsets. The reason I am proposing this as a conceptual paper and not a “what we did” one is that in part I want to address the challenges in this work, which are many. Reframing design, remodeling, planning, maintenance, and other space work in terms of an imperative to uphold DEI principles in everything we do requires that we let go of mindsets regarding library spaces that we have long understood as neutral and unimplicated by DEI concerns. As colleagues have expressed to me, in space we often use compliance as our measure for accessibility. But compliance alone (with, for example, ADA statutes) restricts us in setting the bar at legal requirements, as if laws have ever been fully inclusive or future-facing. It is easy (or at least simple) to grab a ruler and measure the distance between one’s stacks. It is several orders of magnitude more difficult to start asking: Does this go far enough? Who does this not help? What do physical measures miss completely? Are we missing the forest for the trees (or the trees for the forest)? In the 20 minutes I have, I will present an overview of how DEI has changed how we assess library spaces, but I will also demonstrate how our space “toolkits” haven’t yet caught up to our newer understandings of how space impacts our users. Finally, I will offer a place to begin (maybe): a reflective space audit.

Conclusions

I am still developing my thoughts on this, as I continue to research this and related topics. So far, my conclusions have gotten this far: that it is difficult to find “space rubrics” for libraries that go beyond ADA-focused criteria. Although there are certainly space-focused assessment projects and design work that have centered DEI work, I have not found much that addresses how inclusive practices move beyond special project work (a particular design/re-design project) to re-ground library space-facilities practices. I am especially interested in how we begin to evaluate our spaces in terms of affective criteria. Research is telling us that the facilities many of us work in a fundamental way tied to traditions of higher education rooted in exclusionary traditions. Where do we start unpacking this regarding the spaces we have and our practices regarding them? Measuring stakeholder perceptions will be essential, but how should we first reflect on our spaces and our relationship to them before we start asking stakeholders questions?

Implications & Value

Libraries are constantly undertaking design/re-design projects, furniture upgrades, service-point remodeling, remediation, and other space-focused work. Increasingly, I imagine that such work will intersect with new and reinvigorated commitments to have inclusivity reflected not only in our new and existing spaces but also in the way we evaluate, maintain, and safeguard them. We have clear rubrics for measuring how well our spaces accommodate physical disability – and to some degree non-physical needs. But we need to begin considering how “library space” is both about row and door widths and an idea that encompasses how well we invite people in our doors and make them feel welcome while they are there. Thinking in those terms will require us to equip ourselves with information about our spaces and how we conceptualize them more holistically. This paper will not say “here’s the toolkit,” but I hope it offers “consider this, and here’s a possible starting place.”